In the October 25, 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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NY State Assembly Announces $11.5M for Incubators in Brooklyn, Queens
More than $11 million in two New York State Assembly grants will support several new incubators for Brooklyn and Queens. The investments were recently announced by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly members representing the two boroughs.

A $4 million investment for the creation of a SUNY Downstate Advanced Biotechnology Incubator project aims to spur the development of a new cluster of biotechnology and medical technology companies in Brooklyn. The project will provide affordable space, services and access to resources essential to start-up companies engaged in the commercialization of technologies developed at SUNY Downstate, as well as to other biotechnology and medical start-ups and early stage companies.

Once completed, the Advanced Biotechnology Incubator will accommodate approximately 32 new start-up companies that are expected to create an initial 200 jobs, with an estimated 400 new jobs within five years.

The second grant, at $7.5 million, will allow the City University of New York (CUNY) to establish the first in a network of high-tech incubator facilities throughout New York City. Of the grant total, $5 million will be awarded for the expansion of a demonstration incubator at LaGuardia Community College to provide community-based entrepreneurs with low-cost, wired space, as well as administrative, legal, financial, managerial and funding support. The grant sets aside $2.5 million for the planning of three additional incubators in the near future that could be operational by the end of 2003.

Borough of Manhattan Community College will sponsor two of the planned incubators, while the Hostos Community College in the Bronx will host the third. A Lower Manhattan incubator will focus on the high-tech industry and allow for the revival of the New York Telemedia Accelerator, which was destroyed on September 11, 2001. A Harlem incubator will capitalize on the college's technology resources to nurture firms specializing in video gaming, interactive sports, web concerts and companies providing technical and support services for the entertainment industry, including production and design-related businesses.

The above facilities are expected to launch over 200 businesses and create more than 5,000 jobs over five years in the city's lowest income communities. Additional incubators are contemplated for City College (photonics), Hunter College (biotechnology), the College of Staten Island (polymer science) and the New York City College of Technology (information services and communications). More information is available at: http://assembly.state.ny.us/

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Wayne State University to House Michigan's NextEnergy Center
Michigan's NextEnergy Center, the central component of Gov. John Engler's $50 million fuel cell initiative, will be located within Wayne State University’s Research and Technology Park in Detroit, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) recently announced. Wayne State is situated in the Woodward Technology Corridor, one of 11 SmartZones located across Michigan.

The NextEnergy Center will serve as the nucleus for the NextEnergy Initiative — the Governor's comprehensive economic development plan to make Michigan a leader in the research, development, commercialization and manufacture of alternative energy technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells. The center will help facilitate collaborative research, incubate alternative energy technology companies, and provide industry collaboration for this new technology.

“By locating within Wayne State University’s Research and Technology Park, the NextEnergy Center will take advantage of a world-class university, be within the geographical center of the North American auto industry and leverage the substantial funding the MEDC has invested in this SmartZone,” Doug Rothwell, president & CEO of MEDC, said in a press statement.

The 250,000-square-foot NextEnergy Center was originally to be located in York Township, Washtenaw County. However, due to the costs associated with providing infrastructure to the York Township site, the need to open the center quickly to meet market demand, and the favorable conditions of the SmartZone in Detroit, the center’s location was changed.

NextEnergy Center proponents hope construction will begin by the year's end and be open for business by Fall 2003.

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Innovation Index Assesses Philadelphia's Position in Innovation Economy
Innovation Philadelphia, the public-private partnership dedicated to enhancing the global innovation economy of Philadelphia, has unveiled the first Innovation and Entrepreneurial Index, a comprehensive study examining where Philadelphia stands in relation to key competitors in the Innovation Economy.

The Index was compiled by measuring the Philadelphia region against seven other competitor regions: Baltimore, Boston, New York City, Pittsburgh, Research Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill), San Diego, and Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia. The Philadelphia region scored in the second half of this group.

Philadelphia is strongest in terms of a desirable location, due to its proximity to the Washington, D.C. — and its public investment dollars — and New York City, with its private investment capital, according to the Index. Philadelphia also scored well in patent productivity, ranking only behind Boston in number of patents produced between 1992 and 1996 and behind Boston and New York in patents between 1997 and 2001.

Twenty-nine indicators were used to compare the regions in the broad entrepreneurial areas of knowledge, capital, and location. The set of indicators covering knowledge details where the Philadelphia region stands in terms of private and public research investment and outcomes generated from that research. The section covering capital details sources of public and private investments made in the region. The location section looks at the realities of Philadelphia's physical location, work force and population.

As a result of the study, Innovation Philadelphia has set a series of regional goals to boost its position in the Knowledge Economy within the next 3-5 years:

Another Innovation Philadelphia strategy includes collaboration in the Knowledge Industry Partnership, which is intended to stave population loss in the region of college and university graduates through increasing the number of positive campus experiences and creating more job opportunities for college graduates.

Innovation and Entrepreneurial Index is available at http://www.ipphila.com.

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Communities Team with Federal Labs to Promote Tech-based ED
With more than 700 facilities around the country, federal laboratories and research centers can provide many resources for communities to tap as they strive to develop tech-based economies: technologies available for transfer and commercialization; facilities and technical staff available to partner with companies and universities for research; and, connections to funding and procurement opportunities.

Below are two recent announcements that demonstrate just a couple of the approaches that can be used to nurture a stronger partnership with nearby federal laboratories.

Hampton Motorsports Technology Alliance
The Hampton Motorsports Technology Alliance is a strategic partnership formed in August 2002 to promote Hampton, VA, and the region's expertise and technology resources to the automotive industry. The Hampton Department of Development, NASA Langley Research Center's Office of Technology Commercialization, Old Dominion University's (ODU) Langley Full Scale Tunnel (LFST) and the Peninsula Alliance for Economic Development comprise the alliance.

The alliance saw its beginnings in the mid-1990s when NASA closed LFST. At that time, the city's economic development department supported ODU's quest to reopen and operate the tunnel as a commercial testing facility. From the start, NASCAR teams showed the most interest in testing at the Hampton tunnel due to the independent operation by ODU, reasonable pricing structure, excellent data correlation, large test section and central East Coast location.

"Largely, as a result of revenue derived from the motorsports industry, the Langley Full Scale Tunnel was successful in recouping all startup costs and generating surplus revenue within two and one half years of its operation by Old Dominion University," said Eric Koster, Director of Motorsports Operations of LFST, which is one of two facilities of its kind in the U.S.

Encouraged by these initial successes, Hampton and LFST officials stepped up their efforts to co-market the facility at industry tradeshows around the late-1990s. During the fall of 2001, numerous meetings were held with NASA's Office of Technology Commercialization, which joined the partnership shortly afterward, and the Peninsula Alliance of Economic Development became the last member to join.

Exhibiting at the tradeshows and using joint marketing materials, the Hampton Motorsports Technology Alliance already has begun taking steps to increase awareness of the Hampton region's motorsports assets. A Spring 2002 visit by eight executives representing elite motorsports companies in the United Kingdom may provide evidence of increased awareness. The UK delegation was looking to explore potential collaborations and assess technologies.

The alliance continues to provide LFST an opportunity to develop industry partnerships, new intellectual properties that can lend themselves into aeronautics applications, and the transfer of existing NASA technology into the motorsports industry. Discussions are underway with other entities such as private industry partners to join the alliance.

Automation Alley and National Automotive Center
Also announced in August 2002, was Automation Alley, an industry group based in Oakland County, MI, joining forces with the National Automotive Center (NAC) of the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) formed by the two groups is expected to yield better military and civilian vehicles.

Most of Automation Alley's members had not previously worked with the Army or the rest of the federal government. Roughly 90 percent of the consortium's 450 high tech companies were considered "non-traditional" contractors. The companies represent numerous industries, including computer software/hardware and information systems, telecommunications, consumer products, industrial processes, automotive suppliers, automotive R&D, design and engineering, healthcare, and non-automotive manufacturers.

NAC was founded in 1992 for the very purpose of developing collaborations between business, academia and the Department of Defense (DoD). Located at the Army's National Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren, MI, NAC is the DoD focal point for developing dual-use vehicle technology. NAC employs several key mechanisms to leverage investments in automotive technology R&D and for initiating shared technology programs, including collaborative automotive technology contracts, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts, Cooperative Agreements, and CRADAs.

Responsible for the CRADA between Automation Alley and NAC was the Automation Alley Education Committee, who recognized much potential in NAC and its parent organization TACOM. The committee established a subcommittee to raise the awareness of NAC's existence amongst members, a move to help foster collaborative efforts between the organizations. Under the agreement, the consortium's members are able to use state-of-the-art computers and technology at NAC, while NAC is able to tap the technology and expertise of companies and universities in southeast Michigan.

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NCEC Presents NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards
The National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (NCEC) presented on Tuesday the 2002 NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards to entrepreneurship centers at Babson College, Indiana University-Bloomington, and Saint Louis University.

The award recognizes achievements and efforts of entrepreneurship centers in the following areas: entrepreneurship research, outreach to emerging ventures, entrepreneurship curriculum, community collaborations, special projects, and overall prestige and recognition in the entrepreneurship field. The award honors centers that have made and will continue to make enormous contributions in advancing entrepreneurship as the force in economic growth throughout the world.

Selections are made by a panel of NASDAQ representatives, previous honorees, and distinguished professors of entrepreneurship at some of the leading programs in the country.

This year's honorees include the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College, Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Indiana University-Bloomington, and the Jefferson Smurfit Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the John Cook School of Business and Administration at Saint Louis University.

Under the sponsorship of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, NASDAQ, and Beacon Venture Capital, NCEC exists for the purpose of continued collaboration among the centers. A complete listing of all member universities is available at the NCEC website: http://www.nationalconsortium.org/

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Useful Stats: Academic Pork 1990-2002
The use of Congressional earmarks on federal agency budgets to support projects and programs in academic institutions has exploded since 1996, according to statistics compiled by and reported in the September 27, 2002 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Whether measured by the number of institutions involved (up 27 percent over 2001), the number of individual earmarks (up 35 percent), or the total dollar value involved (up 10 percent), the 2002 federal budget saw a record use or abuse of the technique to circumvent competitive review of proposals. The Chronicle reports there were 1,645 individual earmarks garnering 668 institutions a total of $1.84 billion in 2002.

For comparison, 128 schools received a total of $300 million through 215 separate earmarks in fiscal year 1996.

Arguably bad public policy smacking of backroom cronyism, earmarks nevertheless have become an integral component of many state and local efforts to develop technology-based economies over the past six years.

For states with members of Congress in senior leadership positions, earmarks can be a more expeditious method of obtaining funds for research and technology-based economic development programs than the traditional competitive or peer-reviewed routes.

Academic institutions in West Virginia, for example, received $69.8 million in non-shared earmarks in 2002 and a total of $220.3 million during 1998-2002. Of West Virginia's 2002 earmarks: $11 million supported biotech research, $6.9 million went toward distance learning and telemedicine projects, $5 million supported technology transfer, $24 million was for other research projects, and an additional $6 million was spread across several other initiatives supporting tech-based economic development goals. The remaining one-quarter went toward covering the state's share of match for some federal programs and on a variety of other projects.

In contrast to West Virgina's earmarks being spread over several areas and programs, the Chronicle analysis finds 87 percent of all earmarks for fiscal year 2002 involved specific research projects and financing of research-related construction, facilities and equipment.

As more areas become aware of the pervasiveness and "creative" uses of earmarks — and as programs search for alternative sources of financing given state fiscal conditions — the role of pork in tech-based economic development policy may only increase.

The Chronicle's complete list of academic earmarks for all states during the 1990-2002 timespan is available at: http://chronicle.com/stats/pork

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Guide to Useful Stats: EconData.Net
With more than 1,000 links to socio-economic data sources, EconData.Net provides a convenient and valuable starting point for gathering information to understand regional economies. Funded by the Economic Development Administration, EconData.Net is a 100 percent free website offering easy access to state and sub-state socio-economic data for practitioners, researchers, students and data users in general.

EconData.Net provides eight sections on its website to help locate data:

EconData.Net is maintained and operated by two independent economic development consulting firms Impresa, Inc. and Andrew Reamer & Associates. To learn more about this free comprehensive data website and to subscribe to StatScan, visit www.econdata.net

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MTI Seeks Tech Transfer Specialist
Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), the state's leading tech-based economic development corporation, currently is searching for a dynamic individual with top-notch skills to help bring federal technology transfer activities to Minnesota companies. The successful candidate will develop partnerships with federal labs, identify opportunities for tech transfer activities, and assist companies with the development of proposals, agreements and licenses, and implement solutions to enhance their ability to compete and grow.

Successful applicants will hold a Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Manufacturing/Engineering, Science or related field (advanced degree is preferred). Experience in new technology development and commercialization, and product development; experience with DOD, DOE, NASA, NIST or other federal labs is required.

Additional information regarding the position is available on SSTI's job corner: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

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People

Anthony Armstrong returns to the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund as its new director.

Bay Area Regional Technology Alliance (BARTA) has been renamed the TechVentures Network as the Bay Area's leading source of access to financing, business data and services for emerging technology.

John Bradley is the Tennessee Valley Authority's as its first chief of economic development. Bradley had been senior vice president of economic development at the Memphis Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Randy Goldsmith resigned as President & CEO of the Oklahoma Technology Development Corp to assume the role of President and CEO of the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative.

J.A. Hans Roeterink, chief technical officer and vice president of network operations for T-Systems in New York, is the new executive director of the Alaska Science & Technology Foundation. Roeterink begins Nov. 1, succeeding Jamie Kenworthy.

Dennis Yablonsky, who has been serving as CEO for both the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse and the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse for most of the past year, has decided to focus exclusively on the biotech initiative. His replacement as president and CEO at the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse is David Ruppersberger.

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