The Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity — the research arm of Ontario's Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress — has released a comprehensive view of Ontario's industry clusters, showing for the first time how they compare with similar clusters in other provinces and U.S. states.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President Carl B. Feldbaum signed a memorandum of understanding this week to expand cooperation between NASA and the biotechnology industry.
A wake-up call. That's what the final report of the Lincoln Technology Council said the city received after learning one of its top employers was expanding its operations in a nearby city instead of Lincoln because of perceived weaknesses in Lincoln's telecommunications infrastructure.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published the Science & Engineering State Profiles: 1999-2000, an online database. One-page statistical summaries are given for each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, permitting calculation of per capita statistics and rankings.
In the SBIR Phase I award/proposal table SSTI released with the May 10, 2002 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest, the figures reported under "Health" inadvertently included both Phase I and Phase II proposals for the National Institutes of Health. As a result of the adjustment, the award-to-proposal ratio also has been corrected. The revised table has been republished at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/050302t.htm
The latest in SSTI's annual "Tech Talkin' Govs" series. Five earlier installments of this 2005 review of governors' legislative priorities concerning tech-based economic development are available through the Digest online: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm
Michigan
As the only state to have a net job loss in 2004, Michigan's political leadership recognizes something must change. The state's shifting economy, from one defined principally by its manufacturing sector to one that derives growth equally from knowledge-based industries, is at the center of the matter. Michigan policymakers are challenged to create innovative proposals that preserve one facet of the economy while broadening the other.
A recent proposal by Senate Republicans in Iowa to eliminate the state income tax for residents under the age of thirty has brought the issue of the out-migration of young, educated adults once again to the forefront.
To spur job creation in Ontario, the provincial government recently announced two initiatives focusing on innovation and regional economic growth -- the new Fuel Cell Innovation Program and the newly refocused Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC).
Statewide efforts addressing all of higher education's public purposes are needed to combat the increasing competition and privatization sweeping the nation's public colleges and universities, says a new report from the Futures Project, Correcting Course: How We Can Restore the Ideals of Public Higher Education in a Market-Driven Era.
Creativity and curiosity are key ingredients for innovation, so it is not too surprising that many communities are looking for ways to increase the creative spirit among their residents and businesses. The how-to of nurturing creativity does not follow a simple recipe for easy replication across the country, but a recent World Bank working paper provides a broad platform of key ingredients.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin signed last week legislation establishing the Department of Commerce and streamlining the support operations for the state’s economic development efforts. Senate Bill 1002, approved during the recent special session of the West Virginia Legislature, renamed the Bureau of Commerce the Department of Commerce.
The Special Federal Budget Issue of SSTI's Weekly Digest, published electronically in three parts on Feb. 10, is now available for download as a 25-page PDF. As readers are aware, the Administration's budget request proposes significant changes to the federal government's role in supporting economic development, research, investment and community development.
Program expected to yield $15B in new capital for underserved communities
Six national, community-based financial services organizations recently announced the formation of New Markets Advisors to help investors identify opportunities using the New Markets Tax Credit.
Generating $48.7 million in tax revenues to local and state governments and 5,949 direct jobs, the 31 tenants of the University of Arizona Science & Technology Park had an estimated direct impact in excess of $1 billion in FY 2000-01, according to a new report from the university's Office of Economic Development.
New York's initiatives to support technology-based economic development (TBED) will share more than $520 million in state appropriations during Fiscal Year 2003. The highlight: two originally competing budget proposals to support university-based centers of excellence survived with a combined $470 million in state funds (see the Jan. 5, 2001 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest for background).
Senate Bill 1844, signed by Governor Jeb Bush this week, provides $30 million to create Centers of Excellence and includes several other key elements of the Florida Technology Development Initiative, proposed by Governor Bush in his State of the State speech this year.
Interest by would-be entrepreneurs to start new businesses declined in 2001 as the economic recession and lingering effects of the dot.com crash dampened enthusiasm for launching new ventures, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2001 National Entrepreneurship Assessment for the United States of America. The trend is expected to continue for the near term with a strong rebound later in the year.
Earlier this month, Kansas passed legislation to encourage $40 million in private equity investment. Alabama passed a $100 million bill for CAPCOs. Similar legislation aimed to increase the amount of venture capital available locally has passed at least one chamber in the South Carolina and Ohio state legislatures. Pennsylvania pension funds, after taking a bath in the dot.com crash and current recession are increasing the percentage of their portfolios placed in venture capital.
Lewis Attardo is the first director of the new Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance. Attardo formerly was a Florida-based private business and economic development consultant.
Lewis Attardo is the first director of the new Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance. Attardo formerly was a Florida-based private business and economic development consultant.
Joseph Hornett has been selected to serve as senior vice president and treasurer of the nonprofit Purdue Research Foundation (PRF). Hornett currently is COO for Sport Service, Inc. in Indianapolis. PRF holds more than 130 properties and 10,000 acres of Indiana farmland near Purdue University, including the Purdue Research Park.
Matthew McClorey is the new president and COO for Kansas Innovation Corp., beginning June 3. McClorey currently serves as the vice president of business development and portfolio management for the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp (KTEC).
Marilyn Carlson Nelson, the chairman and chief executive officer of Carlson Cos. Inc., has been appointed by President Bush to chair the National Women's Business Council. The council serves as an independent source of advice and counsel to the president, Congress and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The University of Florida is seeking a creative and versatile individual to assist in partnership development and commercialization of technologies for UF and its sponsoring agencies. The primary responsibility for this position will be to serve as Deputy Director for the Environmental Systems Commercial Space Technology Center (ES CSTC), a NASA sponsored environmental research center.