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The line was drawn in the sand a year ago. Some felt Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), the Commonwealth's lead organization for science and technology, had been set up for failure in a partisan fight for limited public revenues. Like the rest of Virginia's economic development portfolio, CIT took a big hit in the budget cycle as Virginia dealt with a multibillion-dollar deficit in fiscal year 2003.

Tech-based economic development remains high on the agendas of the most of the governors who gave State of the State or Budget Addresses this week. Selected excerpts are provided below:

Does the level of entrepreneurial activity vary between countries, and, if so, by how much? Does the level of entrepreneurial activity affect a country’s economic growth? What makes a country entrepreneurial? These questions are the focus of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2000, (GEM 2000), a year-long study involving 43,000 individuals in 21 countries. Researchers also interviewed almost 800 experts and scholars on entrepreneurship across the world in preparation of the report.

The Maine Science & Technology Foundation (MSTF) has issued a request for proposals to conduct an "Initial Evaluation of Maine's Public Investments in Research and Development." The study, to be completed by July 1, 2001, will provide baseline data for the first comprehensive evaluation MSTF is required by law to prepare for the state legislature and Governor by July, 2006. Subsequent comprehensive evaluations are to be completed every five years. The effort will:

Organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area will spend more than $20 million this year to bridge the digital divide, according to Who's Funding the Digital Connect?, a report released this month by the San Francisco Foundation. More than 54 organizations will provide computer access and/or training to more than 75,000 low income and underserved individuals in one of the most technology-savvy regions in the country, according to the study.

Twenty researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) received the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers award late last month. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers who are in the early stages of building their independent research careers. To receive the award, nominees must be NSF CAREER (Faculty Early Career Development) awards recipients.

The commercialization of academic research in 1999 resulted in more than $40 billion in economic activity that supported more than 270,000 jobs, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). The 1999 AUTM Licensing Survey reports that business activity associated with sales of products from academic research last year is estimated to have generated $5 billion in tax revenues in the U.S.

Venture-based investments in the third quarter of 2000 reached $17.6 billion, a decrease of 12.5 percent drop from the record $19.8 billion reported in the second quarter of 2000, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers MoneyTreeTM Survey results. Investments, however, are still nearly double the $8.9 billion reported in the third quarter of 1999.

The SSTI Weekly Digest has a new sponsor, making the publication free to any and all parties interested in tech-based economic development. The Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, selected SSTI as one of three awardees in a competitive solicitation for national information dissemination projects. SSTI proposed dramatically expanding the content and distribution of the Digest and establishing a web-based resource center.

Downtown office vacancy rates are at all-time lows, leasing rates are rising, and your city is increasingly a hub for business activity. Even the old, historic structures have been rehabbed and are at capacity. Sounds like dreams for most urban economic developers, right? For a growing number of communities, however, meeting these goals is leading to “New Economy ghost towns” devoid of the foot traffic, night life, and other human activity necessary for a thriving community.

The recipients of the 2000 National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology, the nation's highest science and technology honors, were announced this week. The National Medal of Science, established by Congress in 1959 and administered by the National Science Foundation, honors individuals for contributions to the present state of knowledge across a variety of science frontiers.

During the past few weeks, the Department of the Navy, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Commerce have announced the availability of 22 inventions for license. Descriptions and contact information for each invention/patent are presented on the accompanying SSTI webpage

If the first full week of the 2004 state legislative season is any indicator of the year's tone and tempo for tech-based economic development initiatives (TBED), then we're in for quite a ride.

Last Thursday, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed bills to aid Michigan’s tool and die industry and to promote new venture capital investment in the state’s high-tech industries.

North Dakota Governor John Hoeven dedicated the lion's share of his State of the State Address to promoting a vision of economic growth for the state based entirely on technology-based economic development. The proposals centered on more than a dozen new university-based Centers of Excellence and new tax credits.

New York Governor George Pataki, in his 10th State of the State Address last week, outlined a variety of initiatives designed to further promote tech-based economic development (TBED) in the state. From refining the state's Empire Zones program and strengthening the manufacturing sector to making New York a leader in renewable energy and academic research, the governor's agenda is not short on TBED items.

Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne dedicated a portion of Monday's State of the State and Budget Address to describing how tight the 2005 fiscal environment would be for his state. The temporary sales tax will lapse, costing the state $170 million in foregone revenue. The one-time $83 million in federal bailout funds are depleted. State employees will get a 27th biweekly paycheck this calendar year, resulting in an additional budgetary burden of approximately $20 million.

"If our children are to have the kind of jobs we want them to, this type of facility is one of the finest advantages we can give them for many generations," said South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds in his 2004 State of the State Address on Tuesday.

The governor is urging legislators to approve plans to help transform an exhausted 8,000-foot-deep gold mine into a one-of-a-kind national laboratory to study subatomic particles.

Commerce Secretary Don Evans is expected to release today the Bush Administration's plan for economic growth in the manufacturing sector. According to today's Washington Post, the report will "throw President Bush's support to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership... Evans said he will support the program but will demand that the centers coordinate with other programs so they are more efficient."

The majority of an anonymous gift of $26.5 million to the University of Southern California (USC) will be used to increase the representation of women in the hard sciences and engineering faculty and encourage middle school girls to choose a science pathway in education. Money also will be used to create new faculty positions in the sciences, upgrade laboratories, increase scholarship aid for undergraduates, create new fellowships for graduates and fund child care.

Dr. Angeline Dvorak has been named as the first full-time president of Mississippi Technology, Inc. She will also serve as chief executive office of the Institute for Technology Development.

The Maine Science & Technology Foundation has appointed Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones as statewide director of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

Dr. Angeline Dvorak has been named as the first full-time president of Mississippi Technology, Inc. She will also serve as chief executive office of the Institute for Technology Development.