Maine Continues $41M Laptop Program
It caught the attention of quite a few people when it was first proposed in early 2001, but Maine's investment in 2002 to provide every seventh and eighth grader with a new laptop - approximately 32,000 students and 4,000 teachers - continues to provide a useful example of the size and type of commitment and risk that elected leaders have to be willing to make to transform the outlook for a state or regional economy. It took strong leadership and determination from then-Gov.
DoED Commission Softens Tone on the State of Higher Ed
The Department of Education's Committee on the Future of Higher Education has released a second draft of its report on the state of American colleges and universities. As reported in the July 10 issue of the Digest, the document originally released by the committee harshly criticized the U.S. higher education system for wasteful spending, lack of academic rigor, and failure to serve the needs of the national economy.
Youngest Learners Hold Key to U.S. Competitiveness, CED Asserts
While much of the attention in the national dialogue on competitiveness and innovation has focused on federal R&D investments and science and tech education, a 62-year-old independent organization of business and education leaders says our attention should be much earlier in the education process. A new report by the Committee on Economic Development (CED) asserts economic development leaders should make quality preschools a top priority.
Job Corner: ITIF Seeks IT Policy Analyst
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a leading IT and innovation policy think tank, is seeking an IT policy analyst. Candidates should have excellent research and writing skills; knowledge of IT, telecommunications and Internet policy; at least two years of experience with these policy issues; a bachelors degree; and, ideally, a masters degree. Direct resumes to mail@innovationpolicy.org.
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Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has appointed former Kansas Gov. John Carlin to the Kansas Bioscience Authority.
Robert Cresanti has been appointed to serve as chief privacy officer for the Department of Commerce, concurrent with his responsibilities as under secretary for technology.
People
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has appointed former Kansas Gov. John Carlin to the Kansas Bioscience Authority.
People
Robert Cresanti has been appointed to serve as chief privacy officer for the Department of Commerce, concurrent with his responsibilities as under secretary for technology.
People
Lew Ebert announced he is leaving the Kansas Chamber of Commerce to become president and CEO of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry.
People
Science Foundation Arizona, a new nonprofit organization, has named Bill Harris as its director.
People
The Greater Phoenix Economic Council recently hired Jim Hudson as vice president of strategy.
People
Louisiana State University appointed Brooks Keel as its new vice chancellor for research and economic development.
People
The Open Technology Business Center, a Beaverton, Ore.-based incubator, has named Steve Morris as its third executive director.
People
Steven Preston was sworn in July 10 as administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, succeeding Hector Barreto.
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Mark Wdowik was named vice president of technology transfer for the Colorado State University Research Foundation.
People
Ned Weinshenker has been appointed to a restructured position as vice president for strategic ventures and economic development at Utah State University.
Correction
In last week's Useful Stats article, we incorrectly reported that South Dakota ranked last among states experiencing a public high school graduation rate less than the national average for the 2002-03 school year; in fact, the state ranked 19th. South Carolina had the lowest graduation rate for that year. We regret the error.
Senate Appropriators Finally Concur on ATP Demise
Supporters of NIST's Advanced Technology Program (ATP) have weathered years of attempts by members of the House and the Bush Administration to eliminate the program, but this may be the biggest hurdle yet: The Senate Appropriations Committee approved language calling for the program's termination as part of the Department of Commerce fiscal year 2007 appropriations. The first of only two ATP-related sentences included in the Senate Committee report 109-580 accompanying H.R.
Toronto Considers Strategies for Building Regional Creative Economies
In a report released last week, a Toronto group says that creative industries may soon overtake ICT and business services as the fastest growing sector in the region's economy. In order to preserve this momentum and ensure that other industries benefit from the presence of a strong creative sector, the authors recommend enlisting regional leaders to create programs that support creative people, creative enterprises, affordable spaces for creative work, and a shared community vision.
Recent Research: Is It the Water? Great Lakes Region & Manufacturing Job Loss
"More than one-third of the nation's loss of manufacturing jobs between 2000-2005 occurred in seven Great Lakes states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin," write Howard Wial and Alec Friedhoff in a new paper from the Metropolitan Policy Program of the Brookings Institution.
Can Globalization and Outsourcing Be Blamed?
Also released this week, and related to the negative change of U.S. manufacturing employment, is a new working paper by members of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Outsourcing Jobs? Multinationals and US Employment, by Ann Harrison and Margaret McMillan, examines the labor market decisions of U.S. multinationals at home and abroad for the years 1977 to 1999. Using firm level data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the authors econometric model reveals changes in the employment and operations of U.S.
SSTI Job Corner
The six position opportunities described below were posted on the SSTI Job Corner over the last week. For more information, including complete details on responsibilities, qualifications and application deadlines (when available), visit http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.
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Trisha Batra was named executive director of Absolutely! Aberdeen, an economic development group serving the Aberdeen, S.D., area.
Dr. Alan Brown was named executive director of the Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center, a newly formed economic development initiative.
People
Trisha Batra was named executive director of Absolutely! Aberdeen, an economic development group serving the Aberdeen, S.D., area.
People
Dr. Alan Brown was named executive director of the Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center, a newly formed economic development initiative.
People
Barbara Fleisner is the new vice president of economic development for the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. She succeeds Paul Ehrfurth, who retired in June.