The five-campus University of Massachusetts System is seeking a dynamic and entrepreneurial professional to become the associate vice president for economic development to help develop the university's role in generating innovation and talent to support the Innovation Economy of Massachusetts. The position will report to the vice president for economic development and be housed at the president's office in Boston, MA.
Jill Kline has been named the State director of the Wyoming Small Business Development Center.
Daniel Hasler has been named the Indiana Secretary of Commerce, effective Sept. 16. He will replace Mitch Roob who is leaving the post to accept a position in the private sector.
The National Governors Association named David Moore as the director of its NGA Center for Best Practices.
The third installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs’ series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Delaware, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin. The first and second installments are available in the Jan 13 Digest and Jan. 20 Digest, respectively.
The New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR), the state’s lead tech-based economic development agency, would see a significant boost in funding under a proposal unveiled by Gov. David Paterson to distribute $100 million in new Innovation Economy Matching Grants.
“Minnesota faces a crisis of competitiveness.” It didn’t take Minnesota’s leaders long to recognize the state’s precipitous fall in the standings for many major indicators over the past two decades paralleled the state’s prolonged diinvestment from a proactive TBED strategy.
Last year venture investment decreased to its lowest level since 1997, according to the latest Moneytree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). A weak environment for exits and increasing caution on the part of investors contributed to a 37 percent decrease in investment dollars and a 30 percent decline in venture deals from 2008 levels. This marks the second consecutive year of declining venture dollars and deals.
SSTI is pleased to announce that John Fernandez, Assistant Secretary for Economic Development at the U.S. Department of Commerce, will participate in a plenary session on the changing role of the federal government in TBED at this year's Annual Conference. SSTI's Annual Conference is the only economic development conference this fall with the senior leaders of the Economic Development Administration (EDA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) speaking.
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices invites applications from U.S. states to participate in a Policy Academy on "Making" our Future: Encouraging Growth Opportunities in Manufacturing through Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Investment to Assist States in Developing and Implementing Economic Development Strategies aimed at spurring innovation and entrepreneurship in ways that encourage the growth of advanced manufacturing industries.
Even through the enduring global economic downturn, nations across the world have targeted technology-based economic development initiatives to build their respective country's science and technology (S&T) sectors. The governments contend that building their respective country's Next Economy is necessary to compete in a globalizing world and increase quality of living for their citizens. Canada, India and the European Union have announced initiatives that could help grow their respective countries S&T sectors.
The second installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs’ series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Colorado, Virginia and West Virginia. Our first installment was in the Jan 13 Digest.
Gov. Mark Parkinson last week unveiled his FY11 budget proposal, which includes $5.9 million from the Economic Development Initiatives Fund (EDIF) for the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC), down $1.8 million from the FY10 governor’s estimate of $7.75 million. Many of the governor’s budget recommendations, including funding for KTEC and university research initiatives, may hinge on a tax increase proposal, however.
Describing the nation’s innovation system as broken, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke yesterday said the Department of Commerce will be “working hard to find solutions” that move more federally funded R&D into the commercial market.
“Even in areas where we are allocating enough funding for R&D, we’re not doing a good enough job getting these ideas into the marketplace, particularly through entrepreneurs.
Gov. Sonny Perdue last week outlined an $18.2 billion budget for FY11 that reduces spending across several state agencies, including a $9.6 million reduction for R&D activities through the Research Consortium. The governor’s budget also would eliminate two science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs within the Department of Education.
Enterprise Florida released its latest five-year strategic plan for the state, calling for increased investment in STEM education, university research, commercialization assistance and early-stage capital access programs. Florida must diversify its economy and strengthen its high-tech industries in order to reduce the state’s reliance on population-based growth, according to the report. Enterprise Florida also endorses a cluster-based strategy to promote high-tech industries based on their relative levels of development in the state.
Current trends presented in the 2010 edition of the National Science Board’s biennial Science & Engineering Indicators suggest as early as the 2012 edition, the U.S. will no longer leads the world for a key indicator: total R&D expenditures – unless corrective action is taken.
