North Dakota led the country in per capita personal income gains between 2010-2015, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). While average (mean) incomes rose 18.4 percent around the U.S. during that time, North Dakota incomes rose by 26.8 percent from $42,964 in 2010 to $54,376 in 2015. Changes in mean income can obscure discrepancies between demographic groups and concentration of wealth, but demonstrate some of the key economic trends of the last few years.

A mixture of success and trepidation accompanied 2016 legislation introduced in  several states to create, extend, or recapitalize angel tax credit programs. While legislation in Arizona’s legislature failed due to a lack of support, angel tax credit bills in Kansas and Tennessee passed easily with broad support from their governors, lawmakers, and the public. In North Dakota, the state’s angel tax credit program faces an unclear future due to concerns about transparency and oversight. To stimulate investments in West Virginia’s startup community, Gov.

On November 4, 42 states will vote on 146 ballot issues across a wide array of issues. In addition to initiatives on gun control, bear baiting, and the minimum wage, several initiatives relevant to the TBED community are also up for decision. SSTI has gathered information on many of these and will discuss their results after next week’s elections.

In case you missed it, the midterm elections were on Tuesday, resulting in Republicans taking control of Congress, several new governors, and five states endorsing minimum wage increases.

As the Federal Aviation Administration continues to propose regulations around the fledging unmanned aircraft system (UAS) industry in order to ensure that it integrates into the current system as well as possible, states are beginning to act in order to improve their own competitiveness.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory recently signed an economic development bill (HB 117) that would expand the operations of the state’s Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) fund. The fund, which offers grants to companies for job creation and expansion, will have a higher annual cap, and a contingency to offer even more funds in years in which a “high-yield project” is supported.

Since the establishment of the Tennessee Promise in 2014, the first statewide free community college effort, community college systems and states are outlining their own strategies to make a two-year education free for students in their region in attempt to create an educated, qualified workforce that addresses the needs of industry and promotes economic prosperity. While it may remain too early to judge the benefits and the costs of these programs – lawmakers and educational professionals remain divided on the issue. 

Five North Carolina communities have been selected to participate in InnovateNC, a two-year economic development initiative centered on sharing knowledge, tools and resources between partner regions. Asheville, Greensboro, Pembroke, Wilmington and the city and county of Wilson were chosen from the 18 applicant regions. The initiative is spearheaded by NC State University’s Institute for Emerging Issues with nine partners and supported by a grant from the Kenan Creative Collaboratory.

While most state legislative sessions ended over the summer, a number of states only recently approved spending for FY16. Governors in Alabama, North Carolina and New Hampshire have approved budgets in the past few weeks, each after months of tense negotiations. SSTI reviews budgets in each of these states for spending related to technology-based economic development. For past articles in this series, visit ssti.org/tags/state-budget.

This week, governors in Oregon and North Dakota released their budget proposals for the upcoming budget cycle. Although the budgets differ in both size and scope, education, workforce development, and other programs related to technology-based economic development are set to receive considerable amounts of state funding.

Aligning industry needs with workforce training has gained renewed focus in states and emerged as a national priority. This week, President Obama announced two grant programs totaling $600 million in existing funds that challenge academic institutions and businesses to design job training for the globalized economy and set industry-recognized standards. States are increasingly partnering with community colleges and industry to fill in-demand jobs, and with tight budgets, new efforts in Georgia and North Carolina also aim to enhance worker training by reallocating existing resources or restructuring programs.

While it is common for states, regions or cities to develop economic strategies when times get rough, the Valley Prosperity Partnership hopes to capitalize on the unprecedented job growth the Red River Valley has experienced in recent years to build a more innovative economy. A new, five-year action agenda, drafted in partnership with Fourth Economy, offers many possible action items for the region, which includes parts of North Dakota and Minnesota.

Building on a bare bones structure for privatizing economic development established last session, Gov. Pat McCrory outlined a plan for transitioning the state’s Department of Commerce to a public-private partnership, effective July 1. The move, according to the governor, will allow for more flexibility to support businesses and achieve savings for the state. Several innovation-focused investments also were presented as part of the recommended state budget adjustments for FY15, including matching and incentive funds for early stage, high-tech companies and funding to assist campuses in commercializing technology.

Last year, 108 unique institutional funders made a total of 260 investments in North Carolina companies, according to a report from the Council for Entrepreneurial Development. The 2013 Innovators Report details the $461 million in equity investments, grants and awards received by firms, including support from venture investors, angel networks, foundations, federal agencies, competitions, crowdfunding and other sources. Life sciences firms generated the most activity with $275 million in 134 deals, driven by the biopharmaceutical industry.

Breaking a two-year impasse, legislators in Illinois were able to pass a state budget that reinstitutes an R&D tax credit and implements workforce development programs. In California, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-Biz) will see a 28 percent increase in funding, while other innovation initiative are receiving level funding. In other states whose budgets SSTI analyzed this week for TBED-related funding, we found that Innovate Mississippi was able to maintain state funding and new funding was appropriated for workforce development at the state’s community and junior colleges; a variety of programs were cut in North Carolina; and, Ohio will not get funding for a state office focused on commercializing research across key industries that the governor had proposed. More findings from California, Illinois, Mississippi, North Carolina and Ohio are detailed below.