Though the report does not take new hires into account, the news is discouraging for the high-tech sector, which has now endured its fifth consecutive quarter of increasing layoffs. Only the automotive sector and retail incurred more job losses in the first months of 2009.

The Challenger, Gray and Christmas report includes computer, electronics and telecommunications companies in its definition of the high-tech sector. Telecom companies actually had fewer layoffs compared to the previous quarter, but electronics and computer companies experienced large losses. The computer sector was hit particularly hard in January with 22,330 cuts, but the pace of losses slowed in February and March. January was also a difficult month for the telecommunications sector, with 13,056 cuts, though by March that number had shrunk to 250.

The report also indicates that tech layoffs now make up a larger share of overall layoffs than they did last year. In 2008, 12.7 percent of lost jobs were at high-tech companies. Last quarter that share was 14.6 percent. Monthly figures, however, indicate that losses in the tech sector were front-loaded and occurred primarily in the first two months of the year, returning to their previous share of overall losses in March.

Tech companies announced plans to create 3,829 positions in March, according to the group, up from zero announcements in February. That figure is encouraging, but BNET observes that 4.5 jobs in the sector are still being lost for each new position announced.

Several provisions in the bill as introduced had met opposition from vocally significant groups, such as the biotech and academic communities. On the other side of the issue have been equally powerful players such as large information technology & communications companies.

S.515, the Patent Reform Act of 2009, amends federal patent law to rewrite provisions concerning the conditions for patentability. Foremost among the changes is the adoption of a first-to-file patent system that defines the "effective filing date of a claimed invention" as the filing date of the patent or the application for patent containing the claim to the invention. By abandoning the first-to-invent system, the move brings the U.S. patent system in line with the rest of the developed world.

Other provisions of the bill revise various rights and requirements related to patents regarding: damages; post-grant procedures; citation of prior art; inter-partes reexaminations; pre-issuance submissions by third parties; venue and jurisdiction; and the regulatory authority of the Patent and Trademark Office. In addition, S. 515 replaces the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

The damages, venue and post-grant review conditions have proven to be the most contentious since hearings started on patent reform in 2005. According to Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) were particularly critical in developing the compromise.

As amended, S.515 provides a greater role for the judge to serve as gatekeepers to identify the appropriate legal standards and relevant factual contentions for juries to consider when determining damages in patent infringement cases. The bill also clarifies and facilitates changes of venues.

The compromise that allowed the bill to advance, while picking up broad bipartisan endorsement in the committee, cost the support of one of the original and long-standing supporters of patent reform, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

A specific date for full Senate consideration has not been set as the Senate is on recess until April 20. No action has been taken yet on H.R.1260, the House version of the original bill.

S. 515, as amended, is available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/

Monday, April 13, 2009
Boston Massachusetts
1PM – 5PM Eastern Time
Marriott Boston Cambridge

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Detroit Michigan
1PM – 5PM Eastern Time
Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center

Friday, April 17, 2009
San Jose California
9AM – 1PM Pacific Time
San Jose Marriott

Pre-registration is not required to attend any of the three meetings. The points of contact at TIP for information are: Margaret Phillips, 301-975-4350 or Donna Paul, 301-975-2162.

Attendance at TIP Proposers’ Conferences is not mandatory to submit a proposal for the current competition. Presentation materials for the Proposers’ Conferences will be available on the 2009 Competition Information page later today: http://www.nist.gov/tip/comp_09/comp09_home.html.

Nevertheless, net employment growth in the firms that survive their first birthday is 15 percent. The net employment growth gradually tapers off as firms mature, but so, too, does the risk of failure and closing.  The Kauffman Foundation terms this an “up or out” pattern.

The findings suggest TBED policies and investments that help to increase the survivability of young startups can lead to sustained employment growth, although at a lower incremental rate. Another possible implication for TBED programs could be to influence the importance of metrics that look at jobs sustained as much as annual job creation by client firms as they mature.

High Growth and Failure of Young Firms is available at: http://www.kauffman.org/newsroom/young-businesses-that-survive-grow-faster-than-older-businesses.aspx.

Recently, however, Arizona has begun cutting back their TBED investments through SFAz. Originally, the state had planned to allocate $25 million a year to the 21st Century Fund through FY10, but reduced the allocation in its second year and eliminated funding for FY09 (see the February 4, 2009 issue). Legislators are now considering omitting SFAz funding from the FY10 budget.

To demonstrate the value of the organization, SFAz has released a new report detailing the contribution the state’s investments have made and the additional work needed to build a competitive high-tech economy. SFAz’s new report is being promoted as the first in a series of annual report cards measuring the state’s progress in building an innovative economy and SFAz’s effectiveness in boosting high-tech performance. The report tracks Arizona’s performance in five key areas against several benchmark states, including Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

The performance-based index allows state leaders to measure SFAz’s effectiveness in terms of performance, instead of process metrics. In its first two years SFAz has invested $39.1 million in STEM education initiatives, research collaborations and small business grants. As of September 2008, those investments have leveraged $1.18 in non-state funds for every dollar from SFAz, according to the report. This figure exceeds the one-to one match required by the state for grants from the 21st Century Fund. The report also touts SFAz’s record of generating a patent for every $2.6 million invested in university research, compared to a university-wide average of one patent per $27 million invested.

The report found mixed results in the state’s innovation indicators, lagging behind its benchmark states in many areas. The state ranks near the bottom in seed and early-stage venture investment, though it has made progress in recent years. Arizona universities exceeded their counterparts in other states in terms of new startups, but underperformed in technology licensing. Average wages for technology workers were below the national average and the state’s number of tech jobs declined last year. Arizona also lagged behind its competitors in patenting, university research growth and post-secondary educational achievement.

The study concluded that Arizona is a significant technology state, but is declining in competitiveness relative to its benchmarked counterparts. Although the state’s investments through the 21^st Century Fund and SFAz have helped, the report draws attention to the discrepancy between the progress that must be made to remain competitive and the scale of the state’s efforts.

“Winning in the Global Knowledge-based Economy: Tracking the Performance of Arizona’s Technology Sector and the Investments of Science Foundation Arizona” is available at: http://www.sfaz.org/our-investments/returnoninvestment.aspx

The recommendations target workforce improvement for industry sectors expected to grow by 15 percent by 2016. The report identifies these sectors as information, health care, utilities, administrative support, waste management and remediation, educational services, real estate, and management of companies.

The fiscal environment for making the investments to implement the plan presents a formidable challenge. According to recent press coverage of the report’s release by the Charleston Post and Courier, South Carolina’s support for higher education dropped by 17.7 percent from 2007/08 to 2008/09 – the greatest one-year decline in the nation. The data showing one-year changes in state appropriations for higher education is presented by the Centers for the Study of Education Policy and is available at: http://www.grapevine.ilstu.edu/tables/FY09/Table1_09.pdf

Currently South Carolina is ranked 50th among states in terms of the growth of financial support to higher education over the past 10 years, according to the report. Fortunately, the group believed some of the action items deemed most important could be implemented with little or no additional cost to the state.

Seventeen of the 106 action steps are considered most important for the state to initiate. Examples include:

• Create a state model for formal agreements between higher education and industry to share research and facilitate commercialization;
• Incorporate more practical work experience into instructional program and curricula;
• Promote affordability for higher education through a mix of increased appropriations, capital bond bills, and need-based student aid;
• Expand college application and financial literacy initiatives for high school students;
• Form a statewide network of community-based programs to promote college access; and,
• Make high school attendance compulsory until the age of 18 or high school graduation.

Leveraging Higher Education for a Stronger South Carolina is available at:http://www.che.sc.gov/HigherEd_ActionPlan.htm

The U.S. Senate confirmed by unanimous consent President Barack Obama’s nomination of Karen Gordon Mills as the 23rd Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has named Stephen M. Hourigan executive director of the 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. He also will oversee the state’s entrepreneurship efforts. Hourigan replaces Bruce Kidd who resigned in December.

Innovate Texas Foundation was launched to enhance Texas’ competitiveness in bringing promising technologies to the marketplace and creating high-value jobs in the state. David Guajardo Nance will become the Foundation’s first executive director.

Northern Kentucky University and their alliance partners have formed the Northern Kentucky Entrepreneurial Alliance to promote entrepreneurship in the region.

Bill Taylor, the longtime head of Mercedes-Benz’s Alabama operations, will become president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama in July. Taylor replaces Jim Hayes, who headed the organization in 2002 until his death in June 2008.

Dennis Yablonsky, former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, was named CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. Yablonsky succeeds F. Michael Langley as head of the economic development organization.