In the March 5, 1999 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2002. Information in this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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DEFENSE PICKS 363 MORE SBIR PHASE I AWARDS
The Department of Defense has released statistics for the 98.2 Phase I solicitation of the Small Business Innovation Research Program. The agency announced selection of 363 Phase I awards in 36 states. DOD funded 10.9 percent of the 3,339 Phase I proposals received. An accompanying table on the SSTI web site http://ssti.org/Digest/Tables/DODPhase1.htm provides the distribution of awards and proposal-to-award conversion ratios by state. Abstracts for the selections may be found on the DOD SBIR website at: http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/

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PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR PUSHES TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES, TAX CUTS
In the state that created the Ben Franklin Centers in the early 1980s - models for several states’ first forays into S&T - Governor Tom Ridge has proposed a wide range of new initiatives to promote R&D investment, technology development, and commercialization within Pennsylvania.

Governor Ridge’s budget request for 1999-2000 identifies $35.5 million for tax cuts expected to benefit start-up technology firms, a new $18.2 million program for high-tech investments, $6.7 million of state funding to leverage private venture capital investments, a SciTech Scholars Program, and $37 million for the state’s "traditional" technology and manufacturing programs: the Ben Franklin Partnership, Industrial Resource Centers, PENNTAP, and incubators.

The tax cut is a doubling of the current annual cap on net operating loss deductions to $2 million. The cut is expected to be especially attractive or beneficial to high tech start-ups with long product-development times that often see income losses for the first few years of business.

Governor Ridge also proposes creating the Pennsylvania Technology Investment Authority (PTIA), a multi-phase program to address financing needs of the state’s technology firms. PTIA will include development over five years of a $50 million fund to provide equity, phantom stock and mezzanine financing to small and medium-sized technology firms. Regional technology investment portfolios, prioritizing key markets and investment initiatives in each region, will be developed by the PTIA coordinators and Ben Franklin and Industrial Resource Centers.

With authority status, PTIA will have the flexibility to offer a variety of financial tools not available to the state economic development agencies. Of the 1999-2000 PTIA appropriation, $5 million will match current federal research center funding for strategic investments in university-based research.

Other PTIA projects will include a $1.75 million fund to support community Internet initiatives and electronic tourism, marketing and business development efforts. One million dollars will be distributed to the state Small Business Development Centers, Local Development Districts, Ben Franklin and Industrial Resource Centers to assist businesses in developing electronic commerce.

The existing Catalyst Stage Fund would receive $6.7 million over the biennium to support venture capital financing. It is estimated the state funding would leverage $50 million to $70 million in private capital for Pennsylvania companies.

In an attempt to reverse the nation’s greatest out-migration of science and engineering graduates (according to National Science Foundation statistics and a Southern Technology Council study), Governor Ridge is proposing creating the SciTech Scholars Program. SciTech would provide up to $9,000 to any qualified Pennsylvania student studying technology at Pennsylvania colleges and universities that commits to working in Pennsylvania for up to three years upon graduation. To qualify, students would have to maintain a 3.0 GPA, complete an internship in an technology-intensive Pennsylvania company, and work in the state at least one year for each year of scholarship assistance.

Under a "GI Bill for the New Economy," an additional 8,500 students may receive new scholarships of up to $1,000 per year for technology-based studies at community colleges and two-year technical schools. More information on Governor Ridge’s budget proposals can be found on the web at http://www.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Governor/budgetadd.html

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NICE3 PRE-PROPOSAL OPTION OFFERED
The Department of Energy’s Office of Industrial Technologies has announced an opportunity for prospective applicants to the National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment, and Economics (NICE3) program to submit brief pre-proposals this spring. Pre-proposals are optional, but provide an applicant the chance to receive agency comments and reviewer opinions prior to committing more resources to developing a full proposal.

The NICE3 program funds R&D projects that have advanced to the point of demonstrating a fully integrated commercial unit. State Energy Program offices are the only entities eligible to submit proposals; however, there must be an industrial partner on the project for the grant to be considered.

Six million dollars will be offered through the full solicitation in May. The maximum award amount is $425,000 for projects of up to 3 years in length. A 50 percent cost share is required of all projects. The industrial partner may receive up to $400,000 of the NICE3 funding. Pre-proposals must be submitted through the state energy office, and are limited to two pages. The pre-proposal format and additional NICE3 program information can be downloaded from http://www.oit.doe.gov/nice3/grants/solicitations/fy99preprop.shtml

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RESEARCH FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Several solicitations and notifications of the availability of funding were announced in the last week. Three highlights for the S&T community and their client industries are described below:

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FEDERAL LABS SUPPORT AUTO INITIATIVE
Seven federal labs from the Federal Laboratory Consortium’s Midwest Region - representing the Air Force, Army, Navy, Department of Energy, NASA, Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - are cooperating in an initiative to help automotive manufacturers and suppliers access the resources of the federal laboratory system.

These labs have provided technologies that were presented and discussed at an interagency meeting held February 9-10 at the National Automotive Center (NAC) in Warren, MI. NAC is part of the Army's Tank-Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC). At the interagency meeting, lab representatives and a group of industry advisers formed several technology teams whose respective organizations are looking at similar problems from different perspectives. The technology teams are: Safety, Environment, Vehicle Systems, Electrical/ Electronics, Materials, and Powertrain.

For more information on the initiative, contact Sue Leitner, FLC Midwest Regional Support Office, at 513/948-4032 or leitner@iams.org

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NOMINEES SOUGHT FOR NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE
The President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science is currently accepting nominations for the year 2000 award. Nominations and supporting information must be postmarked by May 31. The National Medal of Science recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to knowledge in the fields of physical, behavioral, biological, social, mathematical, or engineering sciences. Since the Medal’s establishment in 1959, 362 scientists and engineers have been honored.

Nomination procedures and guidelines are available from the Committee’s Program Manager, Susan Fannoney, by calling the National Science Foundation at 703/306-1096 or by e-mail at nms@nsf.gov.

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NASA CENTER RENAMED
NASA Lewis Research Center, located in Ohio, has been renamed the "John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field" to honor the contributions John Glenn has made in American space history.

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