In the September 3, 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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Commerce Responds to Sensenbrenner on ATP

U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary William Daley has labeled as Amisleading@ a press release issued by the House Science Committee regarding the proposal review and selection criteria of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). [See August 27, 1999 issue of SSTI Weekly Digest.] In the release, Rep. Sensenbrenner, the Chairman of the Committee, questioned the program's commitment to ensuring federal grants were not displacing private capital.

The Department of Commerce disputes that criticism.

"With respect to ensuring that project applicants adequately demonstrate the need for Federal funding, the ATP requires applicants to provide convincing assurances at several stages in the review process,@ said Daley in a letter to Rep. Sensenbrenner. AATP rejects proposals that fail to make a convincing argument that the work could not be entirely funded by industry."

In 1998, ATP added Section 16 to the proposal cover sheet, instructing applicants to describe their prior efforts "to secure private capital to support this project wholly."  For the 1999 solicitation, ATP additionally requested that applicants describe why private capital was not available to fully fund the project and to describe efforts to secure internal funding as well as other external resources.

A recent General Accounting Office correspondence report (GAO/RCED-99-258R) found that failure to complete Section 16 did not result in immediate disqualification from consideration for funding. The report went on to say that proposals went through a multiphase review process, after which on average 7-10 percent of the proposals received are selected.

In his written comments on the draft GAO report, Raymond Kammer, NIST Director, stated that applicants were provided three opportunities to present the need for public funding during the proposal submission and review processes: in Section 16 of the proposal cover sheet, in the proposal narrative, and during the oral presentations of the review process. Kammer wrote that no ATP proposals are funded which do not require federal support.

The GAO correspondence report, which includes Kammer's comments, can be received by calling 202/512-6000 and requesting GAO/RCED-99-258R. It is not available on the GAO website.

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Kentucky Completes S&T Strategic Plan

The Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. (KSTC) has released Kentucky's Science and Technology Strategy, a plan outlining ten specific recommendations in four strategic areas to guide the Commonwealth's future R&D investments. If implemented, the recommendations are expected to have significant impact in just a few years.

The four key strategic areas include enterprise development, manufacturing modernization, technological infrastructure, and people. The recommendations and their estimated annual costs are listed below. Most will require passage of new legislation by the Kentucky General Assembly in their next session.

The recommendations are:

To support the recommendations, KSTC is to undertake several studies, including an industry cluster analysis for the state, a study of the supplier chains for the clusters, and a survey of the financial needs of technology-driven firms. These additional analyses are estimated to have a total one-time cost of $150,000.

The plan was developed with steering committee participation from nearly 100 people from across educational, economic development, government and business sectors of the economy. Additionally, several focus group meetings involving 85 people were held to solicit input from businesses on developing and utilizing technology and publicly supported organizations, including higher education, on their needs, priorities, and resources.

More information can be found on KSTC's website: http://www.kstc.org/index.cfm or by contacting the KSTC offices by email at kstc@kstc.org or by phone at (606) 233-3502, ext. 221.

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NASA SBIR Phase II Awards Posted

NASA has announced the selection of 103 R&D projects to share approximately $62 million as Phase II recipients under the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The 103 awards were chosen from 319 proposals submitted by promising NASA 1998 SBIR Phase I recipients.

Ninety firms in 27 states won the 103 Phase II awards. Each project may receive up to $600,000 over two years to support their Phase II efforts.

The accompanying table presents the distribution by state of awards to proposals, the conversion percentage, and the number of firms selected. More detailed information on NASA's selections may be found on the NASA SBIR website: http://sbir.hq.nasa.gov/.

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Dept of Education Announces 1999 SBIR Winners

The U.S. Department of Education's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program has announced approximately $3.2 million has been awarded through the 1999 SBIR solicitation. The agency funded 40 Phase I projects, totaling nearly $2 million, from 208 proposals received from companies across 40 states. An additional $1.2 million was awarded to ten Phase II projects selected from a pool of 34 proposals. The accompanying table presents the distribution of proposals and awards by state. No proposals were received from firms in those ten states omitted from the table.

More information on Education's 1999 SBIR awards, including research topics and specific information for each awardee, may be found at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/SBIR/

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