Each year, Southern Growth Policies Board honors Southern initiatives that are improving the quality of life in the region through its Innovator Awards. The Awards are presented annually to one organization in each of Southern Growth’s member states ­ Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

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.

West Virginia University’s plan to develop strong research capabilities in a number of focused areas, creating hundreds of new jobs, may be completed in half the time originally anticipated. Gov. Bob Wise announced last week a $24.4 million funding package to jump-start the implementation of new research facilities and laboratories on the WVU campus.

Implementation of the Global Grid Exchange, a state-sponsored open public computing grid in West Virginia, is underway. Hewlett Packard will provide the infrastructure technology that will power the grid, an initiative of the West Virginia High Technology Consortium (WVHTC) Foundation.

Southern states may have a justifiable reason to be proud of their progress in technology and innovation, but their leaders should be concerned with the lack of investment in venture capital and industrial research and development (R&D), suggests a report released last month by Southern Growth Policies Board and the Southern Technology Council (STC).

In its second attempt to distribute $225 million across the state to local economic development projects, after a lawsuit successfully challenged the initial selection process, the West Virginia Development office is poised to award nearly $47.5 million to directly benefit several technology-specific initiatives.

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.

Wrapping up its 2003 session earlier this month, the West Virginia State Legislature passed three bills designed to help build a technology-based economy.

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:

The jury's still out on the appropriate role or effectiveness of most tax credits to encourage tech-based economic development (TBED), but most politicians and economic development practitioners believe their state is at a competitive disadvantage without at least a few breaks.

A new energy initiative in West Virginia, Energy Village, aims to help grow the state's small and start-up energy and environmental technology businesses. Gov. Bob Wise announced $125,000 in funding for the initiative on Monday.

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

The Charleston Gazette reports Ron Hatfield, director of jobs development for the West Virginia University Institute of Technology's Technology Research and Development Corp., will also serve as the new executive director of the Upper Kanawha Economic Development Corp.

Package Isn't All Governor Expected; Veto Possible

Iowa: Davenport Sells City Land for Tech Incubator

The Southern Innovation Index, a strategic plan created with the governments of 13 Southern states and Puerto Rico to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth in the South, has been released by the Southern Growth Policies Board, a bipartisan public policy group based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack announced that the Director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, C.J. Niles, will be stepping down effective December 31.  Mary Lawyer, the department's chief of staff, will serve as interim director.

An historic, five-year reauthorization bill for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) awaits only the President's signature after being approved Tuesday by Congress.



President Bush is expected to sign the legislation into law, making the reauthorization of ARC the longest in its history and only the second congressional reauthorization of the agency since the Carter Administration.



The reauthorization bill contains several key provisions:

In an economy driven increasingly by computer literacy and connectivity, leading the nation in the percentage of households not connected to the Internet is a distinction many in the South are working to eliminate. One South, Digitally Divided, the second annual TelecomSouth conference of the Southern Technology Council (STC), and its accompanying report Creating the CyberSouth are efforts in that direction.

The Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science is providing the Southern Technology Council (STC) $150,000 in matching funds over three years to help Southern states increase innovation-driven economic development. A major element of the initiative is annual benchmarking of each state's progress in agreed-upon categories, including: industrial composition, entrepreneurial development, globalization, and human resources.

Economic development leaders within the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Technology Corridor have joined other areas of the U.S. in marketing the area as one unified region. Elected representatives from 10 cities and two counties located in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Technology Corridor recently signed a joint proclamation as a statement of support for the Corridor’s targeted industry cluster development regional efforts.

The Rural Policy Research Institute, a consortium of Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, and the University of Nebraska, has published a Directory of State Assisted Venture Capital Programs on-line.

Wheeling Jesuit University invites applications for the position of Chair of the Department of Business and Technology. Among the Chair's responsibilities are recruiting and retaining faculty, overseeing curriculum and budget, developing and maintaining strong ties to the business and governmental community of the Wheeling area, and articulating a vision which leads to widespread recognition of the Depart-ment as offering a premier education program. Applications will be accepted until May 10, 1999.

West Virginia University is seeking candidates to fill the newly created, high-profile position of Economic Development Director and Senior Advisor to the WVU leadership. He/she will be the primary WVU spokesperson for economic development with the mission to maximize the impact of WVU on West Virginia's economy. Review of applications will begin January 15, 1999. Additional information, including application procedures, are available at http//www.wvu.edu/~exten/.