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.

As the House passed its version of the fiscal year 2006 defense appropriations bill last Monday, "Little R, Big D" once again may describe the country's R&D priorities for the largest component of the federal budget.

With hopes of creating a geographic concentration of academic and private bioscience research and commercialization, the Louisiana legislature ended its 2005 session with passage of a bill creating a new development authority.

Technology commercialization can be a slow and arduous process, often taking years to reap the benefits of the investment. Recognizing that defense technology innovations move too slowly from the lab to the field, Congress created three programs within the Department of Defense (DoD) to speed and enhance the transition.

With SSTI's compilation of the FY 2003 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) proposal and award statistics by state, tech-based economic development programs - specifically SBIR assistance and outreach efforts - now have the requisite data to evaluate conversion trends for most agencies during the four-year period 2001-2004.

James Epolito, the former president and CEO of Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America, will become president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) effective Sept. 1. The current MEDC president and CEO, Donald Jakeway, will lead MEDC's international economic development efforts.

James Epolito, the former president and CEO of Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America, will become president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) effective Sept. 1. The current MEDC president and CEO, Donald Jakeway, will lead MEDC's international economic development efforts.

President and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, Todd Bankofier, is resigning his position on Aug. 26 to become vice president and general manager for Ensynch Inc., a Tempe-based information technology services and solutions consulting company.

ACCRA, a national nonprofit research organization, has named Jeffrey Blodgett of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) as president of the Board of Directors for 2005-06, beginning July 1.

Terry Blum, dean of Georgia Tech's College of Management, will resign her position on June 30, 2006.

The Indiana Health Industry Forum announced James "Mike" Brooks accepted the position of president and CEO effective July 11.

Randy Goldsmith resigned his position as president and CEO of the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative (SATAI) Network to become assistant vice president of tech transfer and economic development at the University of Texas at San Antonio. SATAI is currently accepting applications to fill the vacancy (see item below).

Jeff Moseley will replace Jim Kollaer as president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership.

Purdue University professor Jerry Woodall was chosen to lead the university's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship.

The San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative (SATAI) Network, a nonprofit organization, is accepting applications from qualified candidates to fill the position of President and CEO. The SATAI Network seeks someone with strong leadership and team-building skills, as well as experience in linking venture capital to venture creation and cultivating an environment and resources for start-up enterprises.

SSTI's annual conference is already considered by many to be the nation's premier educational and networking experience for the tech-based economic development community. However, the ninth annual conference to be held October 20-21, 2005 - keeping with years past - gives certified economic development professionals even more reason to attend.

After being struck down by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2004, the state legislature recently passed legislation re-creating a $500 million version of its Grow Iowa Values Fund. The bills commit $500 million over 10 years to support tech-based economic development and other economic development initiatives. Gov. Tom Vilsack signed the measures on June 10.

The Texas Legislature recently approved $100 million of the original $300 million requested by Gov. Rick Perry for the Emerging Technologies Fund (ETF). Another $100 million is expected to be available from the state's rainy day fund if revenues exceed forecasts.

Catering to high-tech companies built on innovation, the nonprofit regional collaboration dubbed SPARK, hopes to transform Ann Arbor, Mich., into more of an entrepreneurial hub and triple the number of technology jobs within five years.

While the U.S. wrests its way to remain the global leader in nanotechnology (see the May 30 issue of the Digest), some states and regions are wasting no time to secure their own world-class cluster in the field.