In the September 10, 2008 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2008. 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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SSTI Conference Registrations Outpacing Last Year's Sell Out Draw! Register Soon!
With a blockbuster agenda, the first block of hotel rooms already sold out and a second block in the nearby Intercontinental Suites filling rapidly, SSTI's 12th Annual Conference in Cleveland, Oct. 14-16, is on pace to be a very special event for those TBED practitioners and policymakers who wisely register soon!

Registrations for the premiere professional development event of the year for state, local and academic tech-based economic development professionals are streaming in faster than they did for last year's great conference in Baltimore. SSTI closed attendance last year at 375 to ensure the highest quality professional development experience possible for conferees.

Easily the TBED community's most complete conference ever, Encouraging Regional Innovation, SSTI's 12th annual conference, is already drawing participation from more than 40 states and several countries.

The early registration discounts for expire on Monday, Sept. 23, 2008 less than two short weeks away!

Registrations may be made by phone (614.901.1690), fax or online through the conference website, which is packed with more details about what the buzz is all about! See for yourself at: http://ssticonference.org/

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ITIF Responds to Recent RAND Report on U.S. Competitiveness
The most pressing question in the debate about the United States international economic competitiveness is if the U.S. is successfully pushing to maintain its competitive lead well into the future, not only the question if the U.S. is currently ahead, according to a report released today by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). The latter concern, as related to comparative international science and technology prowess, and its implications for national security was the subject of a June 2008 report prepared by the RAND Corporation for the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense.

After examining RAND's analysis, ITIF prepared its own response and says the RAND report has serious structural and analytic flaws that misread the fundamental position of U.S. science and technology. ITIFs 18-page document deconstructs RANDs positions and presents its own case of how the U.S. lead is eroding or even disappearing in certain circumstances, while in turn provoking the debate over utilizing particular input, output and outcome indicators as well as the proper timeframes of benchmark metrics.

ITIF's report is built around countering the following arguments:

An example of a data critique put forward by ITIF's RAND's usage of time-series data from 1993 to 2003, which ITIF contends does not sufficiently capture the rapidly changing competitive landscape, especially since 2000 and into mid-2008. ITIF points to three factors in how the landscape has changed since 2000: recent information technology innovations have made large-scale R&D offshoring possible, emerging countries such as China, India, and Brazil have altered their competitiveness strategies, and advanced economies in Europe have organized themselves to become more competitive. ITIF argues 2000 should be the baseline year for future comparisons.

Additionally, ITIF argues metrics need to incorporate comparative components, not just raw totals. Instead of promoting measures like GDP and total R&D funding, GDP per capita is a more pertinent measurement, as are trends in the R&D intensity, the ratio of R&D expenditures to GDP. Similarly, ITIF argues R&D employment in bulk is not as good of a metric when compared to employment growth trends and the share of R&D employment within the working population.

ITIF reports every single E.U.-15 country and the fastest growing Asian countries all have national science and technology plans, but the U.S. does not have a national innovation agenda. So as the rest of the world is becoming more sophisticated in its approach to S&T issues, the U.S. needs to take the steps to maintain its clear economic leadership for many years to come.

RANDs original report from June 2008 titled U.S. Competitiveness in Science and Technology can be accessed at: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG674/

ITIFs September 2008 report titled RANDs Rose-Colored Glasses: How RANDs Report on U.S. Competitiveness in Science and Technology Gets it Wrong, can be found at: http://itif.org/

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Save the Date!
Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to host SSTI's 2010 Conference
We've been keeping you focused on SSTI's 12th annual conference, coming up Oct 14-16 at the Intercontinental Hotel Cleveland, but believe it or not, we're already working to ensure the 2009 and 2010 are as good or even better!

On Feb. 13, we announced the 2009 conference will be hosted by KTEC, one of the oldest and most successful TBED models in the country. The event will be held in Overland Park, KS on Oct. 20-22, 2009.

Today we are pleased to let our readers know 2010 will mark a first for SSTI conferences: we will be returning to the city  which hosted one of our earliest and most exciting conferences. For SSTI's 14th Annual Conference, we will be returning to Pittsburgh and the wonderfully elegant and historic Omni William Penn.  Pennsylvania's TBED community, led by the visionary and ever-creative Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development,  will be our hosts once again in 2010.

Pioneers in technology-based economic development (TBED), Pennsylvania's TBED initiatives continue to thrive; the city of Pittsburgh highlights some of the best of the best. Innovation Works, the Technology Collaborative, multiple Keystone Innovation Zones, the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, idea Foundry and a host of other outstanding models for TBED success.

Pennsylvania has developed a vibrant TBED community and the infrastructure to ensure its growth and continued success. The Technology Investment Office of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development was created to ensure that the variety of TBED organizations and initiatives throughout the Commonwealth are working collaboratively to fully leverage the wealth of research, capital sources, and support services available to build a comprehensive infrastructure that supports company growth. The full impact of their efforts is recognized in 8,100 jobs created; 12,700 jobs retained; nearly $1 million leveraged and an estimated 200 new companies formed.

Mark you calendars to join us September 14-16, 2010 at SSTI's 14th Annual Conference!

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Nine Life Science Centers to receive $280 Million in NIH Funding
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have announced a four-year plan to invest approximately $70 million a year in a nationwide network of life science research centers. The Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network will employ high-tech screening methods to identify molecules that can be used as probes to explore the functions of cells. This research is intended to help increase the pace of discovery in the field of chemical probes, which have become a key resource in fighting disease.

The network is the second phase of the Molecular Libraries and Imaging Initiative and is part of NIH's Roadmap for Medical Research program. The Roadmap program was launched in 2004 to support initiatives that address fundamental gaps in U.S. medical research. Funding for the network will be made available through the roadmap initiative for the initial four years, and then transition to other funding sources in years five and six.

The nine associated research centers will screen a library of more than 300,000 small molecules to evaluate their potential as chemical probes. Network data will be available to the public through NIH's National Library of Medicine.

A majority of the funding will support four centers that will undertake research across the spectrum of molecular probe studies. These comprehensive centers include:

Two of the comprehensive centers, the Burnham Center and the Scripps Research Institute, are based in the San Diego metro area, with additional campuses in Florida. These two centers alone account for almost $180 million of the NIH grants. The Burnham Center plans to use its $98 million grant to hire an additional 30 staffers and purchase more than $44 million in new equipment according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The remainder of the funding has been awarded to five centers that will specialize in either screening or probe chemistry research. These include:

For more information about the Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network, visit: http://www.nih.gov/news/health/sep2008/nimh-02.htm

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Metros in South and West Top Milken's Cities Index
Drawing on its high-tech cluster, Provo, Utah garnered the highest score in the 2008 Best-Performing Cities Index released today by the Milken Institute and Greenstreet Real Estate Partners.

The rebounding technology sector boosted several newcomers to the top 10 in the annual ranking of where America's jobs are being created and sustained. Metros that are highly dependent on resource extraction and export-intensive industries also showed success.

Rounding out the top five metros are Raleigh-Cary, NC; Salt Lake City, UT; Austin-Round Rock, TX; and Huntsville, AL.

The report explains that several past leading cities fell in the standings due to the national decline in housing and construction markets, and metros that remain concentrated in manufacturing continue to lag in the rankings. Rising energy prices have hindered the performance of cities where industries with high energy use are the key drivers, while benefiting those regions with significant oil and gas production and exploration activities.

Strong national economic downturns in housing and construction brought down last year's top-ranked cities, with Florida and California metros - including top spot Ocala, FL. (falling from 1st to 30th) and Riverside, CA. (slipping from 3rd to 53rd) - being some of the hardest hit.

Small-Cities Rankings: Midland, TX, moves up from 3rd place in the previous Milken Index to take this year's title as best-performing small metro (those with a population of 235,000 and below), trading places with last year's top performer, Bend, OR., which drops to 3rd. This year's list of small cities contains 124 cities, compared to 174 last year, because the Bureau of Labor and Statistics collected data on fewer small metro areas due to funding cuts. The decrease in the number of cities ranked resulted in a significant gain in year-over-year ranking for some metros.

Interactive data for all 324 metros is available at: http://bestcities.milkeninstitute.org/.

The full report is available at: http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/publications.taf?function=detail&ID=38801171&cat=resrep

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Useful Stats
State Postsecondary Education Appropriations per Enrolled Student
On a per student basis, state support for public higher education on average increased 4.2% over the four years of 2003-2006. At the same time enrollment figures were increasing even more rapidly.

The percent change in appropriations per student varies greatly among the states, however. To show this, SSTI has prepared a table presenting the amount of state funds appropriated to postsecondary institutions per-student (2003 to 2006) SSTI s table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/091008.htm

In 2006, the most recent year enrollment values were available by NCES, the U.S. average for the state-based postsecondary appropriations per student at a state institution was calculated to be $5,069.

Among the states in 2006, Hawaii experienced the highest amount, at $9,845 per student enrolled in the fall of that year. This was followed by Alaska, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Wyoming. The percent change from 2003 to 2006 varies greatly from state to state, with an increase of 39.7 percent in Nevada and a 13.2 percent decrease in West Virginia. Other states experiencing an increase of over 18 percent during that time period were Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon, and Alabama.

Current and growing pressures on state revenues and budgets, as reported in the Fiscal Survey of the States published by the National Association of State Budget Officers, suggest the same pace may be difficult to maintain in the future.

The data to construct SSTI's table is derived from two sources: Values for tax-based appropriations to support higher education in each state was collected by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University. The enrollment figures at state public institutions include students at both two-year and four-year institutions, and were complied by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education.

It should be noted the levels of taxed-based appropriations as provided by the Center for the Study of Education Policy are self-reported by the states, and exclude state funding from non-tax sources. At the Center s website, the original appropriations data can be found, in addition to the instructions sent to the states for what funding to include (such as allocations to state-based scholarships, private postsecondary institutions, and educational coordinating boards) and what funding to exclude (such as appropriations for capital outlays and debt service, among others).

The appropriations data for each state is available at: http://www.grapevine.ilstu.edu/fifty_state_summary.htm

Enrollment data for each state from the NCES can be accessed at: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_200.asp

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SSTI Job Corner
Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

The Kansas Bioscience Authority is seeking someone to serve as the director of Heartland BioVentures (HBV). The position is responsible for working with HBV’s leadership to develop and sustain a robust pipeline of fundable bioscience companies by implementing a technical and business assistance activity following consultative evaluation of investment opportunities.  The best candidates will have substantial business development experience, a proven record of success in a start-up environment and/or investment firm, and experience working in one or more facets of the bioscience industry.  Experience working with boards of directors and/or advisors is preferred as is experience in the bioscience sector.

Penn State, Office of Economic and Workforce Development, recently announced two position openings:

Director Economic Engagement Initiatives. This position will engage with communities and organize University resources in support of transformative regional engagements; coordinate major statewide initiatives in economic development; facilitate regional economic development partnerships between Penn State campuses/programs and external partners; identify funding opportunities and lead proposal development to secure resources in support of economic engagement initiatives. Requires Master's degree (Ph.D. preferred) or equivalent, plus five years of work-related experience in economic development or related fields that include evidence of successful organizational leadership and supervision and a commitment to diversity.

Director of Workforce Development Initiatives. This position will provide a focal point to coordinate major statewide and national initiatives in workforce development; facilitate regional workforce development partnerships with Penn State campuses and other external partners; identify funding opportunities and develop proposals to secure resources in support of workforce development initiatives. Requires Master’s degree (Ph.D. preferred) or equivalent, plus five years of work-related experience in workforce development or related field that includes successful evidence of organizational leadership, supervision and a commitment to diversity.

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