In the January 23, 2006 Issue:

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Tech Talkin' Govs 2006, Part Two
SSTI continues this year's "Tech Talkin' Govs" series. The first installment of this 2006 review of governors' legislative priorities concerning tech-based economic development is available through the Digest online: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

Maine
Gov. John Baldacci, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 18, 2006
"As part of my economic plan, last fall I presented the State Science and Technology Plan that calls for Maine's annual investment in research and development, including both private and public funding, to reach $1 billion by 2010. Maine currently ranks 10th in the nation in non-profit R&D activity, but we need to do more to compete. My budget includes a down payment – matching money for marine research in the Gulf of Maine and for new businesses launched by the University of Maine.

"Now more than ever, we must continue strategic investments in research and development and infrastructure. After today, I'll be proposing additional investment tools ...

"... Later this month, I will submit 'Connect Maine' legislation to further expand the availability and quality of broadband and wireless phone service throughout the state."

Massachusetts
Gov. Mitt Romney, State-of-the-Commonwealth Address, Jan. 18, 2006
"We asked employers why our growth is below what it could be. They acknowledge our advantages but they say we have some problems, too. Our payroll taxes are costing us jobs. We have almost no sales force to call on companies around the nation, and few incentive programs for move-ins or expanding employers. They say our permitting process is a nightmare. The legislature has rejected my economic development reforms in the past. But the economic stimulus bill I proposed a year ago is still under consideration; it is time to reverse these disadvantages."

New Hampshire
Gov. John Lynch, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 18, 2006
"Companies that innovate create jobs. That is why I am asking you to support Sen. Odell's legislation to provide a tax credit for research and development. It is a small investment, with a potentially big payoff for our economy and our citizens."

New Jersey
Gov. Jon Corzine, Inaugural Address, Jan. 17, 2006
"With a new public-private partnership, focused on economic development, the Edison Innovation Fund, we can renew in this century what happened in the last – when vision, initiative and talent transformed rustbelt New Jersey into powerhouse New Jersey: a global leader in inventions, medicines and the then high-tech industries that gave our citizens the highest median income in the nation.

"As a trailblazer in stem cell research, we can save and improve the quality of countless lives."

New Mexico
Gov. Bill Richardson, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 17, 2006
"We will create the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit. This will encourage cutting edge advanced energy technology firms to make New Mexico their home­fostering a clean high-wage industry, creating good jobs, and protecting our natural resources.

"We should double the funding for the Economic Development Partnership, which has already been responsible for 10 relocation deals, nearly 3,500 high-wage jobs, and $123 million in new investment in the two years since it began."

Utah
Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr., State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 17, 2006
"Today it is time to invest in the next generation of world-renown Utah innovation and ideas ... USTAR – the Utah Science, Technology, and Research Initiative – will capitalize on the unique resources of our State, such as the Utah Population Database, Genomics, Informatics, Personalized Medicine, and the talented faculty and students at the University of Utah and Utah State University ...

"This session, I ask you to pass the legislation sponsored by Senator Al Mansell and Representative David Clark to make USTAR a brilliant reality!"

Virginia
Gov. Tim Kaine, Address to the Joint Assembly, Jan. 16, 2006
"In addition to attracting new business and supporting existing firms, we must also look to the connection between higher education and economic strength to help the regions of the state that face the greatest economic challenges ...

"... To honor the work done over the last two years by the Southside community and to take an important step forward towards economic recovery in the region, I have proposed bipartisan legislation to create the New College Institute in Martinsville. The Institute will be the center of gravity for a collaboration of other higher education institutions and the foundation for a stand-alone college in the future. It will open its doors to students in the fall of 2007 and will be a solid complement to the graduate-level Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville.

"In addition, I strongly support the major investment in higher education research offered in the introduced budget. The success of this proposal will further accelerate Virginia’s leadership role in the new knowledge-driven economy of the 21st century."

Wisconsin
Gov. Jim Doyle, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 17, 2006
"And so, even though Washington obviously has no plan for manufacturing, we do have one in Wisconsin. With technology, training, trade promotion, and new investment, we are working to revolutionize and modernize Wisconsin manufacturing … and expand opportunities for middle class families ...

"... Even as we invest in and modernize core industries like manufacturing, agriculture and tourism, we are also growing new ones … like biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology.

"And Wisconsin – the birthplace of stem cell research – is giving millions of families hope that one day diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Juvenile Diabetes may be conquered. These breakthroughs in medical science can transform our economy and open doors to new industries we've only dreamed of.

"In less than a decade, the market for stem cell products could reach $10 billion and create 100,000 jobs. Tonight, I offer an ambitious goal for our state – to capture 10 percent of this market by 2015.

"To that end, I'm directing the Department of Commerce to dedicate at least $5 million to find, fund, and recruit companies turning stem cell technology into high paying jobs. I'm asking Forward Wisconsin to launch a new effort to brand our state as the stem cell leader. And I'm asking you to pass legislation supporting the Biomedical Technology Alliance in Southeast Wisconsin."

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Rhode Island Plan Targets Innovation
Like many low-population states that cannot benefit from tax revenues from oil and gas exploitation such as Wyoming and Alaska, Rhode Island must leverage its existing university and industry research capabilities more fully and encourage more private investment activity, according to the five initial recommendations of the Rhode Island Science & Technology Advisory Council (STAC).

The council, created by Gov. Don Carcieri in April 2005, is comprised of leaders from the business, academic and government sectors of the state's economy. The group's first recommendation is to encourage greater collaboration in more focused or concentrated methods through the creation of a Rhode Island Collaborative Research Alliance.

Using the model of the widely respected Georgia Research Alliance, STAC recommends the state invest $1.5 million as match for a $6.75 million federal award from the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

Coupled with the Rhode Island alliance would be the appointment of a commission to propose strategies for improving the research and innovation capacity of the University of Rhode Island.

To spur innovation and entrepreneurship, STAC proposes creating a Science and Technology Entrepreneur Tax Credit based on the structure of the Rhode Island's one-year old Motion Picture Tax Credit, which rewards film-industry investments in the state that lead to job creation and new local business spending.

Another recommendation calls for the state to invest $500,000 toward the development of the Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks project, which has a goal of creating a border-to-border broadband wireless network serving the entire state. The initiative currently is proceeding without any state funding (see the May 16, 2005 issue of the Digest).

Recognizing the continuing need for a public-private group to oversee the state's follow-through on STAC's first four recommendations, the final suggestion in Innovate RI calls for the state to provide $200,000 to sustain the council into fiscal year 2007.

Innovate RI is available at: http://www.riedc.com/riedc/blue_sky/

Links to this paper and more than 3,000 additional TBED-related research reports, strategic plans and other papers can be found at the Tech-based Economic Development (TBED) Resource Center, jointly developed by the Technology Administration and SSTI, at http://www.tbedresourcecenter.org/.

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California, Hawaii Look to Sun for Energy Plans
One of the biggest obstacles for products drawing on alternative energy is finding a market big enough to bring the cost down of their new technologies to attract the larger more risk-adverse population of consumers. Californians are stepping up to the challenge after committing to invest nearly $3 billion over the next 10 years to aid in the shift to cleaner power.

The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is investing $2.9 billion in solar energy to help bring down the cost of electricity for consumers. The PUC approved the California Solar Initiative earlier this month by a vote of 3 to 1, reports the Los Angeles Times. The 10-year program is designed to help the state move toward a cleaner energy future through reliance on solar energy. According to PUC, the goal is increase the amount of installed solar capacity on rooftops in the state by 3,000 megawatts by 2017.

The initiative includes an additional amount of up to 5 percent of the annual budget for potential research, development and demonstration activities with an emphasis on solar and solar-related technologies. Additional provisions include:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supports the plan, as it meets his goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, said Commissioner Dian Grueneich in a press release. Opponents say the initiative is bad policy and an expensive technology gamble for ratepayers already facing high electricity bills, a Los Angeles Times article reports.

As energy costs across the nation continue to soar, other states also are looking at innovative ways of combining natural resources with the latest technology in order to become self-sustaining energy producers.

With Gov. Linda Lingle's unveiling of a comprehensive energy plan, Hawaii also is turning to renewable resources as a way to end over-dependence on imported oil and establish itself as a leader in hydrogen technology. The plan calls for the state to support market-based development of reliable, cost-effective and self-reliant energy. According to the governor's office, the plan will displace the importation of 110 million barrels of crude oil, retain $6.32 billion in the state's economy that would otherwise have been used to purchase oil, and eliminate 49 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions when fully implemented in 2020.

The backbone of the plan draws on ideas from the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum and the Economic Momentum Commission and includes accelerating the development of the state's own renewable energy resources, according to the governor's office. For example, the state's natural assets – year-round sunlight, wind, geothermal, and untapped ocean and agricultural resources – can be turned into renewable energy for electricity and fuels.

Ted Liu, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said Hawaii's combination of abundant renewable resources, high fuel prices, limited geographic area, and recognized expertise in hydrogen R&D make it an ideal location to lead the transition to a renewable energy-to-hydrogen economy.

The plan contains five components with a fact sheet outlining the purpose of the proposal, problems to be encountered, practical effects of the proposal, other states' laws, and laws to be changed. Implementing the plan will cost the state $11.5 million, according to the Associated Press.

For more information on the California Solar Initiative, visit http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/static/energy/051214_solarincentive.htm. More information on Gov. Lingle's Energy Plan is available at http://gov.state.hi.us/.

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UC Performance Measures Reveal Timely Graduation Rates, Effective Technology Transfer
The University of California (UC) is demonstrating success in several key areas under a compact designed to facilitate timely graduation. Findings of the first annual report reveal the university is achieving success in degree production in high priority areas for the state, effective community college transfer, and transfer of research innovations to the marketplace, according to the UC press office.

The university submitted its report last month in accordance to a compact made with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in May 2004. Under the compact, UC is to "continue its efforts to achieve improved student and institutional outcomes and place a high priority on providing needed classes so that students are able to graduate in four years or less." The report identifies performance measures during the academic year 2004-05. Some of the key findings include:

Increasingly, technology transfer activities are extending beyond the traditional patenting and licensing of inventions to the development of a variety of relationships with business, industry and government, the report states. Compared with 2002-03, royalties and fees increased by 18.4 percent for the university.

In terms of research, expenditures totaled $3.1 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent over the previous year, the report indicates. Overall research expenditures increased, despite a 1.7 percent reduction in General Fund support.

University of California Higher Education Compact Performance Measures is available at: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/budget/compact2005report.pdf

Links to this paper and more than 3,000 additional TBED-related research reports, strategic plans and other papers can be found at the Tech-based Economic Development (TBED) Resource Center, jointly developed by the Technology Administration and SSTI, at http://www.tbedresourcecenter.org/.

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Useful Stats
NIH Awards (grants and contracts) by State
SSTI has compiled a table of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards in total dollars and state rankings from fiscal years 2000-2004. The states are ranked by percent change over the five-year period. The greatest gains were posted in North Dakota (202.51 percent), Alaska (200.98 percent), Idaho (157.48 percent), Montana (144.72 percent), Virginia (120.85 percent), and Hawaii (107.06 percent). Although award dollar totals in these states more than doubled over the five-year period, they showed some of the lowest increases from FY 2003. Idaho experienced the lowest dollar increase from FY03, $57,634.

The top five largest dollar amounts in FY 2004 were awarded to California, Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, respectively. Overall, total NIH awards grew considerably over the last five years with a national increase of 53.18 percent. Whereas most states exhibited an increase of total dollars, 12 states sustained a decrease from FY03 ­- of which, Texas incurred the largest decrease of $67,024,534.

SSTI's table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/012306t.htm

Details of the NIH awards and statistics can be found at:
http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/award/awardtr.htm

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