In the February 27, 2006 Issue:

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New Milken Index Keeps Florida Cities Among Top Metros
For the second year in a row, Florida cities dominate the Milken Institute's top 200 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in the ability to create and sustain jobs. The top performer, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, moved up 31 places from last year and is followed by last year's top scorer, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, and Naples-Marco Island, respectively.

Located near the John F. Kennedy Space Center, the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville area has a diversified economy with many aerospace and defense-related industries, the report states. The area's economy has expanded at a brisk pace over the past two years, with job growth rising to 5.3 percent in 2004.

Metros in the Southwest also scored well, with six areas among the top 20, including Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (10), Las Vegas-Paradise (11), Tucson (14), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (15), Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, Calif. (16), and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (17). The Northeast landed just two metros in the top 20 and no metros in the Midwest made it into the top 20, according to the report. The only midwestern metro to make it into the top 50 is Madison, Wis. (35).

Nine of the bottom 10 spots in the index are from metros in the Midwest, including five from Michigan and four from Ohio. Weakness in manufacturing, caused by the recent recession and loss of competitiveness with foreign firms, had devastating consequences for economies in the midwestern metros, the report explains. The southern and mountain states had numerous metros in the top 50, which partly reflects lower business costs, fewer regulatory burdens, and an entrepreneurial-driven new business paradigm that is a catalyst for job creation, according to the report.

Also included in the rankings are top performing small cities. Again, Florida leads in this category with Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin placing first, followed by Bend, Ore., and Prescott, Ariz.

In terms of national economic conditions, the report states that the global economy presents opportunities to those geographic areas able to respond quickly to both shocks and opportunities. Additionally, the rankings show that metro areas with low business costs and knowledge-based economies are most likely to create jobs.

The index is outcomes-based and includes measures of job, wage and salary, and technology output growth over the past five years and the latest year's performance. Explicit input measures of business costs, cost-of-living, and quality of life are not included. The Milken Institute's Best Performing Cities 2005 is available at http://www.milkeninstitute.org/.

Links to the index 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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University of Pennsylvania Science Center Plans $600M Expansion Project
To further accommodate and cater to fledgling biotechnology, high-tech and start-up companies, the University of Pennsylvania Science Center in Philadelphia recently announced plans to add 1.85 million sq. ft. through the construction of six new buildings with retail and parking components.

According to media reports, the projects are part of a master plan titled, "Transforming the University Science Center into a Complete Venture Ecosystem." The master plan will roll out in five phases, with the first phase scheduled for July 2006 and consisting of a 150,000-square-foot building to house laboratory and retail space. The next two phases are slated for completion in 2010.

Already one of the nation's largest urban university technology parks, the University Science Center currently maintains 1.7 million sq. ft. in 13 buildings along Market Street in the University City section of Philadelphia. The plan will double the center's capacity and provide scientific laboratories, residential housing, a hotel and conference center, and retail space with parking, according to a Business Wire article.

The University Science Center forms and funds early-stage life science and technology companies and offers services to accelerate commercialization. More information is available at: http://www.sciencecenter.org/

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Research Research and Useful Stats
NSF Releases Science & Engineering Indicators 2006
On Friday, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released Science & Engineering Indicators 2006, an update for the nation's most significant, quantitative and neutral assessment of the health of the U.S. and international science and engineering communities. And, according to America's Pressing Challenge ­ Building a Stronger Foundation, a companion report to Indicators released by the National Science Board, the prognosis for the U.S. should cause concern.

Calling for "drastic changes" for America's K-12 science and mathematics classrooms, the National Science Board asserts, "Our Nation risks raising generations of students and citizens who do not know how to think critically and make informed decisions based on technical and scientific information."

We already may have jeopardized one generation, given the board points out the country has been failing students in math and science instruction for the past 25 years -- "by the time they reach their senior year, even the most advanced U.S. students perform at or near the bottom on international assessments."

That conclusion is drawn from the statistics supporting the "Student Learning in Mathematics and Science" section of Chapter One, Elementary & Secondary Education, in Science & Engineering Indicators 2006. The biennially produced Indicators provides hundreds of statistics characterizing the global science and engineering environment in six categories, in addition to those in Chapter One:

The SSTI Weekly Digest will dedicate future articles exploring the implications of each chapter, but readers may wish to note the final "experimental" chapter of Indicators. Introduced in 2004 with 24 indicators, the number of different comparative statistics presented in the 2006 edition has grown to 42.

Corresponding somewhat to the national discussion presented in the first chapters of the book, the state indicators are grouped by educational attainment, workforce, R&D inputs and outputs, and science & technology in the economy (high tech firms, employment, SBIR, and venture capital).

NSF intends the indicators to "present information about various aspects of state S&T infrastructure and to stimulate discussion about appropriate uses of state-level S&T indicators. ... By studying the programs and performance of their peers, state policymakers may be able to better assess and enhance their own programs and performance." The tables are intended to give the user a convenient listing of some of the quantitative data that may be relevant to technology-based economic development.

NSF cautions, however, that "in addition to describing the behavior of an indicator, the 'Findings' section frequently presents an interpretation of the behavior’s relevance and meaning. The interpretation is sometimes speculative, with the objective of motivating further thought and discussion."

Science & Engineering Indicators 2006 is available at http://nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/. A CD-ROM version may be ordered from the site as well.

The National Science Board's companion report, America's Pressing Challenge -- Building a Stronger Foundation, is available at: http://nsf.gov/statistics/nsb0602/

Links to both papers 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
Industrial R&D Performance by State, 1999-2003
National R&D spending increased by $10.1 billion in fiscal year 2003, according to a recent National Science Foundation (NSF) InfoBrief. The increase followed an $8.1 billion decrease in FY 2002 expenditures over the FY 2001 level, the data show.

The NSF report, Increase in US Industrial R&D Expenditures Reported for 2003 Makes Up for Earlier Declines, breaks down R&D expenditures into three technology areas: biotechnology, materials synthesis and processing, and software development. According to the report, national tech-based R&D expenditures for FY03 totaled $14.2 billion for biotechnology, $15.9 billion for materials synthesis and processing, and $27.1 billion for software development.

Using NSF data, SSTI has prepared a table ranking states by percent change in R&D performance from 1999-2003. Mississippi experienced the most significant increase, 355.8 percent, over the five-year period. North Dakota, Oregon, Maryland and Hawaii posted increases of more than 95 percent from FY99, completing the top five, respectively.

California, which leads the nation in R&D spending at $47.1 billion, had the largest dollar increase ($8.97  billion) over the five years. In all, nine states had increases of more than $1 billion, including Texas ($2.4B), Washington ($2.1B), Maryland ($1.98B), Connecticut ($1.7B), Oregon ($1.6B), Virginia ($1.5B), Massachusetts ($1.3 B), Minnesota ($1.3B) and New Jersey ($1.98B).

Conversely, 20 states experienced a decrease in R&D spending over the five years. New Mexico incurred the largest percent decrease at a 74.5 percent clip, followed by Alaska (56.1 percent), Wyoming (43.1 percent), Louisiana (42.8 percent), and Idaho (39.9 percent).

The SSTI table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/022706t.htm

The NSF report is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06305/

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TBED Mergers, Consolidations & New Starts
Sometimes, the economic advantages of consolidating state and local initiatives addressing different elements of building tech-based economies outweighs any potential dilution of specific efforts. Other times, the addition of an entirely new entity is required to provide concentrated focus on specific needs or activities. Here are a few of the most recent examples of the realignment of the TBED community:

The Utah Information Technology Association (UITA) and the Utah Life Science Association are merging in March to become the Utah Technology Council. UITA President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Nelson will provide leadership for the new council. A new Life Sciences director position will be added to the staff.

The Greenville Digital Alliance has been reformulated as the NEXT Initiative to serve the larger Upstate region of South Carolina through its expanded partners of Clemson University’s Spiro Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Greenville Tech Buck Mickel Center, the Small Business Development Center, the City of Greenville, InnoVenture, and the Greenville Chamber of Commerce.

BayBio, the life science trade association for Northern California, is spinning off its life science educational efforts as the independent nonprofit BayBio Institute, originally incorporated as the Bay Area Bioscience Center.

Zydetech, the information tech council for Lafayette, LA, is converging with the technology committee of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce to serve the needs of the larger Arcadiana region.

The University of Akron Research Foundation, in partnership with northeast Ohio economic development organizations and private equity investors, has created the Akron Regional Change Angels Network, or ARCHAngels.

MdBio and the Tech Council of Maryland are merging to form a new trade association supporting both life science and advanced technology businesses. Members of the reformulated Tech Council will fall within one or both of two divisions, MdBio or a new Tech Alliance division.

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Job Corner
NGA Seeks Senior Policy Analyst
The National Governors Association (NGA) seeks a senior policy analyst with substantial expertise in technology-based economic development and the role state governments can play in promoting it. The job involves assisting governors promote innovation by helping their advisors target, govern and measure the impact of investments in emerging technologies; improve the technology transfer and commercialization process; identify and assist potential gazelles; encourage inventive entrepreneurship; and promote regional cluster strategies. Such help is provided in a variety of written and oral forms, ranging from memos and issue briefs to on-site consulting. Qualified candidates will have an advanced degree in a related area, excellent communications skills, and strong project development and management skills. For the full job description and application information, go to http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

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People

George Bald is returning to serve as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development. Bald served in the position from 1998-2004.

Dr. R. Kelly Dawe was named the inaugural Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Distinguished Investigator, a new level of investment made by GRA.

Douglas Foy, Secretary for Commonwealth Development for Massachusetts, announced his resignation effective in March.

Aaron Greenfield will serve as the new director of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp. in Maryland.

The six-month-old Information Technology Association of Wisconsin selected Jim Rice to serve as the organization's first president and CEO.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford named Joe Taylor to serve as the new Secretary for the S.C. Department of Commerce. Taylor succeeds Bob Faith, who is taking Taylor's position as chairman of the S.C. Jobs-Economic Development Authority.

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