The Louisiana Emerging Technologies Center announced Arthur Cooper will serve as its first executive director.

Don Hutchinson is the new director of the Mayor's Office of Economic Development for the city of New Orleans.

Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell named Marie O'Brien to oversee the Connecticut Development Authority.

A recent study completed for Iowa calls for continued investment in the biosciences - a 10-year, $302 million plan - to grow the industry and to create new job opportunities for the state.

Connecticut Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell was sworn in as the state’s 87th governor on July 1, taking over from former Gov. John Rowland, who resigned amid a federal corruption investigation and a threatened impeachment for allegedly accepting gifts from employees and state contractors. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin Sullivan was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor. Rell is a Republican, while Sullivan is a Democrat.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has appointed Michael Olivier to serve as Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development. Olivier was president and CEO of the Harrison County Development Commission in Gulfport, Miss., for 17 years.

Two years following its creation, the Louisiana Technology Fund has $2.3 million to help the early-stage technology companies for which it was intended, the Baton Rouge-based Advocate reported earlier this month. The fund stems from 2002 legislation that revived Louisiana's Certified Capital Companies (CAPCOs) program.

While the federal government supports fuel cell research, nearly every state across the country has taken a more active role in advancing the development and commercialization of fuel cell and renewable energy technologies, according to two recent reports from the North Carolina State University Solar Center. A web-based directory of more than 875 state and federal initiatives managed by the center helps prove that point.

Gov. Jodi Rell recently announced the results of a study of the strengths and weaknesses of Connecticut’s infrastructure for innovation, technology transfer and development of new businesses. A report prepared for the Connecticut Technology Transfer and Commercialization Advisory Board of the governor's Competitiveness Council presents the results.

Norma Grace, vice chancellor for technology and economic development at the University of New Orleans, has been elected as the 2004-05 president of the Association of University Research Parks.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco appointed state bond commisssion director Sharon Perez to serve as undersecretary for the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, and Secretary Michael Olivier named Dane Revette director of the agency's energy cluster.

The Connecticut Technology Council has named Matthew Nemerson as its new President and CEO, replacing Michael Theodore.

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A recent study by Iowa State University researcher David Swenson suggests the ISU Research Park's substantial and diverse economic activity bolsters Iowa's economy. Focusing on current tenants, Swenson's research shows that the park links directly to almost $88 million in total industrial output. Businesses that provide goods and services to park customers and employees are said to generate an additional $46.3 million in economic activity.

U.S. Senator Olympia Snow (R-Maine) recently introduced a bill to boost the flow of venture capital to small businesses by allowing tax-exempt entities, such as pension funds and university endowment funds, to invest in Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC) without incurring unrelated business taxable income.

An update to Louisiana: Vision 2020, a strategic plan to improve the Louisiana economy, calls for creating more quality jobs in the state's high growth sectors. First released by the Louisiana Economic Development Council in 1998, the newly revised plan also stresses the need to place increased importance on early childhood education, teacher quality and math and reading performance among high school students as keys to boosting student achievement.

Governor Tom Vilsack has announced a plan to invest $50 million into the creation of a life sciences initiative to help establish Iowa as a leader in the life sciences. Developed with the Regents Universities, Iowa Business Council and leaders in Iowa's biotechnology industry, the biotech plan's success hinges on a three-part strategy:

George Swift is the first executive director for the new Southwest Louisiana Partnership for Economic Development.

To promote biotech in Baton Rouge, a new study sponsored by Capital Region Competitive Strategy (CapStrategy) recommends constructing an "idea pipeline" to better commercialize the intellectual property and research generated in the region's universities, hospitals and research institutes. CapStrategy, a nonprofit, cluster-based economic development initiative, operates under the Chamber of Greater Baton Rouge and represents nine parishes in the region.

Holmes Foster, chairman of the Iowa Values Fund, has announced his resignation.

Package Isn't All Governor Expected; Veto Possible

Sylvia Goodman is leaving her position as director of technology and innovation at Louisiana Economic Development.

The winners of the Siemens Westinghouse/AAAS Competition for the Best Teen Scientists and Mathematicians of the Year were announced this week: 17-year-old Yin Li of New York City was the individual grand prize winner for his project "Characterizing the Prion Properties of a Translational Regulator Expressed in Mouse Brain." Brothers Mark and Jeffrey Scheider, 18 and 16, respectively, of South Windsor, Conn., won the grand prize in the team category for the "Simulation of the West Nile Virus u

Iowa: Davenport Sells City Land for Tech Incubator