Europe is catching up to the United States in areas such as idea creation and risk capital but lacks the means to retain its talent, according to a recent report from authors at the Imperial College Business School in London.

Because of recent changes in the methodologies used by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), research and development is now recognized as investment in statistics on U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).  As a result, from 1929 to 2012, the average annual growth rate of GDP is 0.1 percentage point higher than in the previously published estimates.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the first 26 recipients of the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program grants. Managed by the Economic Development Administration, the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program is designed to advance innovation and capacity-building activities in regions across the country through three different types of grants:

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules to update and expand Regulation A, an existing exemption from registration for smaller issuers of securities.  The new Regulation A+ will enable smaller companies to offer and sell up to $50 million of securities in a 12-month period, subject to eligibility, disclosure and reporting requirements. Under Regulation A+, there are two tiers of offerings that companies may make that include:

Working groups at The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and The Association of American Universities (AAU), two membership organizations of higher education institutions, have released statements on the role of universities in managing intellectual property and technology transfer alongside their core missions and interest in maximizing public benefit.

Academic institutions throughout the nation are committing themselves to the Maker movement, with the hopes of empowering a culture on their campus that promotes student confidence, STEM education, and hands-on creativity, according to a recent report by the MakeSchools Higher Education Alliance. Created in response to the Obama administration’s activities around Maker spaces, such as

State government tax revenues increased by 2.2 percent in FY14, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2014 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections. The uptick marks the fourth consecutive year of modest revenue growth. Data from the National Association of State Budget Officers' (NASBO) Fiscal Survey of States: Spring 2015 corroborates this trend, indicating increases in state revenues and proposed spending. NASBO found that 42 executive state budgets proposed spending increases for FY16.

Over the past few months, SSTI has followed proposals issued by governors in their budget requests, State of the State Addresses, Inaugural Speeches and other events. Now that many governors have signed spending bills, the SSTI Digest will check on the status of these proposals, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review actions in Kansas, Michigan and Minnesota.

During a Clean Energy Investment Summit, the White House announced a $4 billion commitment by major foundations, institutional investors, and others to fund innovative solutions to help fight climate change, including technologies with breakthrough potential to reduce carbon pollution. The commitment of $4 billion doubled the initial $2 billion goal set at the launch of the administration’s Clean Energy Investment Initiative last February.

Over the past few months, SSTI has followed proposals issued by governors in their budget requests, State of the State Addresses, Inaugural Speeches and other events. Now that many governors have signed spending bills, the SSTI Digest will check on the status of these proposals, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review actions in Florida and Rhode Island.

The Growth Dashboard, an annual report released by the Enterprise Research Centre, a policy advisory group with researchers from five United Kingdom business schools, and the government’s Business Growth Service, serves as a source of evidence to inform discussions on the country’s business support priorities.

Last week, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez signed House Bill 2 into law, new tax incentive legislation that, according to the governor, expands the state’s economic development toolkit. The bill received bipartisan support, in the GOP-controlled House, where it passed 60-2, and the majority-Democrat Senate, where it was approved 31-11.

In recent years, academic researchers have focused on trying to identify the characteristics that could make someone a potentially successful founder of a startup. However, there has been limited research on the characteristic of the individuals who join these founders as early employees to help them develop and commercialize innovative new products and services.

Biotech is in the midst of an investment boom, at least in Silicon Valley. In the first quarter of this year, biotech firms in the region raised $574 million, the third highest quarter on record, according to data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and reporting by the San Jose Mercury News. This peak represents a 103 percent increase over the same quarter the previous year.

Now that many governors have signed spending bills and legislative sessions are drawing to a close, the SSTI Digest will check on the status of proposals related to the innovation economy, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review spending bills in Alaska, Connecticut, Louisiana, South Carolina and Vermont.

Now that many governors have signed spending bills and legislative sessions are drawing to a close, the SSTI Digest will check on the status of proposals related to the innovation economy, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review spending bills in California, Iowa, Ohio and New Jersey.

Now that many governors have signed spending bills and legislative sessions are drawing to a close, the SSTI Digest will check on the status of proposals related to the innovation economy, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review spending bills in Delaware, Hawaii, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

Vice President Joe Biden announced that the Research Foundation for the State University of New York will receive a $110 million federal grant from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to lead the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM-Photonics). The Department of Defense-funded grant will be supplemented by a $250 million investment from the state of New York with additional funding commitments from public and private partners expected to exceed $245 million over the next five years.

With place-based policies for free higher education in place at the local level for years, recent developments have begun to apply these programs on a grander scale. This month, Oregon became the second state to provide free community-college to its citizens, while a team of congressional Democrats introduced a proposal to move forward with President Obama’s plan for free community-college nationally.

Between 1998 and 2010, impact investment funds outperformed funds of the same size, according to the Wall Street Journal. Impact-focused funds of $100 million or less posted a 9.5 percent pooled net internal rate of return, outperforming the 4.5 percent delivered by funds of the same size that were not focused on impact investments.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation will award $2 million in grants to expand successful nonprofit programs to help entrepreneurs. The foundation is seeking scalable programs at nonprofit organizations to receive grants between $250,000 and $500,000, paid over two years. Awardees will be selected for their demonstrated record of supporting entrepreneurs, geographic diversity and scalability. Applications are due July 31, 2015.

Last month, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed the MNVest bill – an intrastate securities exemption that allows Minnesota-based companies and entrepreneurs to raise money through equity crowdfunding. To qualify for the exemption, businesses must show evidence of several requirements including being organized under state laws and that its principal office is located in Minnesota. Companies can raise capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors from across the state.

Women as business owners may be an underutilized resource for economic development and growth in the state of Wisconsin, according to a recent study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) – Women Business Leaders Across Wisconsin, 1990-2011. The researchers found that women-owned or managed more than 80,000 Wisconsin-based businesses (nearly 19 percent of all businesses) in 2011.

Located just a 20-minutes from New York City, Newark has long existed in the shadow of its much larger neighbor. Despite this, Newark’s downtown received an important boost to its innovation ecosystem this week with the announcement of Newark Venture Partners, a venture capital fund and accelerator.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the winning teams of its first Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC) – a competition that challenged teams of community college students to propose innovative science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based solutions to real-world problems. The Red Foxes, from Red Rocks Community College (CO), placed first in the challenge with its innovative Mobile Medical Disaster Relief Dispensation Unit.