In the July 11, 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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Legislative Updates: Connecticut, New Hampshire, Ohio
In keeping with the July 1 fiscal year deadlines, several states passed their budgets last month. The following states passed budgets that include funding for alternative energy, R&D tax credits, and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) initiatives. 
 
Connecticut
The FY 2008-09 biennial budget includes funding for initiatives aimed at developing a fuel cell cluster in the state. The budget for the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development appropriates up to $375,000 to assist the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) in establishing a hydrogen fuel cell coalition and industry cluster, championed by Gov. Jodi Rell in her Budget Address (see the Feb. 19, 2007 issue of the Digest). In addition, the budget provides up to $450,000 to CCAT for the purpose of drafting a fuel cell economic development plan.
 
New Hampshire
Lawmakers passed SB 134, establishing an R&D tax credit aimed at encouraging innovative companies to create jobs. The measure, proposed by Gov. John Lynch in his Inaugural Address (see the Jan. 8, 2007 issue of the Digest), offers a tax credit of up to 5 percent of the business enterprise tax due for qualified manufacturing R&D expenditures.
 
Ohio
Gov. Ted Strickland last month signed into law the state’s two-year operating budget, which includes funding for new STEM education initiatives. The Ohio Innovation Partnership includes two new programs: the Choose Ohio First Scholarship and the Ohio Research Scholars.
 
The Choose Ohio First Scholarship, a $100 million program, will be leveraged with at least $100 million in private support to encourage Ohio students to study STEM fields or become teachers in those fields. Scholarship levels range from $1,500 to $4,600 per year. Under the Ohio Research Scholars program, $50 million per fiscal year is directed to recruit world-class scholars tied to job creation in Ohio’s regional economies.
 
In addition, the Ohio Department of Education budget includes $6.3 million to create five new STEM-related high schools for grades 6-12 and to fund two grant programs to foster STEM programs of excellence in grades K-8.

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Opportunity Maine Uses Cash to Stem Brain Drain
A bill designed to keep new Maine graduates living and working in the state after college became law last week with Gov. John Baldacci’s signature. The Opportunity Maine bill, LD 1856, creates a tax credit to assist graduates with their student loan payments and enables employers of graduates to pay off the student loans.
 
Under the bill, tax credits of up to $2,100 per year or $8,400 total are provided for graduates who spend all four years in the University of Maine System or Maine Community College System. The credits can only be claimed while the person resides and works in the state. The legislation also allows for employers of Maine graduates to assume the student loan debt and collect the tax credits.
 
Program goals are to ensure access to training and higher education, bring higher paying jobs to the state, offer educational opportunity and retraining, and retain a workforce of young, educated individuals.
 
The fiscal impact to the state will rise substantially over time and require a commitment by future legislatures. Unused credits may be carried over for up to 10 years and more graduates and employers are expected to be added to the program each year, according to the fiscal note. Under the bill, $148,000 is directed to the program for fiscal year 2008-09 and this amount is expected to increase to $9.1 million in FY 2011-12 and $62.9 million in FY 2017-18. 

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South Dakota Joins Industry Partnership for ICT Education
Gov. Mike Rounds recently announced that South Dakota will join a national partnership, led by many of the country's leading information and communication technology (ICT) companies, to improve science and technology education and the skill set of the state's high-tech workforce. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, an ICT advocacy organization, will advise the state on designing curriculum that meets the needs of software, electronics, networking, telecommunications and Internet-based companies. South Dakota is the fifth state to partner with the organization, which will begin a full assessment of the state's K-12 and higher education system later this year.
 
Gov. Rounds has created the P21 Advisory Council, a new advisory body, as part of plans for the organization. The 20-member council includes leaders from South Dakota businesses, universities, the governor's office and the state legislature. Council members will help translate the partnership's framework for 21st century education into policies that will address the specific needs of the South Dakota ICT economy.
 
The partnership will augment the governor's efforts to improve STEM education through South Dakota's 2010 Education Initiative, begun in 2004. That initiative has already taken several actions towards preparing students for high-tech careers, including a state scholars program that connects schools to local businesses, a statewide virtual high school program and a renewed focus on improving the effectiveness of state technical institutes. In addition, the state has set the goal of providing every student with a laptop by 2010. South Dakota offers a one-to-two match to district investment in the program. As of this fall, about 25 percent of high schools will receive laptops, according to an Associated Press report.
 
The partnership hopes that by cooperating with state governments to reform public education, it can improve the skill set of state workforces. The advocacy organization includes many of the country's largest ICT employers, including Apple, AT&T, Cisco Systems, Dell, Intel, Microsoft and Verizon. States, such as South Dakota, that join the partnership's State Leadership Initiative receive assistance in applying the Partnership's educational framework, which includes skills related to ICT technologies, and financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
 
This framework has already been employed in North Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin in cooperation with the Partnership. Massachusetts joined earlier last month. North Carolina, the first state partner, has instituted a number of framework-related initiatives since joining in 2005.  These include a program for high school students to attend in undergraduate courses, a survey of innovative teaching methods, and program that allows high school seniors to apply their accumulated knowledge to a research project.
 
Read more about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills at: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php

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Indiana Initiative Targets Advanced Manufacturing and Logistics
A new initiative to target and promote Indiana's manufacturing and logistics sector will do so in a similar manner to the 2002 BioCrossroads initiative that aided in transforming the region’s life sciences industry, the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) recently announced.
 
Conexus Indiana, the new initiative launched by CICP, will address three key priorities: developing a highly-skilled manufacturing workforce; creating industry collaborations to explore new business opportunities; and aggressively marketing Indiana’s manufacturing and logistics strengths to the business community, potential workers and the general public. 
 
CICP anticipates a total budget of $6.5 million through 2009 with a $3 million grant by the Lilly Endowment and additional pledges by leading companies and institutions. The funds will be used to support the following planned and ongoing efforts:

For more information on Conexus Indiana, please visit: http://www.conexusindiana.com/

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Texas Hopes to Score Big with Video Game Tax Credit
For an industry that takes in more than $10 billion per year, video games receive relatively little dedicated support for economic development initiatives. When video game creators do attract the attention of federal and state politicians, it is often because of allegations of violent content and for encouraging sedentary lifestyles amongst consumers. A handful of states, however, have launched programs and credits that actively encourage the growth of the industry.
 
Texas joined these states last week when Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill approving up to $22 million in incentives for the entertainment sector, including video game companies. The money will be used to offer grants that will cover up to 5 percent of the total in-state spending on any video game project. The awards may range up to $250,000. Similar grants will be available for film, advertisement and television production through the program.

The state hopes the grants will help it capture some of the prominence in game development that it enjoyed in the 1980s and 1990s. Austin, in particular, was a hub for the industry and hosted headquarters and branches of many of the top names in the industry. For two decades, Origin Systems - creator of the Ultima series - was based in the city, along with branches of noted designers such as Dallas-based Eidos and NC Soft. In the late 1990s and earlier this decade, however, Austin suffered a few industry setbacks, with the closing of both Origin and Eidos and cuts following the tech bust.
 
Still the region remains important in the industry with big names such as Blizzard Entertainment, makers of the immensely popular World of Warcraft, Sony Online Entertainment, BioWare, Amaze Entertainment and Aspyr maintaining a strong presence. The Austin American-Statesman reports that the city is currently home to about 50 game companies, with about 1,000 employees.
 
The state hopes to build on this foundation and increase its presence in the industry, which generated revenues close to $12.5 billion in the U.S. last year. The grants will only cover a small portion of the costs of game production, which can take several years, but is an important symbolic victory for the game design community. In order to ease the concerns of those who object to the often-violent content of PC and console games, applicants will be subject to a review of their project's content before an award is made. The Texas Film Commission will have final approval over all grants.
 
Texas is not the only state competing for game design firms through such incentives. In April, the Georgia Department of Economic Development hired Asante Bradford as a Digital Entertainment Liaison to help build the state's growing video game industry. The department offers tax credits to game developers through the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act. That measure, signed in 2005, provides developers with a 9 percent base tax credit on all in-state expenditures. The Florida High Tech Corridor recently added Interactive Entertainment to its list of supported industries and is currently conducting research into the sector's needs. Hawaii, Wisconsin and Connecticut all provide incentives to video game developers through their programs to support the television and film industries.
 
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, France approved a measure earlier this year that may be the most aggressive move yet to compete for dominance in the game industry. The French government will provide tax credits of up to 20 percent of the total production costs of video game projects, if the game draws on more than one branch of artistic talent including graphic artists, musicians, sound creators, writers and directors.
 
While economic development professionals struggle to decide whether video games qualify as software or as entertainment, the industry continues to grow at an impressive pace. In 2006, revenues grew by almost 20 percent over the previous year. With the arrival of the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 late last year, along with the rise of on-demand game downloads and subscription-based gaming, many expect an increase in demand for interactive content.
 
Find out more about the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program at: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/film/incentives

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Georgia Tech’s ATDC Incubator Reaches $1B in Venture Funding
The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) within the Georgia Institute of Technology announced its affiliated companies have received more than $1 billion in venture capital funding since 1999. Amassed from 160 separate deals, the amount represents 15 percent of the total venture capital in Georgia, about one out of its every five deals in the state.
 
Taking a closer look at the numbers over the past eight years, 75 companies at the ATDC received funding from 139 separate venture capital investors. Ten of these companies raised more than $25 million, and 56 percent of the deals came from outside of Georgia.
 
Considered one of the nation’s most successful technology incubators, the ATDC is a component of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, which is the school’s primary organization for economic development and technology commercialization. Since its creation in 1980, the incubator has developed 112 companies, with locations in the cities of Atlanta, Savannah, and Warner Robins.
 
The center's website is http://www.atdc.org/.

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Scorecard “Rates the States” in Energy Efficiency Policies
Vermont, Connecticut and California lead the nation in the race to adopt energy efficiency policies, programs and technologies, according to the 2006 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard.
 
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released its findings last month, in concert with federal energy legislation being considered by Congress. States spend about three times as much on energy efficiency programs as the federal government and are leading the way on policies that drive energy efficiency investment, according to the authors. The scorecard ranks each state and the District of Columbia within the following eight categories:

Overall, Vermont, Connecticut and California tied for first place, followed by Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and New York. The top 10 states earned between 20-30 points out of a possible 44, while the bottom 26 states scored between 0.5 and 10 points, the report notes.
 
The authors considered states’ tax incentives for green commercial buildings, new homes, home weatherization, equipment, and vehicles. Top performers in this category were Oregon, Montana and the District of Columbia. According to the report, Oregon is generally considered to operate the most comprehensive state energy efficiency tax incentive program, offering a successful Residential and Business Energy Tax Credit, incentives for purchasing energy-efficient appliances, and tax credits for the costs of servicing heating and air conditioning systems.
 
States that administer effective energy management programs and promote energy efficiency and clean energy solutions are encouraging economic development in local and regional communities, the report states. New York, California, New Hampshire and Wisconsin all provide programs that reduce energy consumption in state buildings, reducing energy costs that can account for as much as 10 percent of a typical government’s annual operating costs, it observes.
 
New York created an executive order in 2001 calling for the “Green and Clean” state building and vehicles program, which sets targets for reducing energy consumption in state buildings and government-owned vehicles. NYSERDA, the organization responsible for coordinating and assisting agencies with their responsibilities, reported that by fiscal year 2003-04, state entities had decreased energy use per square foot by 10.2 percent.
 
In the R&D category, California, New York, Iowa, Wisconsin and Florida scored the highest, each earning one point for state energy R&D institutions. State R&D efforts are imperative because they provide a variety of services to promote the creation, development and commercialization of new technologies for energy efficiency. In addition, state R&D efforts can address a number of market failures that persist in the energy services marketplace, the report states.
 
The State Energy Efficiency Scorecard for 2006 is available from ACEEE at: http://www.aceee.org/pubs/e075.htm

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Time to Apply for 2007 Excellence in TBED Awards
With the deadline less than two weeks away, we hope you are putting the finishing touches on your Excellence in TBED Award application.
 
International Recognition, External Validation, and Education and Outreach are just a few of the reasons why you should apply. SSTI’s awards program is designed to celebrate the exceptional achievement in technology-based economic development occurring around us everyday. Nonprofit organizations, local and state governments, economic development councils, and other organizations that promote innovation are encouraged to apply.
 
Please help us make the inaugural Excellence in TBED Awards program a success. The application and complete instructions are available at: http://www.ssti.org/awards.htm.
 
Update: The application form on page 4 of the program PDF has been updated to allow you to type within the required fields and to save a copy of the form with your information.
 
Please contact Rhiannon Mehring at 614-901-1690 with any questions. The deadline to apply is July 20, 2007.

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SSTI Job Corner
Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute is seeking someone for the position of SBIR Development Manager. For the SBIR Assistance Program, which provides development guidance for Georgia small businesses/companies, the SBIR Development Manager will aid small Georgia technology-based companies in developing commercialization plans and helping with understanding the commercial market for their product. Four to six years of job-related experience in accounting/business, engineering, supervisory/management is preferred. A master's degree also is desired.

The University of Missouri is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Vice President for Research and Economic Development. As the university’s senior executive for economic development and research-related initiatives, the vice president for research and economic development will be responsible for promoting the commercialization of patented intelligence and products of faculty discovery, innovation and development. He or she also will work closely with the chief research officers and chancellors from each of the university's four campuses. A doctoral degree, as well as experience in higher education as both a faculty member and proficient researcher, is preferred.

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