In the July 21, 2000 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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Senate Passes SBIR Reauthorization; FAST Intact 
Wednesday evening, the bill to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program until the end of FY 2008 passed the full Senate by unanimous consent. The Senate version of H.R. 2392 varies greatly from the original bill passed by the House of Representatives last fall; however, months of negotiations between the House and Senate have reconciled the differences with the intent of expediting House passage of the modified bill before the SBIR program sunsets September 30, 2000. 

Much of the bill approved by the Senate is as SSTI reported in March (see the 3/17/00 SSTI Weekly Digest for details), including the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) Program, a five-year, $10 million per year initiative to support state assistance for small technology businesses. In addition, components of the House version of H.R. 2392, such as a National Research Council study and closed database of award applicants, have been reinstated from earlier Senate drafts. The full text of H.R. 2392 can be viewed at: http://thomas.loc.gov/

FAST program proponents now turn their attention to securing funds for the new program through the Small Business Administration appropriations bill. 

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Tools for Growth Released by PPI 
A series of legislative recommendations to expand the "winners' circle" of the New Economy has been released by the Progressive Policy Institute’s (PPI) New Economy Task Force. 

Tools for Growth: A Legislative Agenda for the New Economy defines four key New Economy policy areas: research and technological innovation; education and skills; e-commerce; and fostering digital opportunity. The 21-page document also gives eight, specific legislative recommendations that address the changes of the New Economy on a micro level, including the following: 

RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION 
Innovation is the driving force behind economic growth. Congress needs to affirm a bipartisan understanding that government support for basic and applied research is an investment in a public good with large payoffs for society. 

NEW ECONOMY TRAINING AND SKILLS 
The New Economy requires higher levels of education up front, including high-tech skills, and also opportunities for lifelong learning so that workers can keep pace with the high speed of developments in technology, globalization, and new business practices. In the new knowledge economy, a more educated workforce is critical not only to raising per capita incomes but also to reducing income inequality. 

THE TRANSFORMATION TO A DIGITAL ECONOMY 
“Digitization” in the 21st century promises to bring the kinds of economic benefits that mechanization brought in the 20th century. Fostering the growth of the digital economy must be one of the foundations of New Economy policy. 

FOSTERING DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY 
Technological innovation, including access to high-speed telecommunications technologies, will play an increasingly important role in determining the economic health of regions and communities. In both areas helping disadvantaged individuals and communities prosper in the digital economy government can play a key enabling role. But the government must work in partnership with the private sector, not supplant it. 

The New Economy Task Force is made up of leading Democratic members of Congress, other elected officials, and New Economy entrepreneurs. Gateway Computer Chairman Ted Waitt and Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle are co-chairmen. For more information on the report, visit: http://www.ppionline.org 

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Michigan Develops Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Strategy 
Concerned that it currently lacks the “critical mass” required to be a leader in biotechnology, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has prepared the Michigan Life Sciences Strategy, which outlines a plan to develop its universities, industries, and infrastructure to nurture biotechnology entrepreneurship over the next decade. 

In developing the strategy, MEDC conducted three studies: a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis; a comparative analysis of competitor states and best practices in public biotech programs; and a situational analysis of Michigan's current portfolio of programs and activities related to life sciences. The best practices and comparison analysis are drawn from Maryland and North Carolina. 

Specific policy recommendations are presented across four broad vision strategies for Michigan, including: 

To view the 88-page Michigan Life Sciences Strategy, visit the Michigan Economic Development Corporation web site http://medc.michigan.org/ and click on “Michigan Life Sciences Corridor.” The report was prepared for MEDC by Battelle Memorial Institute. 

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Office of Technology Policy Releases States’ S&T Indicators 
With the goal of assembling “a consistent set of state-level data that approximates the ‘technology infrastructure’ of the states,” the Office of Technology Policy (OTP) has released on the web, The Dynamics of Technology-based Economic Development: State Science and Technology Indicators. OTP, part of the Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, cautions repeatedly throughout the report that no attempt is made or intended to analyze, benchmark, or assess any state’s performance along any of the 37metrics included. Dynamics is meant to serve as a reference guide for policymakers and researchers to use as they develop, implement, and evaluate state science and technology policies and programs. Data has been normalized and ranked for ease of comparison or understanding a state’s relative position, however. 

The 37 metrics are divided among five major groups: funding in-flows (10 indicators); human resources (9); capital investment and business assistance (5); technology intensity of the business base (5); and, outcome measures (8). 

The report, prepared for OTP by Taratec Corporation, is divided into two parts. The first section provides a discussion of each metric with the raw data and rankings for each state, while the second part presents one-page profiles for each state with a graphical presentation of the 37 indicators. 

Print copies of The Dynamics of Technology-based Economic Development: State Science and Technology Indicators are available from OTP. Currently, full copies can be downloaded from: http://www.ta.doc.gov/Reports.htm 

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Profile of Today's College Graduates 
The latest issue of the National Commission on Entrepreneurship's E-News brought our attention to survey results revealing that, despite the media and Wall Street attention given to dot-coms, only 13.1 percent of recent college graduates would like to work for the start-up, Internet-based businesses given a choice. Fortune 500 companies were the preferred choice for 42.2 percent of the survey respondents, while 24.7 percent opted for small businesses (specifically not dot-coms). One-in-five respondents wanted to work for their own companies. Released in June, the survey was conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). 

NACE also released their annual salary survey for new college graduates in July. The results show starting salaries climbing for most disciplines -- not just the technical degrees. Top starting salary honors continue to go to pharmaceutical and engineering degrees but double-digit increases over last year were found for English majors (10.5 percent) and even political science grads (11.8 percent). 

It's fortunate that today's graduates are finding such good paying jobs -- because they need them: NACE also found that on top of student loans and car payments, more than half of recent grads already had credit card debt in excess of $3,000. Twenty-two percent owed more than $7,500 to credit card companies. 

All three survey findings can be found at: http://www.naceweb.org 

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Database of IT Workforce Programs Available 
The Technology Administration of the Department of Commerce has prepared a web-based database of public, private, and educational programs and activities dedicated to developing the information technology workforce. The site is searchable geographically, by program type, by sponsor, or by keyword. Entities are invited to add information for additional programs and initiatives to the site as well. More information is available at: http://www.go4it.gov 

Our thanks to Keecia James at the Southern Technology Council for making us aware of this resource. 

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