U. of Florida seeks Coordinator of Research Programs
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.
New Milken Index Keeps Florida Cities Among Top Metros
For the second year in a row, Florida cities dominate the Milken Institute's top 200 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in the ability to create and sustain jobs. The top performer, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, moved up 31 places from last year and is followed by last year's top scorer, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, and Naples-Marco Island, respectively.
People
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is appointing Robert J. Rohrlack, Jr. as the new Director of the Mississippi Development Authority. Mr. Rohrlack is currently the Chief Executive for the Alliance for Economic Development in Gainesville, Florida.
Local TBED Round Up
Blythewood, South Carolina
Incubators: Proven Tools for Tech-based Economic Development
The headlines of many tech and business publications scream of massive Internet incubator layoffs, closures, and restructuring. The rapid rise and fall of these organizations has left some local tech-based economic development practitioners wondering if encouraging the growth of incubator facilities is a worthwhile strategy to pursue.
People
Dr. Frederick Humphries, president of Florida A&M University and SSTI Board member, has announced he will retire this summer from the university.
People
Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission has named Mike Bobroff as its chief operating officer. Bobroff is also the commission's executive vice president.
Arkansas Enacts $140M TBED Package
With all of the recent activity from its state legislature, Arkansas will soon possess one of the nation's most comprehensive portfolios of state-supported TBED initiatives. A number of TBED-related acts passed by the Arkansas General Assembly this session have all received Gov. Mike Beebe's signature. The result could be a public injection of up to $140 million for Arkansas's TBED community over the next biennium.
Stimulus Package Designed to Boost Orange County (Fla.) Economy
An economic diversification package recently approved by officials in Orange County, Florida, is intended to offset some of the post-September 11 difficulties experienced by the local economy.
More than $1 million for the Orange County Economic Stimulus Package was approved in late January by the Board of County Commissioners. The initiative provides funding for five measures, including:
Departures
Rick Kovar, executive director of the Rhode Island Technology Council for the past two years, resigned from his position. The 242-member Council is beginning the search for a new director.
$100 Million Centers of Excellence Initiative Proposed for Florida
In his fourth State of the State Address, Governor Jeb Bush outlined a new $100 million university-based initiative focused on nanotechnology and biotechnology.
Upcoming Conferences of Note
The following is a sampling of the more than 60 events included in the SSTI Calendar of Events webpage: http://www.ssti.org/calendar.htm
Bipartisan Efforts Deliver New Tech Programs, Acts for Arkansas
A wide range of research and tech-based economic development bills were approved by the Arkansas legislature, which ended its legislative session in mid-April. With proposals and support coming both from Republican Governor Huckabee and the heavily Democratic legislature, Arkansas is the latest state to demonstrate broad bipartisan support for investing in science and technology.
South Carolina, Florida Get New Tech Councils
On Wednesday, South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges announced the appointment of a 38-member Steering Committee of the Technology Transition Team. The group, chaired by the president of the South Carolina operations of BellSouth, consists of business leaders, technology entrepreneurs, financial executives, research university leaders, and government representatives. Technology Transition Team responsibilities include:
Accessing Capital: News from the South
While venture capital is harder to come by these days in most parts of the country due to the dot-com crash and stock market declines, investment capital may flow more easily in two southern states based on two initiatives.
Florida: $450 Million for CAPCOs Considered
The Difficult Task of Clogging the Brain Drain
Growing and keeping an educated workforce, one ready to help build a technology-based economy, is one of the greatest challenges even the most high-tech areas. The problem can be quite severe. For example, a new statewide survey of Florida college students, conducted by Leadership Florida and Nova Southeastern University, revealed that only 48 percent of the students plan to remain in Florida after graduation.
People
Nick Sacia is the new executive director of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce in St. Augustine, Fla.
People
Enterprise Florida selected Louis Laubscher to replace Howard Haug as its new senior vice president and COO.
People
The Arkansas Department of Economic Development has been renamed the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
People
Rosellen Kraus has announced she will be leaving the Central Florida Technology Partnership at the end of the summer.
State and Local Tech-based ED RoundUp
San Pablo, CA, College to Use $2.1M EDA Grant to Build Biotech Incubator
Keys to Growth Involve Discovery, Engineering and Entrepreneurship, Report Says
A 19-year veteran of the technology-based economic development field has co-authored a guide that outlines strategies for growth in the knowledge-based economy. The Keys to Growth in the New Economy:Investing in Discovery, Engineering, and Entrepreneurship draws on the experiences of John Ahlen, who has led the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority (ASTA) since 1984. The report is co-authored by Mark Diggs, Chairman and CEO of Maryland-based Ontology Works, Inc.
Florida Selects Three Centers of Excellence
To help build the state's technology sectors, Governor Jeb Bush and the State Board of Education have selected Florida's first three Centers of Excellence. The Centers are designed to foster innovative, cutting-edge technology research at Florida’s colleges and universities, develop commercially viable applications for that research, and recruit high-tech industries and thinkers to the state.
The three projects are:
People
Ed Linsenmeyer, with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, has been elected to serve as the Chair of the Federal Laboratories Consortium for Technology Transfer at the FLC's recent annual meeting. Larry Dickens, with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was elected Vice Chair.