The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently announced Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP) as the winner of the "Excellence in Technology-led Economic Development" award, as part of EDA's Excellence in Economic Development Awards 2008. BFTP, created in 1983, has regional offices in Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and State College.
The creation of a single organization to consolidate federal innovation investments, called for by the Brookings Institution and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) (see the April 23, 2008 issue of the Digest), moved a small step closer to reality with the introduction of authorizing legislation in the U.S. Senate.
On June 5, 2008, the government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg announced plans for a $200 million five-year molecular medicine initiative that draws on a strategic partnership involving three Luxembourg Public Research Centers (CRPs), the University of Luxembourg and three U.S. research institutes prominent in the field.
The U.S. research institutions include:
New establishments are responsible for one-third of annual employment creation in the U.S. and have higher measures of productivity when compared to mature surviving establishments, according to a report released last week by the Kaufmann Foundation. Turmoil and Growth: Young Business, Economic Churning, and Productivity Gains, written by Steven Davis of the University of Chicago, John Haltiwanger of the University of Maryland, and Ron Jarmin of the U.S.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently published its estimate on the real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of each state for 2007, revising previously released figures for 2003-2006.
SSTI has prepared a table showing real GDP per capita for every state and the District of Columbia from 2003 to 2007. The table includes:
It's no wonder SSTI's Annual Conference presents such a broad range of perspectives and approaches to TBED each year, when our organization draws in active membership from organizations from all across the continent! For example, with the involvement of the Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, SSTI now has active members in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.
The Aerospace, Manufacturing and Information Technology (AMIT) Cluster of Southern Arizona has consolidated its operations with the Arizona Technology Council.
A little more than a year after unveiling a comprehensive proposal to provide crucial funding for R&D, commercialization and infrastructure to position Massachusetts as a global leader in life sciences, Gov. Deval Patrick signed an historic 10-year, $1 billion life sciences investment package, transforming the ambitious idea into reality.
Gov. Martin O’Malley announced this week a proposal to build Maryland's reputation as a global leader in biosciences with a $1.1 billion investment.
In its latest bio-industry analyses, Ernst & Young reported that the global bioscience industry has yet to become profitable, but that doesn’t mean the field isn’t growing by many measures, particularly the number of jobs created. Technology, Talent and Capital: State Bioscience Initiatives 2008, prepared by Battelle for BIO, puts total U.S.
Gov. Charlie Crist signed the fiscal year 2008-09 budget into law last week, allocating nearly $79 million for energy-related projects to increase research and stimulate development and commercialization of alternative and renewable energy sources throughout Florida.
Last week, Premier Ed Stelmach of Alberta introduced a $170 million suite of initiatives to support high-tech economic development in the province. The government hopes that by providing support for commercialization from research to market it can attract high-tech entrepreneurs from other areas. Most of the province's investment will support the creation of the $100 million Alberta Enterprise Corporation to encourage venture capital investment.
An initiative in Iowa to disperse tax credits worth 20 percent of equity investments into pre-qualified businesses or seed capital funds has reached its $10 million cap and will not be continued in the next fiscal year. The Iowa Venture Capital Credit – Qualified Business or Seed Capital Fund was started in 2002 with a cap of $10 million, and as monitored by the Iowa Department of Revenue, all credits have been issued.
As annual appropriations for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) flattened – at the same time more and more states and universities are increasing their investments in academic bioscience research capacity – competition for NIH grants has heightened. Reports indicate investigators in the early stages of their careers and transformative research have been the victims of the squeeze.
New York City officials recently announced the launch of a $2 million seed fund to boost entrepreneurship and the local venture capital market. NYC Seed will provide up to $200,000 for seed-stage New York-based businesses and will offer mentoring and other support for client companies.
The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) has announced the launch of a statewide trade association to provide support to Kansas' software and information technology industry. The nonprofit has been registered with the state as the Software and Information Technology Association of Kansas (SITAKS) and is designed to support Kansas software, information technology and telecommunications companies.
Additional job opportunities are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.
Venture investors are increasingly turning to overseas markets for promising investments in key high-tech industries, according to the 2008 Global Venture Capital Survey conducted by Deloitte and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The annual poll of 400 international venture capital investors found that the U.S. is still perceived as the strongest technology economy in all sectors, but other countries are developing industry specializations that allow them to be competitive with the U.S. in one or two particular areas. While no single country is likely to overtake the U.S.
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley recently announced a plan to launch an advanced robotics research, training and education center to prepare workers for the robotics industry and attract high-tech employers to the state. Calhoun Community College in Decatur will host the $71 million center, in partnership with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Gov. Riley first proposed the robotics campus in 2006 and believes the center will help increase the state’s profile as a leader in the robotics industry.
This summer, 12 former CEOs with substantial experience in raising venture capital and no particular ties to clean energy will participate in an extensive curriculum-based fellowship program designed to rapidly transition them into a leadership role, in order to help grow the cleantech cluster in the New England region.
While California and Massachusetts may overshadow much of the venture capital (VC) activity going on around the country, other states have made significant progress in developing venture industries that serve the needs of their economy. Though larger investments in later-stage companies are becoming more prevalent in the U.S. venture industry, some states are seeing increases in smaller, early-stage investments that, if successful, should lead to significant growth in their total VC investment in years to come.
As a group, the country’s metropolitan areas face substantial long-term challenges as large gaps in issues such as productivity growth, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion separate the leaders from the laggards. Earlier this month, the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program released the second of its “core” reports from its Blueprint for American Prosperity initiative to lay out an economic agenda for U.S. metro areas.
SBIR Phase II awards with additional personal and/or internal business funding are more significant predictors of a technology reaching commercialization than SBIR awards with venture capital, external private equity or foreign investment, and funding from state and local governments or universities, new research shows.
NorTech is inviting all SSTI conference attendees to an opening reception at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Tuesday, Oct. 14, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Just like the music it pays homage to, inside and out, the Rock Hall exudes coolness. From the adventurously wide-open architecture and eye-popping displays to the sing-along soundtrack of continuously streaming rock and roll hits, this is one museum experience that really gets your heart pumping.