In the October 10, 2003 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2003. 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.

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Brookings Looks at TBED Outside the Techpoles
Ask most state and local technology-based economic development (TBED) professionals what they are trying to accomplish in their community or region and the majority will probably draw on a few of the well-known high tech centers of the country for examples. Many books, studies and reports have scrutinized the success of Silicon Valley, Boston, Seattle, Austin, etc. For example, the desire to replicate the success of Silicon Valley, has led to litany of "Silicon <insert geographic term here>" branding across the country.

Another easy example to point to is the outrage so many communities felt when their metro area didn't make the top ten in the Brookings Institution's seminal report, Signs of Life: The Growth of Biotechnology Centers in the U.S.

Why are TBED proponents so prone to wanting to be the biggest? The same size-envy doesn't permeate all aspects of public policy on growth. Few of cities the size of Peoria, Boise, Akron or Burlington would claim in their ten-year growth strategies that they want to become the next New York City, Tokyo, Los Angeles or Chicago.

To help bring the goals of tech-based economic developers back into perspective, the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy has released Spreading the Wealth: Building a Tech Economy in Small and Medium-sized Regions. The new discussion paper, prepared by Paul Sommers and Deena Heg of the University of Washington Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, looks at the strategies five Washington regions other than Seattle employed to encourage the growth of their tech economies.

The paper identifies key lessons from the five case studies and recommendations that the authors believe have applicability across the country. The following excerpt is from the executive summary:

Copies of Spreading the Wealth: Building a Tech Economy in Small and Medium-sized Regions will be available to attendees of SSTI's annual conference in Seattle next week (Oct. 20-22). The discussion paper will be available for download or ordering from the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy at: http://www.brookings.edu/urban/

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Illinois Governor Regionalizes ED Efforts
In mid-September, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich unveiled a new approach to economic development in Illinois– regionalism. While several other states currently use or have explored a regionalized approach to delivering state economic development services, the concept is new for Illinois. The Governor’s plan divides the state into ten separate economic regions by finding areas with similar economic strengths and similar economic needs, and then creates a separate regional economic development plan for each.

More than 20 state agencies, boards and commissions will be involved in the creation and implementation of each regional plan. Each plan will contain 15-25 tangible actions that the state can take to help create jobs, and give communities the tools they need to attract businesses. Items in the plans will range from creating needed infrastructure like roads and industrial parks to providing job training and consulting services through workforce development programs and new entrepreneurship centers to programs to help promote tourism.

"It's time we stopped using a one size fits all approach when it comes to economic development, and started looking at each region individually – and it’s time we start making plans that play to each region’s strengths and address each region’s needs,” Blagojevich said in his remarks. “We’re going to take every step we can to make our cities and our towns places where businesses can thrive and where people can get jobs. We’re going to build new roads. We’re going to build new infrastructure. We’re going to provide training, technology, and venture capital. We’re going to reduce the cost of doing business in Illinois. We’re going to do everything we possibly can to give our communities the ability to compete again."

The planning process started this month and will continue throughout the next few months, rolled out one region at a time. The first rollout is to be in Rockford this week. Since the start of his administration, Governor Blagojevich’s administration has reached out, across the state to economic development groups, local chambers of commerce, large and small business leaders and labor to help identify some of the needs in each region.

The Governor made his announcement during a speech to 250 Illinois business, labor and government leaders on the first day of his two-day 2003 Illinois Economic Summit. The Economic Summits were created to help provide the administration with ideas for the regional plans.

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Report Highlights Principles to Guide North Carolina’s New Economy
At a time when North Carolina is experiencing record-setting layoffs, the dot-com bubble has burst, and traditional industries are undergoing critical changes, North Carolina needs a cohesive, bipartisan economic development strategy that embraces the dynamics underlying the new economy, according to a new report issued by the Institute for Emerging Issues.

Jump Starting Innovation: 10 Principles to Guide North Carolina’s New Economy, is being sent to 5,000 policy makers, business leaders and university officials around the state and the nation. The report aims to help these leaders develop new ways of thinking about innovation, technology and creativity and the role they play in the state’s economy.

Developed out of the 2003 Emerging Issues Forum, key points of the report include:

Located at North Carolina State University, the Institute for Emerging Issues identifies emerging trends in North Carolina, sharpens public debate on their impact, proposes strategic responses, and stimulates action by the public and private sectors. The Institute has introduced new approaches to entrepreneurship in rural communities, catalyzed regional discussions on innovative opportunities — from biotechnology to creative approaches to economic development — and expanded efforts to foster technology transfer and commercialization.

The report is available at: http://www.ncsu.edu/iei

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NSF Awards $68M for New Engineering Centers
Storm prediction, extreme ultraviolet light, clean chemical manufacturing, and implantable electronics for treating incurable diseases — all of the above will be tackled by four new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) created by the National Science Foundation (NSF) last week. The new centers will receive a $68 million from NSF over the next five years.

Each center, to be based at a university, will function as a collaborative partnership. The maximum possible duration of NSF support is 10 years, after which the ERCs are expected to become self-sufficient.

NSF will provide roughly $17 million to each center over the next five years, with each center focusing on a specific area:

Including the new awards, NSF supports 24 ERCs in the fields of bioengineering, earthquake engineering, design, manufacturing and product development systems, and microelectronic systems and information technology. Each of the new centers is described more fully in NSF's press release: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/03/pr03115.htm

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Collaboration Critical to Recent Local TBED Initiatives

Arizona Universities Partner to Create Joint Biomedical Campus
In an economy in which nearly every public university across the country is facing tighter budgets, the presidents of the three state universities of Arizona – the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University – have decided the best way to expand and improve the state’s biomedical research capabilities is to jointly form a single biomedical campus in downtown Phoenix. According to an Oct. 1 article in the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Biomedical Collaboration will facilitate coordination of research and encourage better interaction among student, faculty and other researchers. The project also should yield biotech spinoffs and additional economic development benefits for the city. ASU and UA have committed a combined $27 million toward the Arizona Biomedical Collaboration facility, which is expected to house as many as 15,000 students.

Accelerator Expanding at Idaho State University
Contributions totaling $1.8 million from the state, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, and Pocatello Development Authority, are financing an expansion of the Idaho Accelerator Center to add additional labs and research facilities for the study of minute, subatomic particles. Established in 1994, the uniquely designed center is located at the business and research park of Idaho State University. The expansion will allow the center to strengthen its nuclear research partnerships with private companies spun out of INEEL-generated technologies.

Indiana Venture Center Will Support Entrepreneurship Statewide
The Indiana Venture Center (IVC), established through a partnership of five Indiana universities and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, is expected to begin offering entrepreneurship services across the state this month. Located in Indianapolis near the IUPUI campus, the center was developed to assist a variety of local business founders, such as entrepreneurs taking high-potential ideas to market, owners of rapidly-growing companies needing assistance with expansion efforts, and leaders of large, established firms who are interested in implementing innovative ideas. The focus of the Indiana Venture Center's efforts will be high-potential, technology-related firms and ideas. IVC received its conception and initial funding of $3.0 million from a successful Indiana University alumnus. CICP is providing an an additional $500,000 to help get the effort off the ground.

Ground Broken for Western Kentucky New Economy Center
Construction began in mid-September for the Murray State University Innovations and Commercialization Center (ICC). Serving the 20 counties in western Kentucky, the center is designed to house start-up businesses, providing technical and managerial support to emerging entrepreneurial activities. Additionally, the $1.5 million center will seek funding for innovative products, processes and increased use of technology. The focus of the ICC includes telecommunications systems management, an Energy and Environmental Consortium, early educational exposure to entrepreneurial training, and training for start-up businesses. The center also will include a business incubator aimed especially at technology and information-based businesses and will serve as one of four regional offices for the state’s New Economy initiatives.

St. Paul Biotech Incubator Closer to Reality with $1M Corporate Donation, $500K from City
The 50,000 sq. ft. biotechnology incubator proposed in St. Paul near the University of Minnesota moved a giant step forward last month with the pledge of a $1 million cash and in-kind donation from the 3M corporate foundation. In addition, the St. Paul City Council approved a $500,000 contribution last week. Already having secured funding from the state and Xcel Energy, the University Enterprises Laboratories (UEL) incubator is expected to house up to 30 start-up biotech firms, many of which will be spawned from university research. The $21 million project calls for purchasing and renovating a former department store office and warehouse facility to create the incubator and an additional 80,000 sq. ft of lease space for four to six larger biotech companies. The UEL is a public-private partnership formed in 2001 between the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences and the Carlson School of Management, the University of Minnesota Foundation, the City of St. Paul and the State of Minnesota.

Greensboro Center for Innovation Development to Be Run Jointly by Two N.C. Universities
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and N.C. A&T State University are creating a Joint Millennial Campus that will have two locations totaling approximately 150 acres. To be collectively called the Greensboro Center for Innovative Development, the north campus will be home to the planned Institute for Training, Research and Development. Initially, it will target the needs of school systems, business and industry, and various health services and social agencies in the region. Plans for the south campus include a science research park. Areas of research will come from key academic areas of both campuses, including the physical and life sciences, engineering, technology, food and nutrition, and other applied sciences. The south campus will be part of the N.C. A&T research farm.

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Despite Downturn, Industry R&D Holds Steady in 2001
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has given us the first peek at the results of the 2001 survey of industrial research and development expenditures and, while the news is better than expected given the economy, the first figures provide further evidence of the struggles of the U.S. manufacturing base. Issue Brief 04-301, U.S. Industry Sustains R&D Expenditures During 2001 Despite Decline in Performers' Aggregate Sales, provides aggregate figures for industrial R&D by performer, size of company, and sector.

Overall, NSF found company funding of R&D totaled $181.6 billion in 2001. Before adjusting for inflation, the amount is up from the 2000 total of $180.4 billion. In constant dollars, industrial R&D expeditures declined less than one percent.

When the total is distributed between manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries, a different picture emerges. In constant dollars, manufacturing industries posted a 3.7 percent drop in R&D expenditures between 2000 and 2001. Non-manufacturing industry R&D, on the other hand rose by 1.5 percent.

The Issue Brief is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf04301

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Kansas City Prepares Life Sciences Primer
A group of Kansas City bi-state community development organizations, led by KCCatalyst and the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (KCALSI), released a report Friday that illustrates Kansas City’s bi-state life sciences initiative and lays out how the region can become a national and global center for life sciences research and commercialization.

The report, A Guide to Life Sciences in Greater Kansas City, serves as a basic primer on the nature of the life sciences industry today and the potential role it can play in the economy of greater Kansas City’s bi-state region. One of the report’s direct purposes will be to market and promote the bi-state region’s life sciences initiative to the bi-state region and across the country. The KCADC, for example, will use this report in all of its national marketing efforts to recruit life sciences-focused companies and jobs to the bi-state region.

According to A Guide to Life Sciences in Greater Kansas City, the stakes are high in this race. Leading economic forecasters, for example, predict that 15 to 18 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product will be comprised of health care and life sciences activities over the next two decades. The competition between communities for the billions of dollars in revenue, investment dollars, and jobs that are expected to be created over the next five to ten years in the bio-economy will be fierce.

A Guide to the Life Sciences in Greater Kansas City works to put greater Kansas City’s progress in the life sciences in focus while, at the same time, clearly articulating the challenges the bi-state region faces in the future.

Copies of the Guide are available at: http://www.kccatalyst.com/

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People
Jennifer Alexander is the new president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. George C. Atkinson has been appointed Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of State.

The first director for the new Indiana Venture Center will be Steve Beck.

Buddy Buckingham, director of regional planning at Murray State University, will serve as interim director of the new MSU Innovations and Commercialization Center. Buckingham also currently serves in the Kentucky General Assembly.

The University of California, San Diego's CONNECT program will begin a search for a new director since Fred Cutler's resignation at the end of September.

Indiana Governor Joe Kernan has nominated Katherine Lyon Davis to serve as Lieutenant Governor. Among her past positions, Davis served as manager of Indiana's 21st Century Research and Technology Fund in 1999.

Julian Manly Earls is the new director of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

Team Northeast Ohio has picked Texan Robert Farley for its first executive director.

Holmes Foster, chairman of the Iowa Values Fund, has announced his resignation.

Tony Jeff has been selected to serve as executive director of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Mississippi.

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney appointed Kathy Kottarodis to serve as the state’s first small business advocate. Kottarodis had been director of small business and entrepreneurship within the state’s office of business and technology.

Dan Lohymeyer has stepped down as president of Ohio's IT Alliance.

Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology has promoted Dan Mills to vice president for regional operations.

The new executive director of the Center for Regional Economic Issues is Edward Morrison.

Paul Ray has left his position as director of the Colorado Office of Life Sciences and Biotechnology.

Bill Shipp, president of Bechtel BWXT Idaho and lab director of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, is retiring effective Oct. 25. Paul Divjak will be his replacement.

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Job Opportunity with the ModForum
The Modernization Forum seeks qualified candidates to serve as a project manager for a one-year position. The manager will plan, staff and facilitate research involving focus groups, phone and mail surveys, and secondary resources related to small manufacturing and the economy. The manager will work in collaboration with contracting organization as part of a highly qualified research team. The manager also will work with the president of the association to develop proposals for members to deliver specialized services to small manufacturing sectors. Reporting directly to the ModForum president, the manager will serve in this position for one year pending continuation of research projects and location of the ModForum office. The nonprofit organization is currently located in Livonia, MI.

A more complete description is available on the SSTI Job Corner: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

Responses should be submitted no later than November 1, 2003 to: Project Manager, The Modernization Forum, 38777 West Six Mile Road, Suite 211, Livonia, MI, 48152.  More information about the ModForum can be obtained at: http://www.modforum.org

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Next Digest Oct. 31; SSTI Offices Closed to Attend Annual Conference
The SSTI Weekly Digest and Funding Supplement will resume publicaton October 31 as the office will be closed to attend SSTI's 7th Annual Conference, Building Tech-based Economies: From Policies to Practice, on Oct. 20-22.

For those readers fearing withdrawal symptoms, you can still get more than your weekly fix by perusing the Digest and Funding Supplement archives on the SSTI website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

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