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The University of Cincinnati has appointed Anne Chasser to serve as associate vice president for technology transfer and commercialization in the school's Office of Research.

Ladd Christensen and Martin Frey are the new co-directors of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development.

Oleg Kagonovich has been promoted to the position of CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance. He formerly served as Chief Operating Officer.

Mike Koop, deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Community & Economic Development, is resigning effective March 1 to return to the private sector.

Richard Lunak is the new CEO of Innovation Works and Ron Bianchini has been named chairman of the organization.

Envision Utah appointed Alan Matheson as executive director of the Coalition for Utah's Future, the sponsor of Envision Utah.

Johns Hopkins University has named Jill Tarzian Sorenson to serve as associate provost and director of the Office of Licensing and Technology Development.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin has appointed Nancy Sturm and Jay Cole to serve, respectively, as the state’s education technology coordinator and governor's liaison for education policy, both new policy positions.

Jason Williamson is leaving his position as vice president of community development for the South Carolina Technology Alliance to become a founding partner in a new start-up tech firm.

Against the backdrop of BIO’s annual meeting, held this week in Boston, Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled a comprehensive, collaborative Massachusetts Life Science Strategy. The plan includes a 10-year, $1 billion investment package to support biomedical and stem cell research.

This year, the Florida Legislature focused a great deal of attention on TBED issues, approving and continuing its support for several tech-related programs. Though Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed $20 million investment in stem cell research did not survive the legislative session, initiatives designed to encourage other cutting-edge research, improve access to capital and attract promising companies garnered more than $400 million in the state budget.

 

Indiana's General Assembly adjourned for the year last week, after passing a $29 billion budget that included more than $100 million for TBED-related programs.

 

The 2007 Iowa state legislative session has looked very favorably on TBED. One of the centerpieces of Iowa Gov. Chet Culver’s campaign last year was his pledge to "develop the next-generation energy ecomony in Iowa" through a $100 million state fund (see the Feb. 19, 2007 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest). The Iowa Power Fund was approved by the state’s General Assembly late last month and closely resembles Gov. Culver’s original plan.

A number of crucial TBED initiatives introduced earlier this year by North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven were recently enacted by the state legislature, including a $42 million renewable energy plan, $20 million in new funding for university-based Centers of Excellence, a 25 percent R&D tax credit, and additional investments in research and workforce development.

 

University administrators most commonly measure success for their technology transfer efforts by revenue generation. Public institutions, however, increasingly have state legislators, governors and local civic leaders expecting those licenses and spinoffs to occur within their political borders. Tech transfer does not always equate to regional economic development to the degree desired by policymakers.

 

At the 2007 SSTI annual conference, the Trent Lott National Center of Excellence for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship <http://www.trentlottcenter.com/> intends to make an award to the researcher or research team that has made the most significant impact on the field of technology-based economic development in the last five years.

The 2008 SSTI Annual Conference could come to your city!



Increase your national and international visibility by showcasing the success of your state and/or community’s tech-based economic development efforts to thousands of TBED professionals through SSTI's conference. This is your opportunity to shine in the spotlight.



Some of the host benefits include: 

For those interested in technology-based economic development, you'll be hard-pressed to find any good news in the President's Budget Request for FY 2006 unless, that is, you're hoping to go to Mars or heavily involved in homeland security. It's become a matter of routine to expect bad news when the federal budget comes out.

Strengthening America's Communities Grants Program The Strengthening America's Communities Grants Program is a new $3.7 billion initiative proposed within the Department of Commerce to provide performance-based grants for both community and economic development.

Opportunity Zones - While the Administration's FY06 budget request proposes eliminating all other geographically-based tax credit programs (e.g. Enterprise Zones), it is requesting $10 billion over 10 years in tax incentives to competitively select 28 urban and 12 rural economic Opportunity Zones in areas transitioning to new and emerging industries.

Taking one of the largest percentage cuts of all agencies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) FY 2006 discretionary budget level of $19.4 billion calls for an 11.8 percent reduction, or $2.6 billion below the FY 2005 level.

The Administration's FY 2006 $9.4 billion discretionary budget request for the Department of Commerce reflects a 48 percent increase above FY 2005 estimated expenditures of $6.33 billion. If one excludes the proposed $3.71 billion Strengthening America's Communities Grant Program (see description under Multi-Agency Initiatives above), the agency is actually facing a 5.6 percent cut of more than $357 million.

The Administration's FY 2006 budget request for the Department of Defense (DoD) totals $419.3 billion, an increase of 4.8 percent from the FY 2005 appropriation level. However, the budget proposes significant cuts for Defense science and technology (S&T). The FY06 budget provides $10.5 billion for S&T, a 19.5 percent decrease from the FY05 funding level of $13.1 billion. This includes cuts in basic research, applied research and advanced technology development.

The Administration’s FY 2006 budget request for the Department of Education (ED) is $56 billion, a 0.9 percent decrease ($529.6 million) from the FY 2005 appropriation.

The Administration's FY 2006 budget request for the Department of Energy (DOE) is $23.4 billion, or $475.4 million (2 percent) less than the FY 2005 request. The decrease is largely absorbed by DOE's Environment budget which, at $7.34 billion, reflects a 6.4 percent decrease over FY05.