The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week it will invest up to $375 million over five years in three new Bioenergy Research Centers to be located in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Madison, Wisc., and near Berkeley, Calif. The winning sites were selected through a competitive, peer-review process that began last year and included more than a dozen applicants from across the country.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently named 13 more regions to receive grants through the third round of the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) program. As with the previous round of awards (see the Jan. 22, 2007 issue of the Digest), the recipients will each receive $5 million over the course of three years to integrate workforce training initiatives into a regional technology-based economic development strategy.
With less than two weeks to go before the new fiscal year, Arizona and New Jersey lawmakers approved funding for cutting-edge research at the close of their 2007 legislative sessions last week. Following is a synopsis of the TBED initiatives slated to receive funding under the respective budget agreements.
Arizona
Last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed off on the state’s budget, but not before making substantial use of his line-item veto. Overall, the approved $151 billion FY 2008-2009 budget increases general revenue spending by $7.7 billion (11.8 percent) over the current biennium. Much of that new spending will support education in the state; however, a number of programs, particularly those connected to higher education, failed to receive the governor’s approval.
The national economy is a dynamic system, and the techniques to measure the system must be updated in order to understand its complexity, according to a recent report published by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). In Understanding Business Dynamics: An Integrated Data System for America’s Future, NAS outlines steps that could be taken to properly capture pertinent information about firms, especially the young and small ones that are driving the emerging sectors of the economy.
A bill designed to keep new Maine graduates living and working in the state after college became law last week with Gov. John Baldacci’s signature. The Opportunity Maine bill, LD 1856, creates a tax credit to assist graduates with their student loan payments and enables employers of graduates to pay off the student loans.
Gov. Mike Rounds recently announced that South Dakota will join a national partnership, led by many of the country's leading information and communication technology (ICT) companies, to improve science and technology education and the skill set of the state's high-tech workforce. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, an ICT advocacy organization, will advise the state on designing curriculum that meets the needs of software, electronics, networking, telecommunications and Internet-based companies.
A new initiative to target and promote Indiana's manufacturing and logistics sector will do so in a similar manner to the 2002 BioCrossroads initiative that aided in transforming the region’s life sciences industry, the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) recently announced.
For an industry that takes in more than $10 billion per year, video games receive relatively little dedicated support for economic development initiatives. When video game creators do attract the attention of federal and state politicians, it is often because of allegations of violent content and for encouraging sedentary lifestyles amongst consumers. A handful of states, however, have launched programs and credits that actively encourage the growth of the industry.
The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) within the Georgia Institute of Technology announced its affiliated companies have received more than $1 billion in venture capital funding since 1999. Amassed from 160 separate deals, the amount represents 15 percent of the total venture capital in Georgia, about one out of its every five deals in the state.
The Special Federal Budget Issue of SSTI's Weekly Digest, published electronically in three parts on Feb. 10, is now available for download as a 25-page PDF. As readers are aware, the Administration's budget request proposes significant changes to the federal government's role in supporting economic development, research, investment and community development.
The Administration's $16.47 billion FY 2005 budget request for NASA represents a 2.4 percent increase over the FY 2005 appropriation. Among highlights, the budget proposal maintains investments in next-generation Earth-observing satellites to support climate research efforts.
The first four installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2005 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm
Kentucky
Gov. Christine Gregoire announced the first stages of her economic development program last Wednesday, highlighted by a proposal to inject $35 million annually starting in 2008 for the next 10 years into life sciences research at the state's universities. Gov. Gregoire also requested legislation be introduced this week that would facilitate the transfer of technology from research institutions to the private sector.
The nation's most significant source of funding for life science research, the National Institutes of Health, announced two sweeping changes last week that could dramatically alter biotechnology commercialization. The first policy change addresses known and potential conflicts of interest by NIH employees, while the second encourages all NIH-funded research to be released publicly within 12 months of final publication.
The latest email from the Reseau Innovation Network's Innovation Newsletter out of Canada and the D.C.-based Public Forum Institute's National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship called to SSTI's attention two websites with online access to more than 60 academic research papers of potential interest and importance to those interested in encouraging economic growth through
In January, Rhode Island's Tech Collective announced the creation of BioGroup, a subsidiary to focus on the needs of the state's life science industry. The new organization will serve as the state affiliate to the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).
By the end of the week, SSTI will be sending Digest subscribers our ninth annual review of the president's federal budget proposal. We will highlight dozens of science and technology programs and initiatives of interest to our readers. Early indications are the 2006 request, released this afternoon, if enacted would result in significant changes for nearly every program of importance for the tech-based economic development (TBED) community.
The first three installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2005 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm
Hawaii
If the success of its funded companies is revealing, the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) has done well to spur innovative activity in Maine, suggests an independent analysis recently released in the state.
Is Pennsylvania getting enough bang -- or the right bang -- from its investments in promoting a tech-based economy? The state has been one of the nation's leading public investors in technology-based economic development (TBED) for more than 20 years. Programs have evolved and been added over the years as factors affecting innovation and private sector growth changed. The result is now Pennsylvania's researchers and entrepreneurs have a complex portfolio of public-private resources available to them.
Goal is improved service delivery, advocacy for tech community
To produce a more focused and effective effort in the areas of commercialization and advocacy, the Illinois Coalition has divided into two separate public-private organizations.
The Kauffman Foundation recently launched "Giving Back to Entrepreneurship," a website dedicated to informing entrepreneurs how they can use their energy and creativity to support their communities and help jumpstart the next generation of entrepreneurs.
As a percentage, Silicon Valley has lost more jobs over the past four years than any U.S. metropolitan area since 1939, but evidence shows the region is stabilizing with a return to levels reminiscent of the late 1990s. Funding for venture capital is up, per capita income is increasing, and research and development funding has reached new highs. Yet, the region's most striking feature of late is, perhaps, the way it is growing, according to the 2005 Index of Silicon Valley.
Editor's Note: Last week's issue of the Digest included a Recent Research item, Are Leading Firms Team Players? that drew an animated reaction from a reader whose opinion SSTI holds in great respect because of his contributions to improving the understanding and delivery of technology-based economic development initiatives. As a result, Dr.