America’s laurels for its record of innovation and entrepreneurship are great but there is no time to rest on those past accomplishments given the changing global economy, a recent paper by the Council on Competitiveness concludes. Where America Stands: Entrepreneurship draws from dozens of other research papers, studies and articles to provide an overview of the current entrepreneurial climate in the U.S.

 

In the global competition to create the best markets for entrepreneurs, Hong Kong moved up from second place in 2005 to reclaim the top spot, according to the Milken Institute's 2006 Capital Access Index. Hong Kong was first in the 2004 edition of the index. 

 

In 2006, Singapore rose from third to second place. The United Kingdom, ranking first in 2005, slipped back to third for the 2006 rankings, while the U.S. dropped from fourth to fifth because of an increase in the lending rate.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently announced the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) will conduct a new competition in fiscal year 2007 for cost-shared awards to support high-risk industrial R&D.

Whether you call it an incubator, accelerator, technology center or innovation zone, most communities actively engaged in promoting tech entrepreneurship can point to a building or group of buildings that houses some of those efforts. These facilities increase the success of budding tech firms by providing some combination of low-cost space, shared resources, business assistance, intellectual property assistance, and access to capital. 

 

When it comes to new firm survival in the service sector, do regions that have above-average high school dropout rates fare worse than regions with higher percentages of their adult populations earning college degrees? The answer, according to a recent discussion paper by Zoltan Acs, Catherine Armington, and Ting Zhang, is it depends.

 

This week's issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest exposes just the tip of the iceberg of information available on entrepreneurship. That's where the TBED Resource Center comes in handy. The TBED Resource Center, developed by SSTI in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Technology Policy, is an interactive website providing a wealth of information for practitioners, policymakers, university faculty, and researchers alike.

Nineteen states that applied for assistance under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program in fiscal year 2005 saw an award-to-proposal conversion rate greater than the national average of 16.4 percent. Of those states, five experienced rates of greater than 20 percent ­- Nebraska (29%), Maine (27.3%), District of Columbia (25%), Montana (21.8%), and Washington (20%).

With Entrepreneurship Week, you and your colleagues may be more inspired to take steps to encourage entrepreneurship. But where to begin? What approaches should you consider? Or perhaps you are having problems developing an entrepreneurial culture?

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is seeking a director to run its Innovation and Technology Office. The director is responsible for implementing and expanding a statewide technology and innovation-based economic development program that encompasses a full range of sales, marketing, business recruitment, business development, community development and public relations activities.

Sheri Stickley, vice president of SSTI, will be leaving SSTI on March 2 to accept a position with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Sheri was one of the primary authors of A Resource Guide for Technology-based Economic Development, and we wish her well in her new position. Oklahoma's gain is our loss, but we look forward to benefiting from her advice and wisdom as she enters a new chapter of her career.

John Gee was named president and CEO of the Information Technology Association of Wisconsin.