While election night's main focus was on the presidential race, the importance of ballot measures for states and metros is growing as public services and budgets are being severely trimmed. A recent article in The New Republic reports on a new trend where states are embracing ballot measures as a potential source of dedicated funds for targeted investments in regional economic growth and development.

The answer may not be clear, but both sides can agree the U.S. skills gap will continue to deepen if changes do not occur. In the U.S. manufacturing sector, the skills gap may be less pervasive than many believe, according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). BCG researchers estimate the U.S. is short 80,000 to 100,000 highly skilled manufacturing workers.

While Washington remains in political gridlock and the national economy continues sluggish growth, one key trend for political and economic success is apparent: U.S. metro regions experiencing high economic growth have invested federal, state, and private funds in high-speed broadband access.

Even through the enduring global economic downturn, nations across the world have targeted technology-based economic development initiatives to build their respective country's science and technology (S&T) sectors. The governments contend that building their respective country's Next Economy is necessary to compete in a globalizing world and increase quality of living for their citizens. Canada, India and the European Union have announced initiatives that could help grow their respective countries S&T sectors.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released the 10th edition of its annual Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard. Each year, OECD examines major trends in the global innovation economy and uses 180 indicators to evaluate the high-tech economies of OECD countries, as well as select non-OECD countries. The overarching theme of this year's release is the increased importance of the non-OECD countries, including Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, Indonesia, the People's Republic of China and South Africa, together dubbed the BRIICS countries.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is the latest governor to call a special session focused on economic development proposals he says will create jobs (see the Sept. 7, 2011 issue of the Digest). Gov. Walker issued the executive order last week, calling it a "Back to Work Wisconsin" special session.

Building on a decade of work by the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, BioSTL launched last month to provide funding and support for emerging bioscience companies. The group also will dedicate resources such as training and recruiting entrepreneurs and increasing venture capital investment to collectively benefit partner organizations working to increase bioscience activity in the region. Washington University in St. Louis, BJC HealthCare, and the St. Louis Life Sciences Project each committed $2 million per year for five years, totaling $30 million to launch the effort.

Gov. Jay Nixon last week signed into law the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA) nearly two years after first proposing the initiative (see the Jan. 6, 2010 issue of the Digest). MOSIRA creates a funding source to grow research and technology companies by capturing a percentage of the growth in state revenue over a base year (fiscal year 2010) from a designated group of science and innovation companies.

The Idaho Department of Commerce has named Gynii Gilliam as its new chief economic development officer. Gilliam brings more than 20 years of experience to the position. Most recently, she served as executive director of Bannock Development Corporation.

David Kerr, director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, will step down from the position Dec. 31.

Recognizing startup businesses as a powerful force in building stronger local economies, a number of universities across the country have announced significant expansions in their entrepreneurship offerings over the last few weeks. Universities in Missouri and Virginia have announced new and expanded entrepreneurship programs for students, while a nationwide network of top business schools, including Babson College, Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, plans to launch an online entrepreneurship program that can be licensed to other schools. The U.S.

Only six states have statewide measures on the ballot in 2013, which is 28 percent fewer than the average number of measures on the ballot in an odd-numbered year, as noted by Ballotpedia's executive editor. Tech-based economic development measures will be decided in at least two states — Missouri and Maine. Although not a statewide measure, Jackson County, MO, voters will be asked to approve a sales tax of one-half of 1 percent for 20 years to fund medical research and discovery across Kansas City.

A measure to increase the sales tax in Jackson County, MO, to fund medical research across Kansas City and St. Louis was rejected by greater than a 5-to-1 ratio, reports the Kansas City Star.