A handful of showcase events across the country are known widely by mere nicknames, gather lots of media attention, and attract tens of thousands of people or more each year. Can a state’s lead technology-based economic development stand out in this kind of crowd? Is it worth the investment to try?
Stats and pundits suggest fewer of us are taking the time to read, absorb, and embody what we can take from real, printed books. Humbug! This is a short piece with nods to those Digest subscribers defiantly resisting that trend—and welcoming all others to embrace the mind-expanding opportunities a long read—replete with physical page turning—can yield. Fully safe for work. ~ Mark Skinner, President & CEO, SSTI
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wants the federal government to receive a return on funding awarded for R&D, innovation and economic development. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority has financed a dozen various technology innovation initiatives with the same expectation for the state’s money. Here’s how NJEDA says it's working.
Note: Every profession has jargon. Practitioners of technology-based economic development know the field may have more than its fair share of confusing words and acronyms as it bridges numerous scientific and engineering disciplines, business and financial acumen, and public-private initiatives at all levels of government supporting regional innovation. This occasional series from the SSTI team provides introductions or reminders of some of the key concepts used across the practice. ~ Mark Skinner, SSTI President & CEO
Campus entrepreneurship programs can lead to decades-long collaborations between academia and industry. Students may learn how to do their very first pitch deck. Or make a poster presentation. Or stand in front of a group of investors. And then go on to found a successful company (or two, or three) and create jobs for people in the area.
The new year begins with a layer of both fiscal and political uncertainty. For at least 18 states, it will be a year of change in political leadership. After several years of continuous revenue growth, states are crafting their Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budgets amid slower growth, rising costs, and heightened unease.
The Maine Technology Institute’s core mission is to use innovation to spur the development of new products, processes, and companies that strengthen the state’s economy. Finishing its 25th year of operations, MTI solidly illustrates how a sustained, focused yet flexible and creative strategy can deliver this mission. MTI has disbursed $387 million across 4,350 distinct projects throughout Maine since its founding, and that funding has leveraged over $2.2 billion in private sector matching investment.
When Daniel Pelaez took a job with the Town of Southbury, Connecticut Public Works Department after his first year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, he learned lessons that, a few years later, would become the basis for his startup, Cyvl. Daniel spent a season on the public works road crew fixing issues flagged by residents or found by the road foreman.
Technology-based economic development organizations work with economic development professionals throughout the U.S. to help build their local innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems. Sometimes, bringing in outside expertise with established networks to R&D and finance can accelerate the local capacity to support innovation-driven startups. gener8tor, a venture capital and startup accelerator founded in Wisconsin, is one such example of external partners supporting TBED capacity building anywhere.
Vaccine and therapeutics storage and delivery may never be the same as Emory University and Micron Biomedical recently announced the first clinical trial of a novel rotavirus vaccine, CC24, delivered via dissolvable microarray technology. This clinical trial was the first clinical evaluation of any drug or vaccine delivered via patch or microarray that is sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Massachusetts’ Gov. Maura Healey recently proposed a multi-year funding strategy (Five-Year Massachusetts Capital Investment Plan (CIP) [FYs 2026-2030] that would include investment of $890.4 million, including general obligation bonds and private sector contributions, for many of the state’s TBED and innovation initiatives (programs are outlined below).
Please note: this article is not intended as a comprehensive review of Public Law No. 119-21, nor should our reading of the law be treated as tax or legal advice.
In 1978, Massachusetts took a risk and made an $8.5 million investment into one of the earliest technology-based economic development (TBED) initiatives in the world. The commonwealth, among the states hard-hit by the global manufacturing restructuring underway at the time, which led to the deep recession of the early 80s, knew it needed to try something different to restore its economy and its long-term competitiveness.
The list of technology-based economic development initiatives within the newly created Technology and Innovation Office of the New Mexico Economic Development Department covers the spectrum of critical policy aspects required for a strong state innovation economy: increasing R&D, business incubation, targeted emerging technologies and strong existing assets, startup capital, venture development, and innovation talent development and recruitment.
May 20, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. ET | Zoom
April 16, 2025, 2:00pm EDT
Free, registration required
Wednesday, March 19, 3:00 pm EDT | Zoom
No charge; registration required.
The launch of a new private equity firm in central Ohio is a reminder of the continuing ripple effects of a decades-long strategy of cultivating an innovation system. If the State of Ohio hadn’t created and provided sustained funding over decades for its integrated array of technology-based economic development programs, the founders of a newly launched private equity firm wouldn’t be in the position now to commit to helping more mid-market companies succeed in central Ohio.
January 22, 2025, at 2:00 PM ET | Zoom
January 22, 2025, at 2:00 PM ET | Zoom
Are you tired of your organization's impact going unnoticed? Join our webinar to discover how to use compelling, attention-grabbing impact reports to tell your success stories in a way that resonates with funders, media, and the public. You’ll hear from three types of organizations with three very different funding models.
Our expert panel will share real-world examples of TBED organizations using impact reports to
Learn how to