People
Amit Yoran replaces Gilman Louie as In-Q-Tel's new CEO.
The second installment of the Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes highlights from state-of-the-state, budget and inaugural addresses from Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia.
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue this month proposed a new $40 million Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Venture Capital Fund to be fueled by $10 million from the state legislature and subsequently matched with $30 million from the private sector. Of the entire suite of GRA initiatives, this will be the first program not funded entirely by the state of Georgia.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently unveiled four energy initiatives to promote clean energy R&D and the use of renewable energy technologies in the state. Through a combination of executive orders and legislative proposals, the programs are intended to push Minnesota towards its goals of having 25 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by 2025 and reducing the state’s greenhouse emissions 80 percent by 2050. These new initiatives are:
Referring to his fiscal year 2008-09 budget recommendation as “back to basics,” Gov. Phil Bredesen proposed significant investments in research and workforce initiatives while vowing not to tap into reserves or raise taxes.
The fourth installment of the Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes excerpts from governors’ speeches delivered in Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
Georgia – see article in this issue of the Digest.
Kentucky
Gov. Steve Beshear, State Budget Address, Jan. 29, 2008
Ten to forty percent of entrepreneurs launching businesses in high-income countries expect that more than a quarter of their customers will come from outside of their country, according to a new study of trends in global entrepreneurship.
Considerable changes are affecting the structure of traditional manufacturing supply chains, and firms that do not adapt to these shifts will suffer economically, according to a recent report from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
Using data from the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, SSTI has prepared a table showing how each state (and the District of Columbia) has ranked in business churning over the past seven years. Business churning is a measure of the creation of new companies and the death of existing companies as a share of total firms (small businesses with employees). Churning increases as the number of new start-ups and existing business failures per year increase.
It is only through the involvement of the each and every one of our more than 185 members that SSTI is able to continue its mission -- to lead, support and strengthen efforts to improve state and regional economies through science, technology and innovation. Together, we’re growing a strong and vibrant tech-based economic development community. New members include:
State Sponsors
Kansas Bioscience Authority
The Association of American Universities named Robert Berdahl as the association's new president.
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center selected John Chaffee and Randall Johnson as directors of the center's new eastern and southeastern regional offices.
The Association of American Universities named Robert Berdahl as the association's new president.
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center selected John Chaffee and Randall Johnson as directors of the center's new eastern and southeastern regional offices.
Virginia Gov.-elect Tim Kaine named Aneesh Chopra as his administration's secretary of technology.
South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds announced that Jim Hagen will resign as secretary of the Department of Tourism and State Development, effective Jan. 17.
David Hollister announced he will leave his position as director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth on Feb. 3, to head Prima Civitas, a newly formed nonprofit agency promoting economic development.
Bill Mahoney is the new president of the South Carolina Research Authority.
Guin Robinson is the new director of the newly created Talladega office of the Alabama Technology Network.
Phillip Singerman resigned as executive director of the Maryland Technology Development Corp.. Renee Winsky will serve as interim executive director until a permanent replacement is named.
Georgia Tech announced that Dr. Jeffrey Skolnick will join its faculty this spring as the Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology.
The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development appointed Benjamin Wu as the assistant secretary for the Capital Region and senior advisor for technology policy.
A new AAAS analysis of the disappointing federal budget for 2008 reveals Congress’s obsession with earmarks is back with a vengeance, guaranteeing that competition for the remaining federal funds for R&D will be even more fierce.
While lower than 2006, earmarks consumed $4.5 billion of the federal R&D budget, scattered among 2,526 projects AAAS was able to identify.
Last week, Gov. Eliot Spitzer gave New York’s first ever “State of the Upstate” address in Buffalo, outlining his administration’s $1 billion Upstate Revitalization Fund. Among the components intended to encourage economic growth in the northern part of the state are:
With a budget management plan for the current fiscal year making its way through the state legislature, Gov. Janet Napolitano announced increased funding and borrowing for university programs and research initiatives in her fiscal year 2009 budget recommendation.
Funding for several TBED-focused initiatives aimed at increasing the state’s biotech portfolio is prominent in Gov. Martin O’Malley’s fiscal year 2009 budget proposal. Under the recommendation, stem cell research, biotechnology and nanotechnology are targeted for investments to grow the state’s economy, building on the actions of the 2007 legislative session (see the April 16, 2007 issue of the Digest).