Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

To help entrepreneurs start and manage businesses, the Kauffman Foundation recently launched Kauffman eVenturing™ ( www.eVenturing.org).

To improve the way students learn and teachers teach in the areas of science and mathematics, Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri's Blue Ribbon Panel on Mathematics and Science Education recommends 12 specific strategies in four key areas including governance and culture; teacher recruitment; teacher quality; and learning opportunities for students.

Warren Erdman, formerly vice president of corporate affairs at Kansas City Southern, is the newly selected chairman of the board of the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City.

Designed to ease the transaction burden on university technology transfer offices and encourage more open and efficient access to research, the Kauffman Foundation recently unveiled iBridge, a web-based platform under the Kauffman Innovation Network.

Between 1996 and 2004, an average 0.36 percent of the U.S. population created a new business each month, representing approximately 500,000 new businesses per month, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.

John Gardner has been named the first vice president for research and economic development for the University of Missouri system.

Voters in Missouri approved, 51 percent to 49 percent, an amendment to the state constitution that will prohibit state or local governments from preventing embryonic stem cell research. The amendment also defines what type of research is permitted.

 

While many states are striving to increase broadband availability (see the Kentucky story above, for example), a Providence-based nonprofit released a study this month promoting the feasibility of making Rhode Island the first entirely networked state for broadband wireless.

Gov. Donald Carcieri last month announced two new initiatives targeting Rhode Island's science and technology (S&T) and manufacturing industries. On April 12, Gov. Carcieri signed an Executive Order creating the Science & Technology Advisory Council.

Randa Hayes is the new director of the business development and trade division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

To reduce administrative costs by up to $500,000 and to improve operational efficiencies, the Slater Fund Board of Directors has approved plans to consolidate Rhode Island's four Slater Centers into a single entity, the Slater Technology Fund, Inc. The fund will retain its four technology thrusts of biomedical technology, interactive technologies, design and manufacturing, and marine and environmental technologies.

The Rhode Island Economic Policy Council has concluded a year-long examination of the state's economy with a call for nine recommendations to be implemented.

John Cronin was named state director of the new Rhode Island Small Business Development Center at Johnson and Wales University in Providence. Cronin is CEO of the Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension Partnership.