Search

Greater investment in basic scientific research, as opposed to applied research, is more likely to drive stronger long-term economic growth, induce a knowledge spillover effect, increase productivity ROI, and encourage more public-private collaboration, according to a group of economists at the International Monetary Fund.

Innovations are often born from small businesses, operating with few employees, if any at all, to bring new technologies and processes to market. However, new small businesses frequently fail and are not the only source of innovation.

The PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor Q3 2021 reports eye-popping investment activity through the first three quarters of the year. So far this year, the total venture capital market has invested more than $238 billion across an estimated 12,000+ deals, more than 1,300 exits have yielded more than $580 billion in value for investors, and 526 funds have raised more than $96 billion.

Semiconductor leaders and stakeholders have joined together to launch a year-long, industry-led effort to boost U.S. semiconductor competitiveness. The National Semiconductor Economic Roadmap (NSER) will focus on the workforce, supply chain and infrastructure to support industry R&D, design, manufacturing and end applications.

Across the United States, universities’ endowments have seen a large return in their portfolios in the past year, according to a recent PitchBook report. This trend was most notable in well-known universities with large endowments. The University of North Carolina reported a 42.3 percent return, Duke University reported a 56 percent return, and Washington University in St. Louis reported a 65 percent return. These gains are largely attributed to their investments in alternative assets like venture capital and private equity.

France announced a $35 billion five-year plan to develop innovative technology and industrial activity to help boost its economic growth. An AP news story said the plan includes $9.2 billion to develop energy technology to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and additional funding to finance small nuclear reactors.

The White House is seeking public input to help remove barriers to equity in the science and technology ecosystem.

ESS Inc., a company that closed a deal to go public earlier this month, was able to leverage public capital at its early stages to accelerate its success as a startup. Founded in 2011, the Wilsonville, Oregon, based company manufactures batteries for long-duration energy storage applications. In 2012, ESS Inc.

Technologies that are developed from the Department of Energy’s R&D are now required to be substantially manufactured in America. The requirement was developed in response to President Joe Biden’s executive order that all agencies review their policies related to supply chain vulnerabilities. The rule change takes the domestic manufacturing preference that is in place currently only for exclusive licenses for products sold/used in the U.S. and applies it by default to all Energy licenses from Oct. 1 on.

New York City and the state of Illinois have both made moves recently to shift more of their economies to clean energy.

With the regular budget process stalled for the time being, Senate Democrats released their draft bills for the remaining three-quarters of the FY 2022 federal budget. Included in these proposals are substantial increases for Build to Scale and the Small Business Administration’s innovation programs, as well as funding for a new Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) at the National Science Foundation.

Increased adoption of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles has been empirically linked to improved financial performance, but venture capital (VC) has fallen behind other sectors in embracing such measures.

Higher levels of business creation can be linked to the presence of innovation in a state through entrepreneurial activity and transitioning to new industries, and this edition of Useful Stats examines data from the Census Bureau’s recently updated Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) on net establishment formation and the job creation stemming from those establishments in 2019. While figures vary widely among the states, most saw growth in both net establishment creation and net job creation in 2019; this data is prior to the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.

The EDA University Center Economic Development Program Competition recently announced $2.5 million in grants awarded to 25 colleges and universities in the Chicago and Philadelphia EDA regions to leverage assets, promote innovation and strengthen regional economies. The goal of these awards is “to boost innovation, create good-paying jobs and ensure American competitiveness in the global economy” while funding research as well as innovation economy development services.

A recent research study suggests that diverse identity representation of website spokespeople increases the likelihood of attracting a higher proportion of prospective entrepreneurs.

Pew Charitable Trusts recently published data demonstrating that Q1 2021 experienced the largest year-over-year personal income growth rate since 1948. All states recorded increases in total personal income, and 27 experienced their strongest year-over-year growth on record.

Implementing innovative policies is necessary for driving the manufacturing industry forward in Illinois, according to a recent report from the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC). Nearly 600,000 Illinoisans are employed directly in manufacturing, and the manufacturing industry accounts for 12 percent of Illinois’s annual GDP. The findings of the state report, however, are adaptable and can be utilized across the United States in regions that seek to encourage innovation in manufacturing and promote job growth in an increasingly competitive globalized economy.

This week marks the 10th anniversary celebration of National Manufacturing Week. National Manufacturing Week celebrates the role of the manufacturing sector within the United States. With roughly 12.1 million employees, the manufacturing sector is the fifth largest employer relative to other industries, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration today announced the 50 organizations that will share in grants totaling $36.5 million to support programs that fuel innovation and tech-based economic development as part of the Build to Scale program.

President Joe Biden nominated Laurie Locascio, Ph.D., to lead the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) within the U.S. Department of Commerce and serve as Undersecretary for Standards and Technology.

Editor's note: SSTI discovered that NASA updated their data which was used in this article after its publication. Specifically, the update included previously omitted 2020 application and awards data for Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, and Nevada; and 2014 data for Iowa. While the changes to the data were minute, we strive to provide the most accurate and reliable data available. As such, the article and the interactive graphic below have been updated to reflect these changes.

Last week, SSTI’s Innovation Advocacy Council chair Ben Johnson (also of BioSTL) testified before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Small Business about the role that innovation plays in job creation and how the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Regional Innovation Clusters (RIC) and Growth Accelerators Fund Competition (GAFC) support these efforts.

The House Committee on Appropriations advanced an FY 2022 funding bill that provides for substantial increases to many science and innovation programs.

Today, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced funding opportunities for the $3 billion Congress provided the agency in the American Rescue Plan Act. Funds are available through six distinct challenges, with separate goals and application processes/deadlines for each.

Falling demand for office real estate and public transit, greater need for flexible child care and requirements for reskilling are some of the insights gained into the future of Massachusetts’ workforce.