The North Carolina Innovation Fund has announced plans to support a new accelerator that would promote life science technology transfer from the state's universities. Published reports indicate that the accelerator would launch later this month and focus on companies developing biopharmaceutical therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. Participating startups could receive capital investment from the accelerator's associated funds.

A recent paper from the Kauffman Foundation on women entrepreneurs finds that while women are making significant strides in advancing to high rank within corporations, several barriers are keeping them from breaking out to start their own high-growth firms.

The Obama administration, congress and the private sector must implement a comprehensive policy package to unleash startups and empower small businesses, according to a newly released report, Taking Action, Building Confidence, from the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. The report outlines a three-phase approach to accelerate short-term job growth, while rebuilding long-term U.S. competitiveness:

In what is considered typical for an odd-numbered year, only 34 questions have been certified in nine statewide ballots this election year. Some of those measures include redirecting funds to support higher education, revenue enhancements for states, and repealing legislation that limits collective bargaining for public employees.

Ballot Initiatives

The Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) is soliciting advice on how to best stimulate job creation through investments in biological research and development. In a new Request for Information (RFI), OSTP asks for input on national challenges related to biotechnology research, eduction, entrepreneurship and partnerships. Submissions, which are due by December 6, 2011, will help shape the administration's bioeconomy strategy.

A newly established policy academy providing guidance and technical assistance will help seven states improve their environment for innovation and align state R&D investments, workforce development and education systems with current and future needs of advanced manufacturing industries. The policy academy will help each state develop a plan or overcome barriers for putting a plan into action through a highly interactive team-based process that includes input from NGA, MEP, EDA, SSTI, private sector consultants, and research organizations.

Michigan State University, Rutgers University and the University of Michigan all have announced new initiatives that are intended to fuel innovation and grow regional economies. Michigan State established the University Center for Regional Economic Innovation — a university-based, economic development research center focused on generating businesses and jobs statewide. Rutgers University created a Disruptive Innovation Fund to provide up to $1 million to support the commercialization of innovative products.

A coalition of private businesses and nonprofit organizations, including Microsoft, Best Buy, the Boys and Girls Club and the National Urban League, has launched a new initiative to increase broadband adoption and teach technology skills. The new Connect to Compete initiative, which will be managed by One Economy, will deploy a variety of digital training resources, courses and tech jobs matching programs beginning next year. Earlier this year, U.S.

As budgets for economic development tighten across all sectors, measuring and reporting impact becomes even more crucial for sustaining support. The Association of University Research Parks points to three impressive impact reports released this year from Indiana's Purdue Research Park, Nebraska Technology Park and North Dakota State University Research and Technology Park.

Job Corner
The Invest Nebraska Corporation is hiring a CEO to join their team in Lincoln, NE. The CEO will manage Invest Nebraska's programs throughout the State of Nebraska. Invest Nebraska Corporation is a private, nonprofit venture development organization focused on developing high-growth companies in Nebraska and growing the state's economy.

Instant Access to Best Practices from 20 Leading TBED Practitioners Over the last four years, SSTI has interviewed many of the nation's experts who are heading up programs recognized for applying innovative approaches to generate substantial economic gains for their region. Each of the 20 podcasts succinctly describe critical components involved in elevating these programs to a level of national recognition and offer advice that is applicable across several sectors of economic development policy and practice.

With less than three months until the start of the 2012 legislative session for many states, governors and state economic development groups are working to define areas of investment seen as key to their state's competitiveness. In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott unveiled a job creation and growth agenda that prioritizes science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education to produce more graduates for a competitive workforce. Meanwhile, leaders in Mississippi and Virginia issued reports that identify industry sectors most likely to grow their states' economies.

Building on a decade of work by the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, BioSTL launched last month to provide funding and support for emerging bioscience companies. The group also will dedicate resources such as training and recruiting entrepreneurs and increasing venture capital investment to collectively benefit partner organizations working to increase bioscience activity in the region. Washington University in St. Louis, BJC HealthCare, and the St. Louis Life Sciences Project each committed $2 million per year for five years, totaling $30 million to launch the effort.

Gov. Jay Nixon last week signed into law the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA) nearly two years after first proposing the initiative (see the Jan. 6, 2010 issue of the Digest). MOSIRA creates a funding source to grow research and technology companies by capturing a percentage of the growth in state revenue over a base year (fiscal year 2010) from a designated group of science and innovation companies.

Florida's Institute for Commercialization of Public Research has launched a new loan program for early stage and life science companies developing technologies out of the state's universities and research institutions. The Seed Capital Accelerator Program will match private investment in university spinouts through loans of $50,000 to $300,000. The program is intended to help attract the attention of angel and venture firms to promising university research.

American manufacturing companies cannot fill as many as 600,000 skilled positions — even as unemployment numbers hover at historic levels — according to Boiling Point? The Skills Gap in U.S. Manufacturing, a new report from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. This annual skills report provides a stark snapshot of the manufacturing sector's inability to find qualified workers.

U.S. venture capital firms invested $6.95 billion in 86 deals in the third quarter of 2011, according to the more recent release from the PricewaterhouseCoopers and National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Moneytree report. The figures represent a 12 percent decline in dollars and a 14 percent decline in since from the previous quarter, but an increase in both dollars and deals over the third quarter of 2010. Despite the loss compared to the previous quarter, national venture investment appears to be continuing its gradual rebound from the collapse in late 2008.

The Canadian government must focus its research and development (R&D) support efforts on "the goal of growing innovative firms into larger enterprises, rooted in Canada but facing outward to the world and equipped to compete with the best," according to Innovation Canada: A Call to Action — a new report commissioned by the Honorable Gary Goodyear, the Canadian Minister of State for Science and Technology. The authors contends that Canada has a solid foundation to build its knowledge economy.

Jeffrey Brancato has recently joined NorTech as vice president. Prior to joining NorTech, Brancato was the associate vice president for Economic Development at the University of Massachusetts.

Randal Charlton has announced his retirement as executive director of TechTown, the Wayne State University research and technology park. Leslie Smith, the general manager of TechTown has been appointed to fill the position beginning Nov. 1.

Building on several of the new programs enacted during the regular legislative session (see the June 15, 2011 issue of the Digest), Gov. Dan Malloy last week signed into law HB 6801, a comprehensive legislative package that authorizes $626 million in bonds to support efforts aimed at job creation. The bill has several components to support high-tech entrepreneurship, workforce development, and incentivize manufacturers and small businesses.

The Obama administration recently announced two directives to accelerate the commercialization of research and provide small businesses with streamlined access to federal resources. In his announcement, President Obama tied the directives to his administration's recent jobs push, and noted the need to bypass Congress in order to quickly implement the changes.

The U.S. Senate has passed an FY12 funding bill encompassing appropriations measures for the Department of Agriculture; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The bill includes funding for NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation, as well as other technology agencies and programs. By combining the separate appropriations bills, the Senate hopes to increase its leverage in conferences with the House.

In Technology Transfer in Southeast Wisconsin, a new report from the Public Policy Forum, researchers call for a "full-fledged collaborative infrastructure" that is adept at transferring technologies developed at the region's research institutions to entrepreneurs that will use them to create businesses and jobs in the region.

The European Union (EU) released its first competitiveness report on all 27 EU member nations and six associated countries — Innovation Union Competitiveness Report 2011. Providing a deeper perspective on European R&D intensity, the report is intended to monitor the progress towards EU and national R&D headline targets and provide economic evidence and analysis to underpin the development of EU and national innovation policies. Twelve key findings are highlighted within the report including: