states

Between March and April of 2020, the United States saw a massive drop in employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic: from approximately 151 million employees to fewer than 131 million. More than two years since the beginning of the pandemic, surveys suggest a near-complete recovery to pre-pandemic employment levels. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) through March 2022 (the most recent final data published by BLS) reveal an average decrease of just 1 percent in employment across the country as whole since February 2020. While the U.S. is approaching full employment recovery at the national level, 36 states and D.C. continue to lag while 14 and Puerto Rico have surpassed their pre-pandemic employment.

The last of the governors have delivered their State of the State addresses. With 36 gubernatorial elections this fall, many governors appeared to be more conservative in their addresses this year, speaking more about past accomplishments rather than rolling out new programs. This week features comments from California, Louisiana, Nevada and Ohio’s governors as their addresses related to the innovation economy.

The Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC) released its 2022 R&D Index earlier this week. The 2022 R&D Index, which is one component of ISTC’s Illinois Innovation Index, assesses Illinois’s capacity for innovation and economic growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The last R&D Index released by ISTC was in 2019.

While the overall U.S. venture capital market has drawn headlines for record-breaking total investment levels in 2021, the story has been far different for smaller deals. Data currently suggests a decline in deals under $1 million, and only modest growth for deals under $5 million. The final data may tell a slightly different story,[1] but the level of activity at the smaller end of the spectrum is clearly quite different than what is driving market coverage. Of the $335 billion in angel, seed and venture capital deals PitchBook has identified for 2021, more than 10 percent went to deals of $1 billion or more and almost 60 percent to deals worth at least $100 million.

As the Economic Development Administration (EDA) continues to award its $3 billion allotment of pandemic relief funding made available by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), many states are taking aim at several specific areas of economic concern — while others are maintaining a broad perspective. Under the Statewide Planning, Research & Networks program (“planning grants”), EDA provides $1 million grants to states to use in forming coordinated state-wide plans for economic development as well as developing the data, tools, and capacity to evaluate and scale evidence-based economic development efforts. SSTI’s analysis of the funded projects’ brief descriptions shows that states were split between those focusing on broadly-scoped planning projects and those focusing on a few specific areas of interest.

This edition of SSTI’s Useful Stats examines the expected allocation of approximately $8.5 billion in State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding by state and allocation category based on the Department of the Treasury’s recent guidance update. For the first time, these allocation amounts include how much a state is receiving for the program’s new funds to support businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals (SEDI).

The New Mexico Economic Development Department released a new strategic plan that identifies core challenges to the state and a multi-part approach to the future. The six challenges include talent attraction, misalignment between higher education and industry, public sector “dominance” of innovation, and concentration in a few industries. The plan includes recommendations related to the state’s innovation economy: develop state-sponsored investment funds to match investments in target industries; help academic researchers to advance new technologies; establish persistent funding for incubators and accelerators; fund university-industry research partnerships; and, develop a mentorship network across entrepreneurship support organizations in the state.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that nearly one-fourth of the rural population —14.5 million people — lack access to broadband services. In tribal areas, nearly one-third of the population lacks access. Even in areas where broadband is available, approximately 100 million Americans still do not subscribe to services. The problem, often referred to as the digital divide or broadband gap, has seen renewed policy interest from governors and legislators since the world has turned more to virtual learning and business during the pandemic. One way policymakers have attempted to connect rural America is through public grants or dedicated funds. Just in 2021, proposals at the state level to expand broadband have included:

As governors continue to roll out their State-of-the State addresses in the month of February, we continue to see a heavy focus on recovering from the pandemic. Given most state’s fiscal condition, governors have been generally hesitant to roll out new initiatives during this time, although broadband continues to receive attention, especially with the renewed attention surrounding its importance during the pandemic. Some states, like Maryland and West Virginia, who are emerging from the pandemic on a better footing than they perhaps anticipated, are ready to forge ahead with tax cuts in an effort to attract business and new residents. Other states, like Illinois, are grappling with projected deficits while trying to maintain services. And a new bond proposal in Maine could help connect workers to jobs in high-growth industries while also spurring development in the state’s industries. This week we catch up with those governors who gave their addresses during these first weeks of February and review each of them for news or initiatives relating to their state’s innovation economy.

Utah and Maryland have climbed the ranks and moved into third and fourth place behind two long-standing leaders in the Information Technology and Information Foundation’s (ITIF) State New Economy Index. The index measures states’ structural capacity for successfully navigating a global economy that is increasingly driven by technological innovation. ITIF’s recent release of the updated 2020 index and state rankings provides a long-term picture of how several states have been strengthening their economies for the future.