On the SSTI Calendar of Events webpage, we present brief descriptions and contact links for more than 100 regional or national conferences, meetings, and workshops planned for the coming year. The list ranges from workshops on how to secure federal technology funding for programs such as the Advanced Technology Program to venture capital forums to annual meetings for most of the associations involved with tech-based economic development.

The most common component of state tech-based economic development efforts -- technical and financial assistance to small, technology firms competing for federal research funding -- got a much needed boost last Friday with Congressional approval of legislation creating the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST). Equally important for proponents of better state outreach for the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) was a $3.5 million initial appropriation for FAST.

On its final day of work, the 106th Congress passed two new programs to encourage community development and reinvestment: the New Markets Tax Credit and the New Markets Venture Capital Program.

Several years of record growth in tax revenues are apparently over for many states, according to Fiscal Survey of the States, released jointly by the National Governors’ Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers on Monday.

Colorado leaders want to encourage more college students to go into science and teaching and two recent proposals, coming from Governor Bill Owens and the state's Commission on Higher Education, are designed to do just that.

Funding totaling $18 million is available during FY2001 through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist in economic development projects in rural areas. The Rural Economic Development Grants program has $3 million available, while the Rural Economic Development Loans program has $15 million.

The Department of Education has announced its FY 2001 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program solicitation topics. The Phase I solicitation release date is Jan. 26, 2001 with a closing date of April 19, 2001. The agency also will be increasing Phase I award levels this year to $60,000.

After discovering that only 10 percent of the venture capital raised in New Jersey is invested in New Jersey companies, a new venture fund has been established combining private, state, and federal resources. The seed investment fund will be used to assist New Jersey start-up technology businesses get off the ground.

What can policymakers and practitioners do if the statistics and other metrics indicate a state, region or locality is not well positioned for the technology-based economy, but the elected leaders and economic development professionals are plodding along with traditional approaches to job creation and development?

Following on the Summit on Minnesota’s Economy, a 21-member group appointed by the president of the University of Minnesota has unveiled its recommendations to strengthen the state’s economy. The recommendations in Report to the People of Minnesota: Building a Knowledge Economy for Minnesota’s 21st Century are divided among five strategies:



Recommendations in the new report are divided among five strategies:

Western Virginia’s economy is stagnant due to a variety of factors and must get in line with the “New Economy” according to a report commissioned by the Center for Innovative Leadership in Roanoke. A second study by the Center revealed the area's residents appear willing to support activities designed to bring new business and employment to the region.

Despite small improvements, Northeast and Midwest regions lag behind the South and West in terms of dollars returned to states from taxes sent to Washington, according to a report issued by the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

A new comprehensive study of the state of higher education in the United States says that as a whole, the nation has made large improvements in the percentage of high school students taking upper-level math and science courses.

Solicitations totaling more than $101 million have been released by the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation (see the National Nanotechnology Initiative webpage at http://www.nano.gov for more details on each opportunity). The amount of funding available is one more indication of the importance that nanotechnology is expected to play in the future.

New legislation to help revitalize technology development in Washington, D.C. received unanimous approval from the Council of the District of Columbia and is expected to be signed by Mayor Anthony Williams.