People
At the University of New Mexico, Avi Shama has been named Special Advisor to the President on Economic Development. The new position will encourage, coordinate and promote economic development activities of various UNM units.
People
Bill Richardson, Governor-elect of New Mexico, has named Rick Homans as secretary of the state's Economic Development Department.
People
Gary Mahn, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce, has announced he will resign from the position at the end of the year.
Strategic Plans Focus on Science and Technology: New Mexico Washington State
Several state and regional economic development strategies have been released this summer. All recognize the important role of research, science and technology in building tech-based economies. Two states are highlighted this week.
New Mexico Legislature Approves Technology Tax Credit Legislation
In the last days of a special legislative session, the New Mexico Legislature unanimously passed two technology tax credit bills. Entitled the “Technology Jobs Tax Credit Act” and the “Laboratory Partnership with Small Business Tax Credit Act,” these measures are intended to assist New Mexico’s technology-based businesses with the development of increased research investments and laboratory partnerships, especially in rural areas.
People
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.
VC News
New Mexico Firms Would Receive $30M in Venture Funding
Idaho Partnership Creates Regional S&T Office
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.
Idaho Legislature Rejects Governor's Request for Tech Programs in FY07 Budget
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.
Bingaman Introduces Bill to Create MEP-like Program for E-Commerce
To help small businesses participate fully in the expected e-commerce revolution, Senator Bingaman (D-NM) has introduced legislation to create a national e-commerce extension program. Senators Rockefeller (D-WVa), Snowe (R-ME) and Mikulski (D-MD) are co-sponsors of the bill, S. 1494.
People
Sigfried Hecker, the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, announced that he is stepping aside in order to participate more closely in scientific collaboration between US and Russian researchers. Hecker has headed Los Alamos since 1986.
People
Durand Smith, the director of the New Mexico Department of Economic Development's Science and Technology Division, has returned to the private sector. Marsha Oldakowski is serving as acting director of the division.
Idaho Creates S&T Council
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.
People
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.
People
The Idaho Falls-based Partnership for Science and Technology selected M. Lane Allgood as its new executive director.
Idaho and Oregon Tech Councils Endorse Spending Proposals for TBED
TBED agencies in two northwest states have released proactive wish lists for state TBED investment in their respective 2007 legislative sessions.
Idaho
In a Sept. 12 teleconference, Idaho Gov. Jim Risch's Science and Technology Advisory Council agreed upon a $38.8 million package to attract and grow new technology businesses, as well as a tax credit program to encourage private investment in high-tech companies.
NCOE Report Says Entrepreneurs Healthy for Economy
Building Entrepreneurial Networks, a major report on how and why networks of entrepreneurs nurture economic growth in communities across the country, was released Wednesday by the National Commission on Entrepreneurship (NCOE).
To illustrate the importance of entrepreneurial networks, NCOE’s seventh report profiles five organizations in Idaho, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas that have succeeded in developing unique entrepreneurial networks.
Conference Profile: Sandia National Laboratories
As a national security laboratory operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by the Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, Sandia’s science and technology competencies are leveraged to support several missions that are synergistic to its primary mission — to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile in the absence of underground testing, indefinitely.
Conference Profile: Federal Laboratory Consortium
The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is the nationwide network of federal laboratories that provides the forum to develop strategies and opportunities for linking the laboratory mission technologies and expertise with the marketplace. More than 700 major federal laboratories and centers and their parent departments and agencies are FLC members.
People
Maria Estela de Rios has been named chairwoman of the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership Board of Directors. She is executive vice president of Orion International Technologies, which is based in Albuquerque.
People
Bill Shipp has been promoted to president and general manager of the Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory. Currently laboratory director, Shipp will take his new position August 1. Mr. Shipp also serves as Science & Technology Advisor to Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne.
People
Ann Rydalch has been elected to serve as chair of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer. Ms. Rydalch works for at the Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Lab. Outgoing chair C. Dan Brand will be retiring this summer.
People
Cliff Long is the first full-time economic development director for Nampa, Idaho. Long had worked for the Idaho Department of Commerce for the past 14 years.
People
Roberto Salazar is leaving his post as the Director of the New Mexico Office of Science and Technology at the end of March to assume the position of State Director of the USDA's Rural Development Agency for New Mexico.