Revolutionizing STEM facilities, hiring new faculty, increasing undergraduate enrollment and even planning new dorms to house the anticipated influx of new students are part of Gov. Dan Malloy's proposed $1.5 billion expansion and investment in the University of Connecticut (UConn).

Pramod Khargonekar has been selected to serve as the National Science Foundation's assistant director for the Directorate of Engineering.

Dan Blake will join the Wisconsin Technology Council as the director of its Wisconsin Angel Network in mid-March. Blake succeeds Zach Brandon, who recently became president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.

In the January 2011 edition of the Harvard Business Review, Michael Porter and Mark Kramer called for a redesign of the existing business model and their role within society. Instead of simply embracing corporate responsibility and corporate giving, businesses should work to create shared value within their community by helping to support local clusters and institutions to address societal needs and issues.

Recent research on the evolving role of universities finds the emergence of an entrepreneurial society has contributed to a broader and more fundamental role for universities — that is to provide thinking, leadership and activity to enhance entrepreneurship capital. University-based entrepreneurship programs and initiatives seem to have gained steam following the recession with federal support for programs to enhance entrepreneurial efforts in states and regions and increased interest from students and out-of-work individuals.

On Thursday, the Obama administration announced it had selected the TechBelt region, encompassing northeast Ohio, western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, to host the pilot institute of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The new National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) will operate as a partnership of more than 60 companies, research universities, community colleges and nonprofit organizations from the region.

The Department of Commerce announced the winners of the Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) Challenge, the Economic Development Administration-led competition seeking to help cities and regions develop a comprehensive economic development strategy. Greensboro, North Carolina, Hartford, Connecticut, and Las Vegas, Nevada each were awarded $1 million to assist in the refinement and implementation of their respective plans.

The Obama administration announced winners of the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge on Tuesday. The challenge — publicized earlier this year — is one of the key initiatives of the interagency Taskforce for the Advancement of Regional Innovation Clusters and is sponsored by a partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Departments of Energy and Labor, and the Small Business Administration.

New energy plans unveiled by governors in Connecticut and Mississippi promise to capitalize on current strengths, build capacity for future projects, and encourage public-private partnerships to scale up clean energy projects and create jobs by attracting more R&D investment to the states. Connecticut's draft strategy proposes economic incentives to drive down costs of new technology and maximize the use of clean energy finance banks — an approach that is heralded as a model for other states in a recent policy report.

Amid the economic uncertainty surrounding fiscal cliff negotiations, and what it means for states, some governors are erring on the side of caution when it comes to funding recommendations for the upcoming year. At the same time, several state budget officers are projecting significant revenue shortfalls in the current fiscal year or biennium as a result of lower than expected tax collections.

Temple launched the Pennsylvania Math Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) initiative designed to increase the number of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematics (STEM)-related professionals graduating from two- or four-year institutions and to build a diverse, national STEM workforce necessary to compete economically in a global environment.

Maria Haley, the executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission passed way Sept. 13 after suffering a brain aneurysm.

The U.S. Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration announced Matthew Erskine will join the agency as the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of Commerce for Economic Development and chief operations officer.

A newly established policy academy providing guidance and technical assistance will help seven states improve their environment for innovation and align state R&D investments, workforce development and education systems with current and future needs of advanced manufacturing industries. The policy academy will help each state develop a plan or overcome barriers for putting a plan into action through a highly interactive team-based process that includes input from NGA, MEP, EDA, SSTI, private sector consultants, and research organizations.

As budgets for economic development tighten across all sectors, measuring and reporting impact becomes even more crucial for sustaining support. The Association of University Research Parks points to three impressive impact reports released this year from Indiana's Purdue Research Park, Nebraska Technology Park and North Dakota State University Research and Technology Park.

Building on several of the new programs enacted during the regular legislative session (see the June 15, 2011 issue of the Digest), Gov. Dan Malloy last week signed into law HB 6801, a comprehensive legislative package that authorizes $626 million in bonds to support efforts aimed at job creation. The bill has several components to support high-tech entrepreneurship, workforce development, and incentivize manufacturers and small businesses.