In the December 15, 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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New Jersey Launches $40 Million VC Partnership
After discovering that only 10 percent of the venture capital raised in New Jersey is invested in New Jersey companies, a new venture fund has been established combining private, state, and federal resources. The seed investment fund will be used to assist New Jersey start-up technology businesses get off the ground.

Led by the nonprofit New Jersey Technology Council, NJTC Venture Fund partners include private investors and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. The Authority is providing a 1:3 match for each private dollar raised, up to $10 million. Local newspapers report $22 million in private investment has been raised to date toward the goal of $30 million. The Small Business Investment Corporation (SBIC) program of the Small Business Administration may be used to further leverage the fund.

NJTC Venture Fund will provide between $300,000 to $3 million in seed money to start-ups in a variety of industries, including software, communications, biotech, photonics, healthcare, and electronics companies.

The NJTC was formed in 1996 as a private, non-profit organization dedicated to providing networking opportunities, information and other services to New Jersey technology businesses and now boasts a membership of about 1,000 high tech companies. The state development office estimates that there are some 3,000 more technology companies in Northern New Jersey than in Silicon Valley, but that initial investment is significantly lower in the Garden State’s new tech businesses.

More information is available at: http://www.njtc.org

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Technology/Economic Summits Yielding Results
What can policymakers and practitioners do if the statistics and other metrics indicate a state, region or locality is not well positioned for the technology-based economy, but the elected leaders and economic development professionals are plodding along with traditional approaches to job creation and development? Or, on the other hand, what if there are several fragmented or isolated technology-related activities and success stories occuring that could benefit from a little political exposure and synergy?

Jump-starting tech-based economic development often requires a shift in the mindset or thinking of the economic and political stakeholders for a state or community. Tools often used to encourage this change in outlook include innovation indices or S&T report cards that present the state or region's relative performance along several metrics. Creating state science and technology councils or drafting strategic plans for tech-based economic development are other often used approaches for trying to keep public investment in science and technology on the public agenda.

A third approach is the use of large public conferences or summits to convey the importance of changing paths in economic development policy or to recognize and reward the technology-based activities already underway. Maryland, for example, has held an annual technology summit since 1998. The approach has been particularly popular in the last three months. Minnesota, Mississippi and Wisconsin present three examples:

Minnesota
Twelve hundred people attended a Summit on Minnesota’s Economy, convened by the University of Minnesota on September 20, 2000. Held in response to growing concern over the position of the state to compete in the New Economy, the summit included briefings by experts in a number of areas. The summit examined:

At the end of the summit, a 22-member Working Group on Minnesota’s Economy was appointed by University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof. The Working Group has subsequently released a comprehensive listing of recommendations for improving the state’s economic development (see story following this article). More information on the summit is available at: http://www1.umn.edu/summit/

Mississippi
The Governor's Conference on High Technology, sponsored in part by the Mississippi Economic Council attracted more than 750 people -- nearly twice the expected turnout. Conference topics included:

One goal of the early-November event was to increase communication among Mississippi's technology businesses. More specific information on the agenda is available at: http://www.msmec.com/

Wisconsin
Hosted by the University of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Economic Summit brought together more than 850 people representing labor, business, public education, technical and post-secondary education, state agencies and existing economic development groups. The event was actually the capstone of a several-month effort of planning and 15 regional "listening sessions" held throughout the state in the weeks leading upto the summit. Several academic white papers were developed in preparation for the summit.

Governor Tommy Thompson told the audience in his keynote address that his goal is to make Wisconsin the national leader in biotechnology. His initiatives include guaranteeing access to the University of Wisconsin system for every technical college graduate with a “B” average and expanding a youth options program that allows high school juniors and seniors to take college courses.

Thompson said he also favors a tax incentives package that includes an airport hub exemption and development zones to make the state more attractive to businesses. He said he will ask the State Investment Board to invest another $50 million in venture capital and announced he will hold a venture capital summit in early 2001.

The University of Wisconsin System announced it will bolster technology transfer by expanding its Small Business Development Centers and form a joint UW-Madison/UW-Milwaukee business incubator.

A formal report of the summit will be presented to Governor Thompson in December. A website, http://www.wisconsin.edu/summit which includes links to the “white papers” will remain online for several months, a CD-ROM version of the 42 white papers will be made available, a final report distributed by Feb. 1 to participants and the public. A follow-up session will be scheduled next November.

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Group Recommends Measure to Improve Minnesota Economy
Following on the Summit on Minnesota’s Economy, a 21-member group appointed by the president of the University of Minnesota has unveiled its recommendations to strengthen the state’s economy. The recommendations in Report to the People of Minnesota: Building a Knowledge Economy for Minnesota’s 21st Century are divided among five strategies:

Recommendations in the new report are divided among five strategies:

In addition to calling for innovative private-public sector partnerships, the Working Group's plan provides broad support for legislative initiatives such as funding support for rural telecommunications and technology commercialization.

More information on the proposals is available at: http://www1.umn.edu/summit/

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Western Virginia Explores Its Future
Western Virginia’s economy is stagnant due to a variety of factors and must get in line with the “New Economy” according to a report commissioned by the Center for Innovative Leadership in Roanoke. A second study by the Center revealed the area's residents appear willing to support activities designed to bring new business and employment to the region.

The report concluded that despite a favorable quality of life in the “New Century Region," as Western Virginia calls itself, the area's economy has been concentrated heavily on declining manufacturing industries and must find ways to attract high technology business.

The region is home to the fourth largest concentration of population in Virginia, but has suffered from cutbacks in defense spending, increases in global competition and corporate mergers. Employment in the region increased by only 0.2 percent in 1999 compared to 2.7 percent for the entire state. The lack of new businesses contributed to stagnant population growth of 0.3 percent in the 1990s versus 1.5 percent for all of Virginia.

“The industry mix in the [New Century Region] has not kept up with the changes in national and local demand and the industry mix is concentrated in forms that have grown at a sluggish rate or have declined over the last few years,” the report said.

The report recommends the region target economic development policies toward fast-growing high tech industries to compensate for an expected decline in labor-intensive industries that currently exist there.

On the positive side, the report found that the area has an excellent higher education base, led by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the Carillon Biomedical Institute, that could be a catalyst to transform the region into the biomedical capital of Virginia.

The public opinion survey, taken by 570 respondents and 130 governmental leaders, revealed that most residents recognize there are economic problems in the region. However, there is a willingness to seek cooperation among the 17 entities in the New Century Region to improve the economy.

Three-quarters of the respondents said they favor a course of action that will result in economic growth and agree that high tech jobs are needed.

While the general population in the the region remains cautious about growth, 88 percent of government leaders are strongly in favor of economic development, even if it means the region might become more congested and might lose some natural areas. Most citizens favor government incentives for business recruitment and for growth and regulations.

The 106-page combined report is available for download at www.innovativeleadership.org

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Northeast-Midwest Institute Reports on Federal Spending by State
Despite small improvements, Northeast and Midwest regions lag behind the South and West in terms of dollars returned to states from taxes sent to Washington, according to a report issued by the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

The Northeast-Midwest region’s return on every tax dollar was $0.88, while the South received an estimated $1.18 in federal spending for every dollar sent to Washington and the West had a return of $1.01, according to Flow of Federal Funds to the States: Fiscal 1999.

Other highlights include:

The data used in the Northeast-Midwest Institute’s analysis were drawn primarily from Federal Expenditures by State for Fiscal Year 1999, published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and Special Report: 1999 Federal Tax Burdens and Expenditures by State, published by the Tax Foundation.

The Institute’s report analyzes federal spending patterns in the Northeast-Midwest and other regions of the country, and includes data tables for all 50 states. The report is available electronically on the Internet at http://www.nemw.org/fedspending.htm.

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Funding Opportunities
The Department of Energy through its National Energy Technology Laboratory will conduct a program solicitation and award cooperative agreements for a program entitled “Energy Efficient Building Equipment and Envelop Technologies, Round III.” The DOE/NETL seeks applications for innovative technologies that have the potential for significant energy savings in residential and commercial buildings. The objective is to accelerate high-payoff technologies that are unlikely to be developed in a timely manner without a partnership between industry and the federal government. The program solicitation will be available on the NETL website http://www.netl.doe.gov/business/index.html on or about Dec. 15, 2000. The solicitation number is DE-PS26-01NT41092.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research has announced its interest in receiving applications for research grants in the Natural and Accelerated Biomedical Research Program in the areas of biogeochemistry, biotransformation, community dynamics, and assessment projects which relate to those elements. Although not required, researchers are strongly encouraged to submit brief one-to-two page pre-applications which are due Jan. 8, 2001; the deadline for formal applications is Feb. 28, 2001. The awards will be made in late FY 2001 or early FY 2002. Approximately $2 million will be available for multiple awards and applicants may request project support for up to three years. Annual budgets for projects in the four scientific research elements are expected to range from $100,000 to $400,000 in total costs. Additional information may be obtained at http://lbl.gov/NABIR

The Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences intends to receive grant applications for support under its Robotics and Intelligent Machines (RIM) Program. The purpose of RIM is to develop cost-effective solutions to tasks relating to energy efficiency, safety, and security. Applications should be from investigators currently involved in basic research in this area and should be submitted through a U.S. academic institution. Pre-application deadline is Jan. 2, 2001; deadline for receipt of formal applications is March 20, 2001. This is a new program and it is anticipated that approximately $2 million will be available in FY 2001 for research. Awards are expected to range up to $500,000 annually with terms of one to three years. Further information may be obtained at the following website:
http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html

The Department of Commerce, through its National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is soliciting one- and two-year proposals for career development programs commencing in late FY 2001 with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2001. The purpose of these awards is to support activities designed to facilitate and/or enhance the development of qualified professionals in the fields of coastal ocean science, management, and policy. The deadline for receipt of proposals is Jan. 23, 2001, and it is anticipated that final decisions on awards will be made in early March, 2001. Detailed information on the grant availability is on the website: http://www.cop.noaa.gov

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USDA, NIH Inventions Offered for License
The U.S. Department of Agrciulture and the National Institutes of Health released information on 24 inventions that are available for license. Descriptions and contact information for each invention/patent are presented on the accompanying SSTI webpage

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