Led by Govs. Bill Richardson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Western Governors' Association (WGA) announced last week it would support opportunities to develop a clean, secure and diversified energy system for the West and to capitalize on the region's energy resources. The New Mexico and California governors, respectively, are among those represented by the nonprofit WGA.

Massachusetts' innovation indicators may be strong, but the conversion of innovation into new high tech jobs is lagging and the state’s median household income continues to dip, according to the latest Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy.

Chief Executive Officer

Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology

Former Massachusetts House Majority Leader Salvatore DiMasi has replaced Thomas Finneran as Speaker of the House. Finneran recently resigned to run the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.

Fred Kocher has been elected president of the New Hampshire High Technology Council, which advocates technology-based businesses in New Hampshire.

In a move to integrate technology and traditional learning, New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson introduced on Tuesday a four-year pilot program to bring laptop computers into classrooms. The program, Technology Promoting Student Excellence, is intended to provide wireless connectivity to all 7th-grade students and teachers from selected schools.

With the sustained depth of the recession, the IT crash, the rapid growth in unemployment and the speculative office construction craze of the late 1990s, one would expect office vacancies to climb and property lease rates to edge down in many cities. Following this thought further might suggest, with cheaper office space available, the need for publicly supported low-rent technology incubator space would decrease.

Details on a $110 million initiative to create more jobs and stimulate the Massachusetts economy were released yesterday by Massachusetts House Speaker Tom Finneran and other state leaders. The initiative, Mass Jobs: Investment and Opportunity, is an innovation-friendly plan to streamline government functions and encourage growth in emerging technology through capital formation, regional development, and stability in regulation and taxation.

The Institute for Government Innovations has announced it is accepting applications for the 17th Annual Innovations in American Government Awards, ultimately to identify outstanding examples of creative problem solving in the public sector.

Most practitioners who have been in the tech-based economic development field long enough know the presence of a strong research university can make the job much easier. New innovations and technologies to commercialize through licensing and spinoff companies, research facilities and experts to partner with local companies, and a constant supply of fresh graduates for the workforce are just a few of the benefits a research institution can offer the local and regional economy.

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney recently announced a plan to spur job growth in the state by tapping the expertise of area business, community and education leaders through Regional Competitiveness Councils. Six such councils will represent the Berkshires, Cape and Islands, Central, Northeast, Pioneer Valley and the Southeast regions of the state.

Sean O'Kane, a hotel manager from Manchester, N.H., has been confirmed as the new commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appointed Ranch Kimball to serve as his new economic development secretary.

Although Massachusetts' universities may be at the fore of nanotechnology research and development (R&D), they must continue to win on research for the state to stay competitive for federal funds, suggests a recent report by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) and the Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI).

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) announces the creation of the Innovation Systems Division and a unique economic development initiative, the John Adams Innovation Institute, a vehicle for the state to make strategic investments in its knowledge economy.

George Bald, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, has announced his resignation to become executive director of the Pease Development Authority.

Janice Bourque, president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, plans to step down once a replacement has been found.

A quick scan of most state innovation indices and report cards will reveal Massachusetts is on the short list for comparison of what others states would like to achieve. But a leadership spot in the innovation economy is not being taken for granted in the Commonwealth.

It's one thing to call your entrepreneurship education efforts the best, but it's another when more than 950 of your peers from around the country do. The entrepreneurship program at Harvard Business School (HBS) recently won the top award for MBA programs nationwide from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), an organization devoted to entrepreneurship education and development.

A new report from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) finds the federal government’s expanding investment in Homeland Security-related research is already proving a major boon to the high tech economy in Massachusetts, but the state’s overall leadership in federally-funded research and development (R&D) is under intensifying pressure from states throughout the country.

Robert Pozen, secretary of economic development for Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, announced his resignation, effective at the end of 2003.

The high tech economy of Massachusetts is emerging from the recent recession with its fundamental strengths in science, technology and entrepreneurship in good shape, according to the Executive Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy. Significant innovation in the state’s industries, however, is necessary to make up for the jobs lost since 2000, the index states.