Friday's issue of the Idaho SBIR Competition Newsletter brought to our attention two announcements from the SBA regarding the SBIR Program. Proposed changes for the program were included in the Dec. 3 online issue of the Federal Register. We reprint an extended excerpt of the text from the Idaho SBIR Competition Newsletter verbatim below, with our great appreciation for the work of Dr.

Eastern Idaho Economic Development Council has changed its name to Grow Idaho Falls Inc. to better convey its mission.

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).

Richard Baier has been appointed director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.

John Kotek, formerly with Argonne National Laboratory-West, has been named deputy manager of the Department of Energy's Idaho Operations Office. The office oversees the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

Mike Leavitt of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory has been appointed the Co-chair of the Federal Laboratories Consortium State and Local Government Committee.

Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns has appointed Richard Baier as the state's first rural development director. Baier will work closely with the new Nebraska Rural Development Commission.

Elizabeth Sellars is the new manager of Idaho Operations for the Department of Energy.

The University of Nebraska Technology Park has named Steve Frayser as president.

Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne dedicated a portion of Monday's State of the State and Budget Address to describing how tight the 2005 fiscal environment would be for his state. The temporary sales tax will lapse, costing the state $170 million in foregone revenue. The one-time $83 million in federal bailout funds are depleted. State employees will get a 27th biweekly paycheck this calendar year, resulting in an additional budgetary burden of approximately $20 million.

The Acting Director for the Idaho Department of Commerce is Roger Madsen. Madsen also is serving as director of the state Department of Labor.

Bill Shipp, president of Bechtel BWXT Idaho and lab director of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, is retiring effective Oct. 25. Paul Divjak will be his replacement.

Investments in science and technology (S&T) – from higher education to industry research and development (R&D) – are the decisive factors in creating a sustainable economic future, a new study finds.

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

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.

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.

Dan Curran is the new director of the Business Development Division of the Nebraska Department of Development.

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

Chuck Henderson has announced he will retire as president of the University of Nebraska's 130-acre Technology Park next June.

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

Carla Patterson is the new director of the Nebraska Manufacturing Extension Partnership.