SSTI is proud to announce the addition of two new staff members to its team. Sheri Stickely will join SSTI on Aug. 15 as a Vice President. Sheri is leaving the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Technology (OCAST) to join SSTI. She has served most recently as Interim Executive Director and has been with OCAST since its inception in 1987.
While some state legislatures debate banning public funds for some or all stem cell research, others are using whatever funding tools they have available to advance the controversial science. Some states use tobacco settlement money, others use revenue bonds, and still others use direct appropriations. Some states use voter referenda while most stay within the traditional state legislative process. The newest twist comes from Illinois, where Illinois Gov.
The Oregon Legislature overwhelmingly passed S.B. 853 last week, creating venture development funds to facilitate technology commercialization for students and faculty at the state's seven public universities.
For many practitioners, the quickest summary of a recent 16-page analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York might be "something has to change." Looking at job creation since the recovery began three years ago, Richard Freeman and William Rogers III state in The Weak Jobs Recovery: Whatever Happened to "The Great American Jobs Machine"? that this is the worst recovery in all post-World War II recoveries.
The quality of the economic performance assessment of federal programs has improved, but gaps still remain in the application of the measures used, according to the latest report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
A new resource published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) argues that indices claiming to measure the same thing - namely, the capacity or potential for economic growth - often vary widely in their results and are not effective yardsticks of economic potential.
A ballot proposal being put forth by Citizens for a Healthy Michigan would reduce funding for Michigan Life Sciences Corridor sponsored projects by nearly $50 million annually, estimates a report released by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The annual reduction includes both the cut in direct funding and required matching funds for Corridor funded projects.
The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has announced 40 awards potentially totaling $101.6 million in ATP funding matched by an industry cost-share of $92 million if carried through to completion. These awards were selected from proposals submitted to 2002 competition.
Construction is underway for the Cool Springs Life Sciences Center (CSLSC), a $74 million biomedical research facility planned for Franklin, TN, 15 miles south of Nashville. When completed, the 10-acre center will be home to life sciences-focused R&D facilities for biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
The National Commission on Entrepreneurship (NCOE) has released the American Formula for Growth – Federal Policy and the Entrepreneurial Economy, 1958-1998, a report that provides an extensive review of the role of public policy during the “entrepreneurial revolution” of the past 40 years.
In the 1990s, the dialogue on information technology (IT) centered on dot.coms and e-commerce, and little focus was placed on the effect of IT on the labor market. Richard Freeman addresses this issue in The Labour Market in the New Information Economy, an NBER working paper released this month.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty committee has suggested that the university provide off-campus facilities to help faculty perform classified public service or research involving the nation’s security. In the Public Interest, a report of the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on Access To and Disclosure of Scientific Information of MIT, presents recommendations for the university in handling classified work in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
The economic downturn and continuing state and local fiscal problems are not stopping most efforts to develop tech-based economies. Here are a few examples of recent groundbreakings from around the country.
NASA has selected 45 consortia in the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space Grant) to receive funding for aerospace workforce development. A total of $3.56 million is being awarded in response to the proposals submitted by the state organizations to NASA's Education Division in the Office of Human Resources and Education at Headquarters in Washington.
Peter Jobse has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology.
Patrick Jones, executive director of the Biotechnology Association of the Spokane Region, has been named executive director of Eastern Washington University's new Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis.
Peter Jobse has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology.
Patrick Jones, executive director of the Biotechnology Association of the Spokane Region, has been named executive director of Eastern Washington University's new Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis.
Dennis Lower of the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana is the new leader of the Louisiana Economic Development Council.
Judy McKinney-Cherry is the new director of the Delaware Economic Development Office.
Carl Russell has resigned as president and CEO of Tucson Technology Incubator Inc. Bo Statham, a consultant to UniSource Energy Corp. on new business development and a client adviser at the incubator, has been named interim president.
Dr. Melvyn Schiavelli, senior program officer for the Harrisburg Polytechnic Development Corporation, has been named acting president and CEO, succeeding Dr. Charles Clevenger.
Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer has left his position as secretary of the Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing to become executive vice president with GoldBanc Corp. Sherry Brown, who had retired from the department, will return to serve as interim secretary.
The U.S. can watch as another country significantly expands its investments in innovation. This time it's France, as newly appointed Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin last month announced that the national government will double its funding from €500 million to €1 billion for the Industrial Innovation Agency (IIA), and give €350 million to the National Research Agency (ANR).
Just over two months ago, Acting Gov. Richard Codey announced budget shortfalls were delaying the state's $380 million stem cell research initiative (see the April 25 issue of the Digest).
In its third special session of the year, Mississippi legislators passed House Bill 3, an economic development package of grants and loans for high-tech and existing industry, including Gov. Barbour’s Momentum Mississippi Initiative.