In the May 7, 2007 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2007. 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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Massachusetts Governor Wants to Borrow $1B for Life Science Strategy
Against the backdrop of BIO’s annual meeting, held this week in Boston, Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled a comprehensive, collaborative Massachusetts Life Science Strategy. The plan includes a 10-year, $1 billion investment package to support biomedical and stem cell research.

Key to the governor’s Life Science Initiative is passage of legislation yet to be introduced that will strengthen the Massachusetts Life Science Center and, according to the governor’s press release, “charge it with the execution of a life science mission focused on science and economic development, strategic investments at critical stages of the development cycle, and collaboration with the private sector to create innovation infrastructure critical to both researchers and companies.” The governor also announced his commitment to making targeted investments in companies that encourage life science economic development in the Commonwealth.

Highlights of the proposal include a $1 billion investment package to provide funds to:

The governor’s announcement is available through: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3homepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Agov3

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Florida Investing $400M+ for VC, Research Centers and Tech Transfer
This year, the Florida Legislature focused a great deal of attention on TBED issues, approving and continuing its support for several tech-related programs. Though Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed $20 million investment in stem cell research did not survive the legislative session, initiatives designed to encourage other cutting-edge research, improve access to capital and attract promising companies garnered more than $400 million in the state budget.
 
Enterprise Florida will manage the state's new Opportunity Fund, which will provide seed and early-stage venture capital to high-tech companies through investments in private venture capital firms. The fund will launch with an initial, one-time appropriation of $29.5 million and will specifically target its investments toward companies in the advanced manufacturing, IT, life sciences, aviation and aerospace, and defense industries. Recipients must be Florida-based companies and have received twice as much as the state investment from other sources.
 
A new nonprofit Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research will coordinate the marketing and commercialization of intellectual property developed at the state's public universities. The institute will receive $1 million for initial setup expenses and operations. University technology commercialization also will get a boost from the State University Research Commercialization Assistance Grants program, which will offer early-, mid-, and late-stage grants ranging from $50,000 to $250,000. The Florida Technology, Research, and Scholarship Board will administer the program with an initial $4 million investment by the state.
 
The legislature also approved a $62 million plan to lessen the state's dependence on fossil fuels and encourage renewable energy research. The plan calls for a $20 million cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant, to be managed by the University of Florida. It also directs the Florida Energy Commission to begin work on designing a state renewable energy standard and a net-metering policy. A new task force on energy policy will determine further steps to nurture the emerging renewable energy industry and encourage the use of renewable energy technologies.
 
The Florida Innovation Incentive Fund will receive its second $250 million allocation. Since its creation last year, the state has used the fund to improve its R&D resources by investing in university and private research centers. This year's budget stipulates that $80 million of the allocation will fund the construction of a genomic research institute at the University of Miami. Projects that involve private businesses must create at least 1,000 jobs in the state and invest $500 million or more in new capital. These projects often involve partnerships with public universities. The investments complement the state's Centers of Excellence program, which focuses exclusively on university research centers. The Centers of Excellence program will receive $100 million under the new budget.

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Indiana TBED Investments to Surpass $100M
2008-09 Budget Includes New $20M Life Sciences Fund

Indiana's General Assembly adjourned for the year last week, after passing a $29 billion budget that included more than $100 million for TBED-related programs.
 
The budget contributes $20 million to a new Life Sciences Fund that will provide grants of $15 million and $5 million to the Indiana School of Medicine and Purdue University, respectively, for life sciences research. Late last year, Gov. Mitch Daniels had proposed leasing the state's lottery to a private firm in order to generate more than $1 billion for the Life Sciences Fund and undergraduate scholarships (see the Dec. 18, 2006 and Jan. 15, 2007 issues of the SSTI Weekly Digest). That plan would have made more than $400 million available for life sciences research; however, it was not approved by the General Assembly. The approved measure follows on the heels of Purdue University's announcement that it would partner with the Arthur Mann Foundation to establish a $100 million biomedical engineering research center (press release is available here).
 
The budget provides $70 million over the next biennium to the state's 21st Century Research and Development Fund to continue its support of technology development and commercialization. Created in 1999, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) uses the fund to offer loans and grants to companies bringing new technologies to market, to match SBIR grants, and to create university centers of excellence. Awards to private companies range between $40,000 and $5 million.
 
The General Assembly also approved a state High Growth Business Incentive Grant and Loan program to encourage businesses offering high-paying jobs to locate or expand in Indiana. IEDC will receive $6 million over the next two years to administer the program. In addition, IEDC will receive $4.2 million to continue its Technology Development Grant program, which supports the creation and expansion of technology parks.

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Iowa Approves $100M to Fund Renewable Energy Research and Adoption
The 2007 Iowa state legislative session has looked very favorably on TBED. One of the centerpieces of Iowa Gov. Chet Culver’s campaign last year was his pledge to "develop the next-generation energy ecomony in Iowa" through a $100 million state fund (see the Feb. 19, 2007 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest). The Iowa Power Fund was approved by the state’s General Assembly late last month and closely resembles Gov. Culver’s original plan. For the first year, the fund will be capitalized with an initial $25 million from the state and an additional $25 million annually over the next three years.
 
The authorizing legislation also calls for the creation of a board to oversee the distribution of the funds and a new Office of Energy Independence. The board is authorized to make grants and loans that will accelerate in-state R&D and knowledge transfer and will improve the economic competitiveness of the state’s renewable energy industry. Iowa’s Office of Energy Independence will coordinate all state efforts to promote the use of renewable energy sources and to lead the development of a strong biofuels industry.
 
The General Assembly also approved a Targeted Industries Development Fund to be overseen by Iowa’s Department of Economic Development. The $3 million fund will support several new programs that will promote the commercialization of new technologies in the advanced manufacturing, bioscience and information technology industries. Businesses within these industries will be eligible to receive financial and technical assistance for commercialization projects, training for jobs that require advanced skills, and an internship program for Iowa college students.
 
In late February, Gov. Culver signed SF 162, an act that lifted the state’s five-year ban on the cloning of human embryos for stem cell research. Culver expects the bill to encourage biomedical research at the Iowa’s universities. The legislation is available at: http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/Cool-ICE/default.asp?Category=BillInfo&Service=Billbook&ga=82&hbill=SF162

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North Dakota Enacts Renewable Energy Plan, Funds Key TBED Initiatives
A number of crucial TBED initiatives introduced earlier this year by North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven were recently enacted by the state legislature, including a $42 million renewable energy plan, $20 million in new funding for university-based Centers of Excellence, a 25 percent R&D tax credit, and additional investments in research and workforce development.
 
A comprehensive renewable energy plan aimed at supporting both state and national energy goals was created to help maximize use of the state’s renewable energy resources. The package also includes funding for programs that support the 25 x 25 Initiative, a nationwide goal that calls for 25 percent of the nation’s energy to come from renewable resources by the year 2025.
 
Funding for renewable energy investment programs and alternative energy development is central to the plan. This includes a new Biomass Energy Center to conduct research on biomass production and conversion; $5 million for the Biofuels PACE Fund, an interest buy-down program; and, $7.3 million for the governor’s Ethanol Production Incentive Fund, offering counter-cyclical support for ethanol plants.
 
The package also provides $7.9 million for alternative energy development programs, including $3 million in state funding to be leveraged with an additional $17 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for a Renewable Energy Fund. Additional components include:

In 2005, the legislature approved a similar package of incentives aimed at stimulating the growth of renewable energy, focusing on wind energy and biofuels. At that time, the Office of Renewable Energy at the North Dakota Commerce Department was created.
 
Last week, Gov. Hoeven signed HB 1018, providing $20 million for the Centers of Excellence Program within the 2007-09 Department of Commerce budget. According to the governor’s press office, the first installment of $20 million within the last biennial budget leveraged more than $70 million in additional funding for R&D in agriculture, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and business technology. Following are additional key initiatives included in the Commerce budget.

More information on the 2007 Legislative Session is available at: http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/60-2007/leginfo/index.html

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Ohio Rewarding Commercializing Universities with Cash
University administrators most commonly measure success for their technology transfer efforts by revenue generation. Public institutions, however, increasingly have state legislators, governors and local civic leaders expecting those licenses and spinoffs to occur within their political borders. Tech transfer does not always equate to regional economic development to the degree desired by policymakers.
 
The carrot and stick analogy plays well to the different approaches states are attempting to keep more of the technology commercialization at home. Ohio's new Technology Commercialization Incentive (TCI) Fund is one of the latest carrots - rewarding the best schools, whether public or private, with cash.
 
Two weeks ago, the Ohio Board of Regents selected three universities as the first-ever recipients for TCI awards, totalling $500,000. The annual reward is based on an index score, calculated with weighted measures of:

1. Each university’s research expenditures provided by in-state companies, normalized by the total statewide research contributions from in-state companies during the previous fiscal year. (50 percent)
2. Each university’s number of productive technology licenses developed from their intellectual property during the past six years, normalized by each university’s total research expenditures during the previous fiscal year. (25 percent)
3. Each university’s number of new business start-ups based on their intellectual property during the past six years located within the state, normalized by each university’s total research expenditures during the previous fiscal year. (25 percent)

Eligibility was limited to 16 Ohio universities: the state’s 14 public institutions and two private universities that offer doctoral programs.
 
The institutions with the highest TCI scores were the University of Akron, which will be awarded $200,000, and Ohio State University and Case Western Reserve University, each of which will receive $150,000. The cash prizes are to be invested in either the university’s technology transfer or licensing operations or toward the enhancement of partnerships with businesses in Ohio.
 
Whether or not an annual cash carrot is a sufficient incentive to improve the performance of any institutions remains to be seen. On a promising note, the results of the first metric alone - the share of each school’s research expenditures provided by in-state companies - should provide an opportunity for policymakers to consider additional methods to strengthen the universities' relationships with the state's commercial, industrial and technology sectors. An evaluation of the initial year of this program will be included in a formal report being released in June.
 
The recommendation to create the TCI Program was first proposed in Building on Knowledge, Investing in People: Higher Education and the Future of Ohio’s Economy, a 2004 report by the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education and the Economy (CEED). Subsequent collaboration between the Board of Regents and the state’s Third Frontier Commission crafted the formula used to calculate each university’s TCI score. The original report is available at: http://www.chee.ohio.gov/documents/CHEE_4_22.pdf

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Call for Nominations for TBED Research Award
At the 2007 SSTI annual conference, the Trent Lott National Center of Excellence for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship <http://www.trentlottcenter.com/> intends to make an award to the researcher or research team that has made the most significant impact on the field of technology-based economic development in the last five years. The chosen researcher will receive a significant honorarium and will present findings at the 2007 SSTI Annual Conference, Oct 18-19 in Baltimore.

Judges will include active researchers who have significant practical experience in TBED. Judges will consider the quality of the research, the applicability and impact of the research findings on TBED policy and practice, and the ability of the selected researcher to present at the 2007 SSTI annual conference.

Please enter nominations at http://www.trentlottcenter.org/researchaward.htm or e-mail nominations to ken.malone@usm.edu with the names of nominees; contact information of nominees, including e-mail, mailing address, and/or phone number; references to journal articles (preferred), conference presentations, websites or a very brief description of the work; and the name and contact information of nominator, which is optional. Self-nominations are welcomed.

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People
A big week for big cheeses:

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SSTI Conference 2008 Bid Packet Now Available
The 2008 SSTI Annual Conference could come to your city!

Increase your national and international visibility by showcasing the success of your state and/or community’s tech-based economic development efforts to thousands of TBED professionals through SSTI's conference. This is your opportunity to shine in the spotlight.

Some of the host benefits include: 

Please contact Noelle Sheets, director of membership services, at 614.901.1690 or sheets@ssti.org to request the bid packet.

The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation and the University System of Maryland will host SSTI’s 11th Annual Conference, Transforming Regional Economies. Please plan to join us at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, October 18-19.

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