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While the Tucson area is growing rapidly, surpassing one million residents last fall, regional economic development officials are concerned about personal income levels keeping pace with the growth. They argue that a highly-skilled and educated workforce within existing and emerging clusters is imperative to raise per capita personal income and to improve the region’s economic growth along with its burgeoning population.

 

It’s a question that many policymakers and researchers across the world are attempting to answer. A recent paper by Sharon Belenzon and Mark Schankerman, Harnessing Success: Determinants of University Technology Licensing Performance, adds to the growing body of knowledge on the topic, exploring how the differences between universities may impact the income generated by licensing technology.

Please plan on joining us in Baltimore on October 18-19. You can learn firsthand how the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund successfully secured the increase in funding and how the initiatives are progressing, all while enjoying the view of the gorgeous Inner Harbor (see related story in this Digest).

This week, the Department of Homeland Security released its environmental impact statement comparing several locations nationwide regarding the future site of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF).  After considering factors such as environmenta

Last week, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh announced that the country would form a quasi-independent panel modeled on the U.S.

Two weeks ago, SSTI reviewed the TBED strategies states are advised to pursue as presented in the 2008 State New Economy Index released by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and the Kauffman Foundation (see the

Gov. Jim Douglas plans to merge the Vermont Departments of Economic Development and Housing and Community Affairs.

The Complete description of this opportunity and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

Since the SSTI Funding Supplement became a members-only publication in 2006 more than 4,250 funding opportunities have been distributed. In 2008 only, there were more than 1,400 different opportunities for your client companies and university research faculties to secure funding -- if you were an SSTI member. Competition for federal research funding is growing, particularly as program budgets have been relatively flat or declining in recent federal budget cycles.

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

The proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, released last week by the House Appropriations Committee, would dramatically increase federal funding for research in several agencies required to participate in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.&nb

Investment by angel groups declined at least ten percent this year, according to the Angel Capital Association's (ACA) annual survey of angel group leaders. In January and February, about 55 percent of these leaders predicted that both their number of deals and total invested dollars would increase in 2008. Half of them now admit that their predictions for the year were overly optimistic.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently approved $15 million in funding for three programs that will support innovation and extraordinary effort among its faculty. Two of these programs will make awards for teaching excellence, one for faculty at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and the other for teaching at the system's other eight universities.

The Scottish Government announced last month a funding plan for the university system that directs more than 10 percent of current funding into a new Horizon Fund created to make targeted investments in research, technology transfer, and entrepreneurial development.

In the "TBED People and Organizations" column of the Dec. 10 Digest, Oklahoma Gov.

SSTI is wrapping up the conference brochure for our 11th annual conference, Transforming Regional Economies, a mailing that goes to more than 12,000 TBED practitioners.

North Canton, Ohio, has been chosen as the site for the nation's newest Department of Defense (DoD) Center of Excellence. Centers of Excellence deal with specific military technology needs that are deemed critical to the nation's defense and security.

Bills have been passed and budgets approved with the close of several 2007 legislative sessions in the western states. The below article is part of the Digest's continuing coverage of the legislative outcomes of some of what governors proposed in their State of the State and budget addresses (see SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs Series in the Jan. 8, Jan.

Experience can be an invaluable, and sometimes irreplaceable, asset during the intense and complicated process of building a new firm. Many theorists believe that past entrepreneurial experience, whether with successful or unsuccessful firms, prepares entrepreneurs for the pressures and risks involved in starting a company.

A popular strategy in the TBED community is the attempt to both recruit and develop academic entrepreneurs that may have a substantial effect on the growth of a region's economy. Successful efforts to attract researchers, such as the Georgia Research Alliance and Kentucky's Bucks for Brains programs, are being replicated across the country. However, if one of the hoped-for payoffs is the successful creation of innovative companies, what types of researchers are best suited for this role?