Sandy Layman was named commissioner of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Agency (IRRRA) earlier this month. IRRRA promotes economic development in Northeastern Minnesota.

Idaho Falls businessman LaMoyne Hyde was appointed by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to serve as Director of the Idaho Department of Commerce.

The University of Minnesota Duluth Center for Economic Development has named Elaine Hansen as its new permanent director.

The Idaho Economic Development Association has named Jan Rogers as new president.

LaMoyne Hyde, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce, also announced he will resign his position by the end of the year.

Minnesota Technology Inc. has hired Wayne Pletcher as its new president.

Laurence Gebhardt has been selected to serve as the first director of Idaho's TechConnect East.

Manufacturing jobs in rural Minnesota numbered almost 120,000 in 2000, a 25 percent increase since 1990, according to a recent study by the Center for Rural Policy and Development and Minnesota Technology Inc., two agencies dedicated to helping industry in Greater Minnesota.

Gary Mahn, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce, has announced he will resign from the position at the end of the year.

Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), the state's leading tech-based economic development corporation, currently is searching for a dynamic individual with top-notch skills to help bring federal technology transfer activities to Minnesota companies.

Minnesota Technology Inc. (MTI), the leading technology-based economic development organization in the state of Minnesota, is seeking a Deputy Director to serve as the right hand to the CEO. This critical position will be responsible for the following:

Minnesota Technology, Inc. seeks candidates to fill the position of Technology Transfer Specialist. The incumbent will help bring Federal Technology Transfer activities to Minnesota companies by developing partnerships with federal labs, identifying opportunities for tech transfer activities in Minnesota companies, and assisting companies with the development of proposals, agreements and licenses. 

Legislation to be reconciled by a conference committee of the Minnesota State Legislature next week includes language creating a $15 million fund to support industry-university research collaborations. The North Star Research Coalition, a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation, would be established by the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota to administer the one-time appropriation. 

In Perfectly Competitive Innovation, a March 2002 research department staff report for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine address whether current copyright, licensing and patent laws which grant monopolist rights to inventors beneficial or harmful to the innovation process. The authors suggest the latter in certain markets. 

John Glerum, former president and CEO of Ore-Ida Foods, has been named science and technology coordinator for the Idaho Department of Commerce. Glerum also will serve as director of the new Technology and Entrepreneurial Center, to be built on the campus of Boise State University West.

The McKnight Foundation has committed $44.5 million over ten years to support scientific research in neuroscience/memory and brain disorders.

Minnesota's technology sector remains a diverse, well developed and stable anchor to the state's economy, according to a new report released by Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), Minnesota's tech-based economic development organization.

Governor Dirk Kempthorne has announced the creation of TechConnect East, a regional science and technology office to be located at the Idaho State University Incubation Center in Pocatello, Idaho.

Medical Alley and MNBIO, two organizations that merged in 2005 to promote medical sciences in Minnesota, have changed their name LifeScience Alley.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne recently received some good news about his future when President Bush nominated him to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior. The news was not as rosy on the home front for Idaho's economic future, however, as the state legislature in late March rejected the governor's plans for Idaho to take a more proactive role toward building a tech-based economy.

Matt Kramer stepped down from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to become vice president of sales and marketing with a Plymouth health care provider. Kramer served three years with DEED.

Fulfilling a promise made in his 1999 State of the State Address, Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne recently announced the formation of the Idaho Science and Technology Advisory Council. The council’s first responsibility will be to develop a state science and technology strategic plan. The Idaho Department of Commerce will provide staff support for the council.

Following on the Summit on Minnesota’s Economy, a 21-member group appointed by the president of the University of Minnesota has unveiled its recommendations to strengthen the state’s economy. The recommendations in Report to the People of Minnesota: Building a Knowledge Economy for Minnesota’s 21st Century are divided among five strategies:



Recommendations in the new report are divided among five strategies:

Paul Hiller has stepped down as CEO of the Riverside, Calif.-based Inland Empire Economic Partnership to be the executive director of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership.