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Toucan Capital announced the appointment of Dr. Phillip Singerman as a new Venture Partner.

Responding to a statewide economic downturn, Gov. Ted Strickland announced two major TBED initiatives, injecting more than $1 billion into job creation and offering a free year of tuition at Ohio public universities for high school seniors.

 

Gov. Jennifer Granholm unveiled her fiscal year 2009 budget last week, proposing to refinance a portion of the state’s general obligation and taxable tobacco bonds and reduce spending across nearly all state departments in order to finance new proposals without raising taxes.

 

The fifth installment of the Tech Talkin’ Gov’s series includes highlights from State of the State Addresses delivered in Alabama, Connecticut, Minnesota and Wyoming.

 

Alabama

Gov. Bob Riley, State of the State Address, Feb. 6, 2008

One of the continuing challenges for TBED organizations is successfully documenting how their investments and activities influence the economic landscape of their states and regions. SSTI has selected a few recent state reports as examples of impact assessment, each identifying and utilizing certain measurements to help them tell their story. Their approaches may be of interest to other TBED organizations looking to gauge and share their impact with others.

State venture capital programs are an integral part of many state’s technology-based economic development portfolio. These programs can strategically target state investments towards promising high-tech companies at the critical early stages of business development and in areas where private capital is scarce. Venture programs, however, are not always easy to implement. By definition, they require a large fund of investment capital and sufficient manpower to assist and monitor their portfolio companies.

Included within the NSF’s National Patterns of R&D Resources series is data detailing the amount of each state’s total R&D expenditures and gross state product (GSP). Total R&D is calculated by combining a state’s R&D expenditures from federal sources, colleges and universities, federally funded research and development centers, industry and other nonprofit institutions.

 

It only seems natural that SSTI celebrate the premiere professional development event for the nation's tech-based economic development community in 2009 in a state that, for 20 years, has pioneered innovative approaches to transform regional economies -­ Kansas. SSTI's 13th annual conference and pre-conference workshops will be held at the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel on Oct. 20-22, 2009.

The Department of Economic and Workforce Development at the University of Southern Mississippi is seeking someone to fill a tenure-track assistant professor position. Specialization in regional workforce development is preferred; however, other areas of specialization, such as disaster recovery, entrepreneurship, rural development, technology transfer, or low-income communities, will be strongly considered.

David Archer is the new managing director for Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Robert Chernow was appointed to the newly created position of vice provost for entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

David Archer is the new managing director for Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Robert Chernow was appointed to the newly created position of vice provost for entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The Greensboro, N.C.-based Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship has a new president, Michael Hentschel.

Sandy Johnson was promoted to CEO of the Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center.

Donna Kent is the new president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council.

Dan Lynch was named president of the Greensboro Economic Development Partnership.

The Information Technology Association of Wisconsin, formed in June 2005, selected Jim Rice as its president and CEO.

The Southern Arizona Tech Council announced it will merge its programs into the recently created Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc., an integration expected to be mostly completed by June 30, 2006.

Amit Yoran replaces Gilman Louie as In-Q-Tel's new CEO.

Four years ago, President Bush launched a nationwide initiative to increase the availability of affordable, high-speed Internet access. The Administration's Broadband Initiative, which included efforts to expand the wireless spectrum available for commercial use and new funding to support broadband research, sought to eliminate the gaps in service that existed in many areas of the country and to improve U.S. competitiveness through its broadband infrastructure.

Gov. Charlie Crist outlined several new alternative and renewable energy initiatives aimed at diversifying the state’s economy and creating high-wage jobs in his fiscal year 2008-09 budget recommendation. Many of the new proposals would be financed by tapping into the state’s budget reserves and relying on casino and lottery revenues.

 

Gov. Brad Henry unveiled the details of his fiscal year 2009 budget recommendation earlier this week, providing a substantial increase in funding to the state’s lead TBED agency and proposing a permanent funding mechanism for cutting-edge research through the EDGE Endowment.

 

Several months of debate leading into a special legislative session late last year was not enough to convince lawmakers to approve funding for two of the governor’s major TBED priorities. With the release of the fiscal year 2008-09 budget recommendation, Gov. Ed Rendell is again asserting the importance of the alternative energy legislation and the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund, urging lawmakers to quickly enact the initiatives.

 

Measuring the strength of a state or region’s economy, particularly the elements related to tech-based economic development, is a tricky but vital tool for developing and updating TBED policies. Several challenges present themselves when deciding what information to present on the elements of the innovation system and assessing the region’s health and performance relative to appropriate surrogates.

 

This is your opportunity to shine in the spotlight! By hosting SSTI’s 14th Annual Conference in 2010, you can increase your national and international visibility by showcasing the success of your state and/or community’s tech-based economic development efforts to thousands of TBED professionals.