Having the tools and resources to develop innovative concepts and products and move discoveries from the lab to the marketplace is an essential component for building tech-based economies. Research parks, a place where innovative ideas are borne, partnerships between university and industry are created, and companies grow and create new jobs, provide a foundation for the kind of economic growth necessary to compete in a global economy. Over the past few months, development plans and groundbreaking announcements from research parks across the nation have been made.

JDG Associates, Executive Search Consultants, has been retained by the suburban Maryland-based National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to recruit two key leaders:

• The Director for Innovation and Industry Services will focus on technology transfer and commercialization along with the fostering of public/private partnerships and joint ventures; and,

Alabama then-Governor-elect Robert Bentley on January 3 named former House Speaker Seth Hammett as director of the Alabama Development Office, replacing Interim Director Linda Swann. He also appointed the president of the Birmingham-based Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, Bill Taylor, to lead efforts to grow and retain existing Alabama industries, while at the same time recruiting new businesses to the state.

The fourth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, and Vermont. The first three installments are available in the Jan. 5, Jan. 12 and Jan. 19 issues of the Digest.

Using the interest earned from $400 million in state savings, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell announced a plan that would provide Alaska high-school students with scholarship funds to attend the University of Alaska or in-state vocational institutions based on academic performance.

Missouri Small Business Technology Development Center invites applications for an associate state specialist (counselor). This position serves as a statewide specialist to provide leadership, expertise, and training to University faculty and staff, and private sector clients with SBIR/STTR.

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

During the upcoming legislative session in Missouri, lawmakers will consider a proposal by Gov. Jay Nixon to create a funding source aimed at attracting top scientists, commercializing research, recruiting and building science infrastructure, and creating capital programs for early-stage technology companies. The Missouri Science and Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA) would dedicate an annual portion of new tax revenues generated by biotechnology companies to a newly-created state fund administered by the Missouri Technology Corporation.

The third installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs’ series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Delaware, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin. The first and second installments are available in the Jan 13 Digest and Jan. 20 Digest, respectively.

The fourth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Alaska, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, and Oklahoma. The first three installments are available in the Jan 13, Jan. 20 and Jan. 27 Digests.

With input from industry leaders in life sciences and tech-based organizations, a group convened by Gov. Jay Nixon is tasked with identifying a vision and mission to transform the state's economy within five years targeting high-growth industries. By the end of the year, the group hopes to identify six to eight key initiatives most likely to impact the economy. Tech-based components will be critical to the plan, with details forthcoming.

President Obama has named Ron Bloom as the administration's senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Since, February, Bloom has been a senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and he sits on the president's automotive industry task force.

Two economic development reports, one outlining strategic initiatives to transform the state's economy and the other making recommendations for reforming the state's tax programs, were delivered last week to Gov. Jay Nixon. The governor's Strategic Initiative for Economic Growth, launched in May, submitted initial job-creation proposals focused in the areas of advanced manufacturing, energy solutions, bioscience, health science and service, information technology, financial and professional services and transportation and logistics.

The Kauffman Labs for Enterprise Creation announced its first Women in Science and Engineering Business Idea Competition to encourage female scientists and engineers to pursue entrepreneurial ventures. The competition's goal is totap into the "growing pool of highly educated women who have the potential to start scalable science and engineering-related ventures".

To help train future scientists and support cutting-edge research in health and environmental issues, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell is recommending $109.5 million in the FY11 capital budget for the University of Alaska Life Sciences Facility in Fairbanks. The multi-purpose teaching and research facility would house the Department of Biology and Wildlife and accommodate a wide-range of research programs, reports Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

The Kauffman Foundation recently launched "Giving Back to Entrepreneurship," a website dedicated to informing entrepreneurs how they can use their energy and creativity to support their communities and help jumpstart the next generation of entrepreneurs.

By nature, angel investing is a risky endeavor. Angels are often involved with unproven seed- and early-stage companies and are frequently the first outside investors to become involved in a new venture. Despite these risks, a report released by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Angel Capital Education Foundation argues that angel investors working through investor groups often achieve attractive returns.

RiverVest Venture Partners, a life science venture capital firm headquartered in St. Louis, announced it will be opening an office at the BioEnterprise facility in Cleveland. The office will be managed by Karen Spilizewski, who is joining RiverVest on a part-time basis as a vice president on Jan. 1.