In the August 9, 2002 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2003. 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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DARPA-like Office Proposed for Homeland Security
A draft report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recommends the Department for Homeland Security include a centralized office for research and technology development and the senior-level position of undersecretary for science and technology, according to several published reports. The final version of Maximizing the Contribution of Science and Technology Within the New Department of Homeland Security, which was available on the PCAST website temporarily, is to be given to the President next week.

News accounts indicate the PCAST recommendations will bring the Administration's position to reflect more closely the consolidated leadership structures proposed in separate Senate and House versions of Homeland Security legislation. PCAST calls for the under secretary for S&T to oversee a Homeland Security Advanced Research Agency (HS-ARPA), modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Both bills under consideration call for an undersecretary for science and technology, while S. 2452 also called for a Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, according to National Journal's TechDaily.

The new HS-ARPA would fund research and development projects conducted by academic institutions and private industries.

The American Association of Universities' account says the report also calls for establishing two Homeland Security Research and Development Coordinating Councils that would coordinate the department's R&D efforts with other governmental agencies. One council would work with federal agencies, and the other would work with state and local agencies. Either a new laboratory would be established or one of the existing national labs would be reorganized to handle the agency's internal R&D needs.

The AAU also says the report calls for establishing federally financed R&D centers that would assess terrorist threats and ways to counter those threats.

When available, the final version of Maximizing the Contribution of Science and Technology Within the New Department of Homeland Security should be available through http://www.ostp.gov/PCAST/pcast.html

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Regional Organization Focusing St. Louis on Future
The St. Louis region lags behind a number of metropolitan areas including Austin, Portland, Atlanta, and Indianapolis in attracting 20- to 34-year olds to live and work in the region, according to a report released this month by the regional, nonprofit organization, FOCUS St. Louis.

Preparing St. Louis for Leadership in the 21st Century Economy is the result of a year-long effort by a citizen-based FOCUS St. Louis task force. The 27-member group concluded the St. Louis region must be more effective in attracting and retaining young knowledge workers in order for the region to thrive and compete in the 21st Century economy.

The task force report says citizens, employers, educators, and government and civic leaders must recognize the impending crisis and take steps to capitalize on, connect, and better market the area's resources to meet the needs of young knowledge workers. This includes, according to the report, increasing venture capital, expanding green space, creating a new, regional brand image targeted at young knowledge workers, and making St. Louis a vibrant region. More importantly, the task force noted that St. Louis already has many of the resources needed to compete in the 21st Century economy; however, these resources need to be better coordinated.

For more information or to download a copy of this report, visit http://www.focus-stl.org

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Study Finds University’s Viewpoint Critical for Successful Partnerships
University partnerships lead to diversity in teaching and research, highlight the importance of university research and lead to the development of special expertise, concludes a policy brief by the Conseil Superieur De L’Education in Quebec.

Universities: Working In Partnership, prepared for the Minister of Education, examines the effects of partnerships with outside entities on elements of the university mission in Canada, particularly Quebec. The brief outlines the positive effects of partnerships, as well as the counterproductive and undefined effects.

The brief focuses on the university viewpoint of partnerships and identifies concerns and tensions by universities when engaging in these agreements. These concerns and tensions are parlayed into five key questions to be asked. From these questions, the Counsel outlines five guidelines for partnerships:

Eighteen recommendations are presented to the Minister of Education to support the guidelines and to foster growth and success of university partnerships. Some recommendations include providing policy support for the university's mission, intensifying training and research that allows students to interact with businesses and outside organizations, and ensuring that a balance of funding remains between "free" research and partnership-based research. An abridged version of the policy brief is available at: http://www.cse.gouv.qc.ca

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EDA Increasingly TBED Friendly, Sampson to Keynote at SSTI's Conference
A review of recent grant announcements from across the country reveals the growing importance the Economic Development Administration (EDA) places on supporting technology-based economic development projects. EDA's emphasis on technology-led economic development is expected to be the focus of  a keynote address delivered by Dr. David Sampson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development and EDA head, at SSTI's Sixth Annual Conference this October 2-3.

EDA — which since 1965 has provided assistance to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically-distressed areas — has historically concentrated funding on traditional economic development projects focused on public works and infrastructure.

EDA has been working to shift more resources toward tech-based approaches to building wealth and securing higher-wage jobs for rural and urban areas. A sampling from the latest rounds of grants reflects this shift:

In a recent speech in Denver, the Assistant Secretary said "our goal is to generate more economic impact per dollar of input than any other federal agency involved in economic development. To accomplish this, EDA will embrace an economic development strategy based on enhancing regional competitiveness, fostering innovation, increasing productivity and developing industry clusters."

He continues, "Economic development programs can help private businesses build links with public institutions, like schools, universities, community colleges and research institutions. They can assure that public infrastructure is available and that public services are provided to attract economic growth. They can help emerging businesses navigate complex regulatory systems. When the market place bypasses certain geographic areas or when regional economies are experiencing structural economic change, economic development programs can help build a more favorable business climate to attract private capital investment by encouraging new partnerships and new institutions to respond to these market opportunities. Over time these economic development activities can help to influence both the rate and location of economic change."

To learn more about the other SSTI conference speakers and to register, go to: http://www.ssti.org/conference02.htm [expired]

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Colorado Names State's First Aerospace Advocate
Governor Bill Owen has named Trip Carter as the state's first aerospace advocate, the state's latest effort to help the industry, which employs approximately 110,000 residents and has $4 billion in revenues. Only Florida, California and Texas have larger stakes in the aerospace industry. As a result, the state has undertaken several initiatives over the past two years to develop and promote the industry's health as it goes through a transition period.

The Aerospace Advocate appointment follows a Space Symposium held in Colorado Springs in April and the Colorado Space Strategy Initiative completed two years ago to study the importance of aerospace for Colorado's economy and outline specific recommendations for public-private initiatives to support the industry.

Working through the Colorado Technology Alliance, Mr. Carter will report to the state's new Colorado Aerospace/Defense Council. The goals of the Advocate and Council are to work with leaders of industry, education, government, economic development organizations and the general public to establish strong space coalitions, ensure workforce availability, increase aerospace collaborations with adjacent industries, enhance Colorado's reputation as a "space state" and grow business statewide.

The Denver Post reports the budget for the Office of the Aerospace Advocate will be approximately $240,000, with the state providing $60,000 and the aerospace industry covering the balance.

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

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Economic Strategy Penned for Roanoke Region
With several of the right elements already in place but scattered across a wide area, the two planning districts comprising the 13-county region surrounding Roanoke, Virginia, combined efforts to develop a strategic economic development strategy that focuses heavily on science and technology-based initiatives.

The Alliance Group and its Planning Leadership Group, a team of public, private and academic stakeholder organizations, have outlined six strategic themes that entail regional economic development activities for the larger region: visibility, connectivity, quality-of-life amenities, knowledge work force, innovation and entrepreneurship, and economic transformation. The next steps, the group asserts, are to communicate the goals of the Strategy throughout the region and manage the necessary resources for enacting the goals.

Regional Economic Strategy offers some insight on the region's transition between the Knowledge Economy and the New Economy as it stresses the importance of a knowledge work force, those workers whose knowledge is critical to a company's intellectual assets.

Several specific tactics and potential participating organizations are identified for each of the themes. For instance, to address the challenge of perceived and real perceptions of geographic isolation that plague many rural areas, connectivity will be encouraged and developed through broadband/multimedia access in addition to further development of traditional transportation systems.

Other tactics include creating a regional venture capital fund, strengthening the intellectual property and technology transfer activities at Virginia Tech, and creating industry cluster associations to encourage cluster-based economic development.

The report suggests Roanoke, being situated in the 5th Planning District, the 4th Planning District, and Franklin County — three areas that, combined, comprise the "larger region" — have two key economic assets that are valuable to high growth firms: (1) a large urban locus and related metro offerings and (2) several colleges and universities. The combined region boasts 477,000 people and 246,000 workers.

Copies of Regional Economic Strategy are available for downloading at: http://www.rvarc.org/

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For NJ: Nano in, VC Out
Two separate news stories covering different New Jersey's technology-based economic development initiatives may give one of the first peeks at Governor James McGreevey's plans for science & technology in the Garden State.

The online edition of the Small Times reports Gov. McGreevey committed $2 million from the state's FY 2003 budget to support the New Jersey Nanotechnology Consortium, a new $12 million public-private research initiative based at donated Lucent research facilities. According to the article, $6 million of the additional funding is to come in the form of earmarks on the appropriations bills for the Department of Defense and National Science Foundation. The article is available at: http://www.smalltimes.com/print_doc.cfm?doc_id=4316

For the obituary column, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on the same day that the activities of the state-funded seed and early venture capital program known as the Springboard Fund have been suspended because of the state's budget deficit. The program, which was administered by the New Jersey Commission on Science & Technology, received approximately $5 million annually from the state, according to the article. Before the plug was pulled, Springboard had invested through no-interest loans in 75 companies, creating 600 jobs.

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SSTI Affiliate Program Takes Off
Already, more than 20 organizations are taking advantage of SSTI's new affiliate membership program. In addition to being able to tap into SSTI's resources, among the benefits available to SSTI affiliates are two perks that many are taking advantage of: discounted registration fees for Building Tech-based Economies: From Policy to Practice, SSTI's Sixth Annual Conference and a 10 percent discount on any purchases from SSTI's 150+ title bookstore and catalog.

Eligibility to become an SSTI affiliate is open to local and regional science and technology programs, universities, trade associations, tech councils, organizations supporting technology-based economic development, international organizations and agencies, non-profit organizations, and individuals.

SSTI welcomes our first affiliates:

In addition to the benefits afforded affiliates, funds raised by the new membership program are intended to help sustain and expand SSTI's core capabilities, including publication of SSTI's Weekly Digest.

More information on becoming an SSTI Affiliate is available online at: http://www.ssti.org/sponsors.htm

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Useful Stats: Gross State Products: 1991-2000
In June, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce released the 2002 estimates for Gross State Product (GSP). GSP estimates can be useful for standardizing data across states for ease of comparison or interpretation. SSTI has prepared a table presenting the GSPs for all 50 states and the District of Columbus for the decade 1991-2000 in current 2000 dollars. The states are then ranked by percent change over the decade. The GSP data is available for viewing and downloading at: http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/regional/gsp/

SSTI's table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/080902t.htm

SSTI thanks EconData.Net for alerting us to the release of the 2000 GSP figures through their free monthly email newsletter.

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TBED People News

Jeanne B. Berdik has announced her retirement as Vice President of Workforce Education and Development at the Pittsburgh Technology Council and Catalyst Connection. See next article for job posting.

The Massachusetts Technology Council named Carol Meier as its new Executive Director, succeeding Katherine Raphaelson who is relocating to Washington D.C.

The Rhode Island Technology Council has appointed Katherine O'Dea as director of workforce development and JoAnn Johnson as manager of education partnerships.

Tom Schumpert, director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation for the past two years, is leaving to become executive director of the metro center of Roger Williams University in Providence. His responsibilities will include strengthening the university's relations with corporations and the community.

Meriby Sweet has been appointed technology business counselor by the Maine Technology Institute and the Maine Small Business Development Centers.

The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) has hired Lara Vande Walle to serve as director of membership and business development.

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PTC Seeks VP for Workforce Development
SSTI Affiliate, the Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC) seeks candidates to become the organization's Vice President for Workforce Education and Development. The senior-level position is responsible for the management of all Catalyst Connection and Pittsburgh Technology Council education programs and services and IT workforce development and recruitment strategies. PTC is looking for a senior professional with 10-15 years experience in workforce development, education, the development of business-education partnerships, federal and state-related workforce initiatives, and in working in or with industry, particularly at the smaller company level. The deadline for submission of resumes is August 31. A more detailed description of the position, including contact information is available at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

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