In the September 10, 2001 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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City, Chamber Partner for Birmingham Future as Tech Mecca 
If the corporate leaders, educators, scientists, and technology entrepreneurs who make up the Birmingham Area Technology Task Force have their way, Birmingham, Alabama in the 21st century will be a mecca for technology-based businesses and jobs. A cooperative effort of the City of Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid and the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce, the “BATT Force” is charged with developing a strategic plan aimed at fostering the start-up, growth, attraction, and retention of technology industries to the Birmingham area. 

At its initial meeting in late August, the 150-member BATT Force divided into six Work Groups, each of which will spend roughly the next nine weeks studying a specific area related to technology-based business development. The Work Groups will issue reports on their findings, including up to 10 recommendations for action. The Work Group reports will be the basis of the Birmingham Area Strategic Plan for Technology Development, to be presented to the City and the Chamber of Commerce by mid-November. 

The areas to be studied by the BATT Force Work Groups are: 

The Work Group reports will be the basis of the Birmingham Area Strategic Plan for Technology Development, to be presented to the City and the Chamber of Commerce by mid-November. 

For more information, contact Mark Kelly, the Mayor’s Public Information Office, 205.254.2843. 

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Study Finds Public Universities Generate 5:1 Return on State Investment 
State and land-grant universities provide major stimulus to their state and regional economies – generating jobs, attracting and helping create new high-tech businesses, and increasing state tax revenues in addition to providing a well-educated work-force, according to Shaping the Future – The Economic Impact of Public Universities. The study, prepared by National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), is based on a survey of its 212 member institutions. Fifty percent responded to the survey. 

Among the key findings are: 

Shaping the Future also contains an institution-by-institution summary of economic and other data reported by respondents. This section of the report highlights many specific examples of the economic benefits provided by public universities including: medical and technological breakthroughs; support for start-up businesses; expedited commercial availability of promising technologies; a well-educated, productive workforce; and, community service and outreach. 

Print copies of the report will be available at SSTI's 5th Annual Conference. Additional hard copies may be requested by e-mail at pubs@nasulgc.org The report also is available for download on the NASULGC website at www.nasulgc.org

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Conference Sponsor Profile 
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership 
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a nationwide network of not-for-profit Centers in over 400 locations nationwide, whose sole purpose is to provide the more than 361,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers in the country the help they need to succeed in a global economy. The Centers, serving all 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are linked together through the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology – making it possible for even the smallest firms to tap into the expertise of knowledgeable manufacturing and business specialists all over the U.S. 

Since its founding, MEP has worked with more than 107,000 manufacturing firms, achieving impressive results for its clients: $996 million in increased revenues, $195 million in cost savings, and $360 million in modernization investment. 

The centers help manufacturers with such issues as process improvement; quality management systems; business management systems; human resource development; market development; materials engineering; plant layout; product development; energy audits; environmental studies; financial planning; CAD/CAM/CAE; and electronic commerce/EDI. 

More information on the Manufacturing Extension Partnership — a gold sponsor hosting an exhibit at SSTI's annual conference Sept. 20-21, 2001 — may be obtained by visiting http://www.mep.nist.gov

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The Internet: Provider or Pariah for Rural America? 
With all its promise of connecting businesses and residents of even the remotest areas the country to the global economy, the Internet led most states and communities to invest resources toward the Digital Divide. Will these investments pay off? Will the Internet lead to an economic geographic revolution similar to that caused by past technological advances such as the automobile? 

Combining linguistic theory, economic theory and history, two UCLA faculty members, Edward Leamer and Michael Storper, provide their answer – probably not – in The Economic Geography of the Internet Age. They argue that the economy is increasingly dependent on relationships requiring understanding and trust, qualities developed through face-to-face contact rather than long distance conversations enabled by the Internet. 

Leamer and Storper also suggest that, while the Internet creates many forces for deagglomeration of production, it also provides “offsetting and possibly stronger tendencies toward agglomeration.” The result then will be two-fold, they argue. Geographic dispersion of low-wage jobs – increasing in number as a result of computers “dumbing down” or simplifying formerly skilled positions – will continue, modestly improving the standard of living of low-income areas. 

The Internet also allows the deagglomeration of high-skilled jobs that are standardized by the Internet and computer software applications. While manufacturing and textile jobs were relocated in earlier technological revolutions, skilled service positions now become vulnerable. An example cited in the paper is technical architectural and graphics design work can now be done in China for $3 an hour and quickly emailed back to the U.S. 

On the other hand, Leamer and Storper see clustering of related businesses continuing as well, even for information- and knowledge-based companies, creating greater economic disparities or inequities across regions. 

The authors recommend local and state economic development policies focus on maintaining an educated workforce, creating a supportive business climate, and helping their business community to “stay in the loop” of the global economy. 

The Economic Geography of the Internet Age, released last week as a working paper of the National Bureau of Economic Research, can be purchased from: http://www.nber.org 

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Conference Sponsor Profile 
Minnesota Technology, Inc. 

Since its founding in 1991, the nonprofit Minnesota Technology Inc. (MTI) has been Minnesota lead technology-based economic development organization. Its mission, to help existing small and medium-sized companies apply, develop and commercialize technology, is achieved through three objectives: 

Minnesota Technology, Inc. has a staff of approximately 85 people and is governed by a Board of Directors appointed by the governor and state legislature. The organization also is supported by ten Advisory Councils spread throughout the state and consisting of local business and community leaders. 

Celebrating its first decade of service to Minnesotans, MTI can point to more than 4,000 individual companies assisted and a bottom-line impact of more than $600 million. MTI also is an affiliate of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership Network, described above. 

More information about Minnesota Technology Inc. — a gold sponsor hosting an exhibit at SSTI's annual conference Sept. 20-21, 2001 — is available at http://www.minnesotatechnology.org 

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Seven Recent TBED-related GAO Studies 
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) releases reports and testimonies nearly every day. On the accompanying webpage are summaries from seven recent reports, identified below, that are relevant to state and local tech-based economic development objectives. 

A list of all titles available from the GAO is provided on its website, http://www.gao.gov 

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