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One of the latest big-ticket investments targeting stem cell research came from Ann Arbor last week as the University of Michigan committed $10.5 million of its internal resources to establish an interdisciplinary center for stem cell research. The announcement is one of dozens from around the country since California voters approved Proposition 71 in 2004, borrowing $3 billion over 10 years for stem cell research.

Between 1996 and 2004, an average 0.36 percent of the U.S. population created a new business each month, representing approximately 500,000 new businesses per month, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.

Not too surprising. Put the premier professional development opportunity for the tech-based economic development community in a great city and you'll draw hundreds of participants from at least 45 states and several other countries. Offer conference attendees five-star accommodations at prices well below market and we've ended up with the largest room block yet for an SSTI annual conference.

Limited Seating Remaining in Three Preconference Sessions

In 2003, academic institutions across the U.S. reported having a total of $23.76 billion in R&D expenditures for research related to the life sciences, according to the National Science Foundation's Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, FY 2003.

New and re-elected Governors gave inaugural addresses in Alabama, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas during the past 10 days. Additionally, State of the State addresses were made in Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. Building tech-based economies remains a high priority for many Governors, as evidenced in the following:

Nevada

Many states and communities are focusing their limited technology-based economic development funds toward cluster development, concentrating on those sectors in which some assemblage already exists within the jurisdiction. Proponents of the approach suggest the public sector is able to maximize its investments in those areas already showing some strength.

Whether the reason is to spur more innovation among students, fight the brain drain of graduates or simply help to build tech-based economies, many states, communities and universities are targeting a portion of their efforts toward encouraging tech-based entrepreneurship among their young residents and college students.

More rigorous evaluations of local economic development programs and policies are feasible argues a recently released working paper by Timothy Bartik, a senior economist at The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Evaluating the Impacts of Local Economic Development Policies On Local Economic Outcomes: What Has Been Done and What Is Doable? stresses the importance of evaluation in local economic development.

Midwest Angel Network Association Launched in Illinois

Todd Bankofier has been appointed president of the Arizona Technology Council.

Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski has named Edgar Blatchford, a journalism professor at the University of Alaska, to serve as commissioner for the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Todd Bankofier has been appointed president of the Arizona Technology Council.

Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski has named Edgar Blatchford, a journalism professor at the University of Alaska, to serve as commissioner for the Department of Community and Economic Development.

John Harrison is Governor Bob Riley's pick to serve as director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Harrison was the Mayor of Luverne, Alabama for the past 14 years.

Ellen Hemmerly has been named president of the nonprofit Association of University Research Parks.

David Iannucci is the new head of the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development.

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano named Gilbert Jimenez to lead the Department of Commerce and has asked Gail Howard to serve as her policy advisor on economic development. Jimenez was Bank One International's Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Mexico/Latin America. Howard comes to the administration from Arizona State University, where she has served since 1990 as the University's Director of Economic Development and Constituent Outreach.

Charles W. Steger, President of Virginia Tech. has been elected chairman of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology. Paula S. Gulak, Founding Partner of SyCom Technologies, is the new Vice Chairman.

Dennis Yablonsky, chief executive officer for the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, is Governor Ed Rendell's pick to serve as Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Central California's Regional Technology Alliance has changed its name to the Inland Empire techSOURCE.

Central California's Regional Technology Alliance has changed its name to the Inland Empire techSOURCE.

A new strategic plan focusing on the North Carolina Department of Commerce's four cornerstones of economic development success – a globally competitive workforce, investment in science and technology, a competitive business climate, and attractive communities prepared for economic development – has been released by the state's Economic Development Board.

With the passage of HB 675, the FY 03-04 Capitol Budget Bill, the Ohio Legislature approved funding for a $100 million Innovation Ohio Revolving Loan Fund and a second $50 million installment for the Wright Brothers Capital Fund. Both measures are key components of Ohio's $1.6 billion 10-year Third Frontier Project — the state's largest-ever commitment to expanding high tech research capabilities and promoting start-up companies to build high wage jobs.

Nearly $1.5 million in grants from the OneGeorgia Authority will go toward specific initiatives promoting technology-based economic development in Georgia. The awards are part of almost $7.5 million in grants and loans being awarded to 16 of the state's most economically distressed communities.

Since reaching a high point of almost 27,300 in 1998, the number of science and engineering (S&E) doctorates has dropped by 7 percent to just over 25,500 in 2001, reports a 2001 nationwide survey conducted for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The decline since 1998 has led to a rollback of total Ph.D.s to pre-1994 levels, the report states.