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Mike Leavitt of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory has been appointed the Co-chair of the Federal Laboratories Consortium State and Local Government Committee.

Tom Shea with the Office of Economic Adjustment in the Department of Defense has announced his retirement, effective September 30, 2003.

U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary Nancy Victory has announced her resignation effective mid-August. Victory led the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which manages the $15.4 million Technology Opportunities Program.

Business-led partnerships looking to train workers in high-skill, high-tech occupations may get a boost from a series of instructional conferences to be held later this month and in August. The U.S. Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) will hold three conferences in 2003 to assist prospective applicants for its H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants competition, under which approximately $50 million is available for new awards.

Providence was listed among the top 50 cities in the U.S. in which to do business in a June issue of Forbes Magazine. Now, a new initiative to jumpstart economic development in the Rhode Island capital is aimed at solidifying the ranking.

The Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City announced on Monday it will award grants of up to $5 million to 5-7 U.S. universities to make entrepreneurship education a common and accessible campus-wide opportunity. The Foundation works with partners to encourage entrepreneurship across America.

A new book released by the Sierra Business Council (SBC), Investing for Prosperity, suggests new ways for rural regions to achieve long-term prosperity. The 148-page guide brings together many of the latest innovations rural communities across North America are using to grow their economies, improve their towns and build their social capital.

In response to recent requests from SSTI sponsors and affiliates, SSTI has compiled a table summarizing total funding distributed within states in the form of grants and awards by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The table <http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/071103t.htm> includes total amounts and state rankings for NIH awards for each of the years 1998-2002.

The first director of the new Automation Alley Technology Center will be Thomas Anderson.

Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns has appointed Richard Baier as the state's first rural development director. Baier will work closely with the new Nebraska Rural Development Commission.

The first director of the new Automation Alley Technology Center will be Thomas Anderson.

Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns has appointed Richard Baier as the state's first rural development director. Baier will work closely with the new Nebraska Rural Development Commission.

Colorado State Representative Tim Fritz is resigning his seat to become director of Colorado's Office of Aerospace and Aeronautics.

John Hansen is the new Secretary of Technology for the State of Colorado. Hansen retains his position as Chief Technology Officer as well.

As the economy struggles, unemployment rates rise to a nine-year high, and manufacturing continues to shed jobs, the Modernization Forum reports the House Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee appropriated just $39.6 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The FY 2004 funding would slash the program's funding from the FY2003 level of $106.6 million, a 63 percent cut.

Details on a $110 million initiative to create more jobs and stimulate the Massachusetts economy were released yesterday by Massachusetts House Speaker Tom Finneran and other state leaders. The initiative, Mass Jobs: Investment and Opportunity, is an innovation-friendly plan to streamline government functions and encourage growth in emerging technology through capital formation, regional development, and stability in regulation and taxation.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft today signed into law Am. Sub. House Bill 1, putting into place the newest components of his Third Frontier Project to foster tech-based economic development (TBED) and growth in Ohio.

The previous issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest (June 27, 2003) included a story with the headline "Québec Investing More Than $500M for Biotech." It was the kind of big initiative with a hefty price tag that a few states have launched and most others salivate to replicate. A perfect item for the Digest.

The problem is that big initiative never actually happened.

Gwinnett County (GA) Commission Chairman Wayne Hill is the new president of the National Association of Regional Councils.

The Indiana Proteomics Consortium has changed its name to Inproteo.

New York Ecomm has changes its name to The Executive Council of New York to better reflect the organization's broader membership and program offerings.

David Quam is the new director of state-federal relations for the National Governors Association.

Phillip Z. Sobocinski has accepted a new position as Assistant Director of the new Office of Corporate Relations in the Office of the Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The new initiative will be led by Charles Hoslet.

Spokane Economic Development Council president Mark Turner has announced his resignation.

Jeff Wadsworth has been named the next director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Wadsworth was a former deputy director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Larry Willard, president of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents, is leaving the position to become chairman of the New Mexico Economic Development Corp.