Through exclusive interviews with Excellence in TBED Award recipients, find out first-hand how these award winning initiatives successfully responded to a critical need by applying innovative approaches to generate substantial economic gains for their region. Recently released podcasts include:

Several of Gov. Tim Kaine's energy and job creation proposals were included in the approved revisions to Virginia's current two-year budget passed by the General Assembly last month. Lawmakers, faced with a projected $ 3.7 billion deficit, made revisions and incorporated federal stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to amend the budget.

Virginia lawmakers passed a bill last month supporting the state's bioscience industry and providing incentives to investors for bioscience and advanced technology commercialization. The legislation comprised all of the top recommendations from the 2008 Joint Legislative Subcommittee on the Biosciences.

A full week after the Administration's budget request was released, NSF made available details on the foundation's $7.05 billion request. With the new information, SSTI is presenting below its summary regarding the NSF budget proposal's impact on programs of importance to state and regional TBED efforts. This profile, along with similar budget summaries of 17 other agencies, is available in an updated version of SSTI's Special Federal Budget Issue.

Earlier this year, Congress and President Obama, seeing an opportunity to stimulate the economy while improving the nation's digital infrastructure, set aside $7.2 billion for broadband programs in the 2009 Recovery Act (read SSTI's analysis of the Recovery Act in the February 19 issue). Citing the need for a modernized digital infrastructure to ensure U.S.

To help meet the goals of Virginia's Top Jobs Act enacted earlier this year, Gov. Bob McDonnell proposed $200 million in additional higher education funding over the next two years. A large portion of the new funds would support cancer and high-tech research, competitive research grant awards, and efforts to graduate more science, technology, engineering, mathematics and healthcare (STEM-H) majors.

SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series has returned for its 12th annual edition. The series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' State of the State, Budget and Inaugural addresses across the nation. The first installment includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Georgia, Iowa, New York, Kentucky, South Dakota, Vermont, and Virginia. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, State of the State Address, Jan. 10, 2012 "... I want to announce two ambitious goals.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell unveiled his 2012 legislative and budget actions that support his administration's ongoing Opportunity to Learn K-12 education agenda. The governor's proposed budget also includes $438 million in new K-12 funding over the next biennium.

The third installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs' series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Utah. The first and second installments are available in the Jan. 11 and Jan. 18 editions of the Digest. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, State of the State Address, Jan. 19, 2012 "Following up on the recent "Imagine Delaware' forum sponsored by the News Journal, we are finding new ways to support entrepreneurs. Over the last months, we studied best practices at entrepreneurial support centers around the country...

In an era of tightening fiscal constraints, states have to make tough decisions, establish clear economic development funding priorities and transform their economic development models to take advantage of immediate opportunities and position their state for long-term economic growth. Mississippi, Oklahoma and Washington have released state-specific strategic plans that make those tough decisions by focusing their resources on key science & technology (S&T) areas to address the economic impacts of the Great Recession and position the state for future prosperity.

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.

Amid the economic uncertainty surrounding fiscal cliff negotiations, and what it means for states, some governors are erring on the side of caution when it comes to funding recommendations for the upcoming year. At the same time, several state budget officers are projecting significant revenue shortfalls in the current fiscal year or biennium as a result of lower than expected tax collections.

SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series has returned for its 13th annual edition. The series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' State of the State, Budget and Inaugural addresses across the nation. The first edition includes excerpts from speeches delivered in North Dakota, New Hampshire, New York, and Virginia.

Through a combination of new funding in the current budget and legislative measures aimed at coordinating state efforts and measuring progress, Gov. Bob McDonnell hopes to showcase Virginia as the premier destination for entrepreneurs to start or relocate a business. New funding, to the tune of nearly $10 million, would be used to establish a regional accelerator grant program, cybersecurity accelerator, and career pathways development program, among others.

New energy plans unveiled by governors in Connecticut and Mississippi promise to capitalize on current strengths, build capacity for future projects, and encourage public-private partnerships to scale up clean energy projects and create jobs by attracting more R&D investment to the states. Connecticut's draft strategy proposes economic incentives to drive down costs of new technology and maximize the use of clean energy finance banks — an approach that is heralded as a model for other states in a recent policy report.