In This Week's Issue
SSTI News and Analysis
Details on Proposed Economic Development Overhauls Emerge in
FL, NV
During the campaign trail and in speeches delivered during their
first few weeks in office, governors in Florida and Nevada
announced plans to overhaul economic development efforts without
providing many details on how the new systems would operate. Draft
legislation recently was introduced in the respective states,
providing some insight on the structure and governance of the
proposed agencies.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to create a new Department of
Commerce and establish a position of commissioner to report to him
directly. The new entity, called Jobs Florida, would have four
divisions to address accounting, community development, business
development and strategic planning, according to an article in
The Tallahassee Democrat. The commissioner would contract
with Enterprise Florida, Space Florida and other public-private
partnerships, the article states. Additionally, the
Department of Community Affairs and the Agency for Workforce
Innovation would be eliminated under a draft bill outlining the
structure. The restructuring is estimated to save more than $8
million, according to the article.
In his budget
proposal unveiled earlier this year, Gov. Scott requested $304
million in FY12 and $504 million in FY13 for economic development
tools. The governor did not outline how this funding would be
appropriated, however. A recent article in The Palm Beach
Post reported that Gov. Scott is seeking exclusive power to
dole out economic development tax dollars to businesses, but both
the House and Senate versions of the budget include far less in
spending authority for Gov. Scott's economic
development plans.
In Nevada, a bill establishing a cabinet-level agency to direct
and oversee three regional economic authorities has support from
both Democratic Gov. Brian Sandoval and Republican leaders, reports
The Nevada Appeal.
AB 449 would designate a regional organization for economic
development for each of the northern, southern and rural regions,
which would be eligible to receive grants from a proposed Catalyst
Fund. The bill would transfer $10 million to the Catalyst Fund from
the Abandoned Property Trust Account for business recruitment and
retention. Gov. Sandoval proposed creation of the fund in his
budget earlier this year (see the Feb.
2, 2011 issue of the Digest).
The bill also would create a Knowledge Fund to recruit and hire
faculty and teams to conduct research in science and technology.
There is no mention of how much funding is sought for the
initiative or where the funding would come from, however.
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UK's 2011
Budgets and StartUp Britain Initiative are Intended to Grow the
Country's Innovation Economy
George Osborne, the UK's Chancellor of the
Exchequer, announced the country's 2011 budget
including the "Plan of Growth,"
a package of measures intended to support
private sector investment, enterprise and innovation. Several
initiatives highlighted in the Plan of Growth include:
- The development of a new "Technology
and Innovation Centre" project focused on high-value
manufacturing. According to
Manufacturer.com, the center likely is to be the first of six
manufacturing and engineering centers supported by a
£200 million (approximately $321.2 million) four-year
initiative.
- The government also pledges approximately £100
million (approximately $160.6 million) to invest in new science
research facilities.
- Starting in April 2011, a 200% small business R&D tax
credit will be enacted. In 2012, that tax credit will increase to
225%.
- The country will increase funding to capital relief programs
for manufacturers to invest in new technologies.
- Twenty-one new enterprise zones to be launched where the
business will get 100% discount on rates and superfast
broadband.
- The Government will double the funding to expand a program that
was intended to create 12 new technical colleges, but now will allow it to create
24 new colleges.
British Prime Minister David Cameron also announced the StartUp
Britain — a program that delivers a
benefits package of over £1,500 (approximately $2,400)
for every startup company in Britain. This public-private
Partnership includes 50 lead companies (including: Barclays,
BlackBerry, Experian, Intel, Microsoft, McKinsey & Co. and
Virgin Media) pledging millions of pounds in support that will be
matched by the government. A web portal will allow business owners
and entrepreneurs to access a wide range of existing resources and
support. Other measures supported by StartUp Britain include:
- The development of a partnership with the Peter Jones
Foundation to increase the investment into the Tenner Tycoon,
" a program that provides £10,000
loans (approximately $16,100) to young people across primary,
secondary and further education to gain experience running a
business.
- The creation of the
Enterprise Champions Programme to support schools in the
development and management of a business.
- The creation of enterprise societies at every university and
most further education colleges to develop a generation with
entrepreneurial ambitions and skills.
- The development of a new online tool that allows small
businesses to pitch their ideas on how they could make government
more effective and efficient.
Read the
press release...
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Legislative Wrap Up: West Virginia and Wyoming Pass Budgets
Budgets recently approved in West Virginia and Wyoming will
dedicate new funds for TBED initiatives in the coming year.
TechConnect West Virginia is slated to receive $250,000 for its
efforts to develop immediate and long-term strategies to capitalize
on the state's technology strengths. In Wyoming,
lawmakers allocated a portion of Abandoned Mine Land (AML) funds
for construction of a science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) undergraduate teaching laboratory and for
graduate stipends and fellowships to support students studying
energy, natural resources and computational sciences at the
University of Wyoming (UW).
West Virginia
TechConnect West Virgina, a nonprofit corporation established to
facilitate tech-based economic development efforts throughout the
state, will receive $250,000 in FY12 state appropriations. The
investment will help to optimize the Research Trust Fund and the
West Virginia Education, Research and Technology Park. Lawmakers
approved $750,000 for the initiative, which was later reduced by
Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin as part of an overall line-item veto
that reduces the budget by $18.2 million. In his veto letter, the
governor expressed support for TechConnect's
efforts to spur technology development and commercialization. The
approved budget for the West Virginia Development Office also
provides level funding for most economic development efforts,
including $215,034 for the West Virginia High Tech Consortium and
$131,328 for the West Virginia Manufacturing Extension Partnership,
the same as last year.
The legislature's FY12 enrolled budget bill
is available at:
http://www.budget.wv.gov/approvedbudget/Documents/HB2012_Enrolled.pdf.
Read the governor's veto message:
http://www.budget.wv.gov/approvedbudget/Documents/govvetoletter2012.pdf.
Wyoming
Gov. Matt Mead signed the 2011-12 supplemental budget bill
earlier this month, which includes $50 million in prior balance AML
funds for phase I construction of the Michael B. Enzi STEM
undergraduate teaching laboratory to be located on the University of Wyoming (UW) campus
(see the Dec. 1,
2010 issue of the Digest).
The enacted budget also authorizes the Department of
Environmental Quality to submit grant applications for distribution
of AML funds to UW for the following projects: $6.2 million for
energy science graduate stipends and fellowships; and, $1 million
for nonoperational and other administrative costs associated with
high plains gasification.
Gov. Mead signed a bill into law during the session that he says
is important in attracting a wind tower manufacturing company to
the state. HB 143
extends the sales and use tax exemption for manufacturing equipment
from Dec. 31, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2017 and amends reporting
requirements.
The general government appropriations bill is available at:
http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Enroll/SF0001.pdf.
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Mayor Announces Biomedical Seed Fund in Akron, OH
Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic announced the plans to form the "Akron Development Corporation Seed Fund" in his State of the City address on Tuesday. The fund, with backing from corporate sponsors, aims to attract
biomedical companies to the region. Companies receiving investment
would locate in the Akron Global Business Accelerator. Read the announcement...
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Incubator Round Up
Recent announcements of new and emerging technology incubators
range from Google's selection of Cape Town,
South Africa to launch a pilot incubator supporting technology
entrepreneurs that it hopes to replicate globally to Alabama Gov.
Robert Bentley's plan to create a statewide
business incubator focusing on workforce training. Select
announcements from across the globe are highlighted below.
Google will set up a new technology incubator called Umbono in
Cape Town, South Africa, reports Memeburn. Startup companies
selected for inclusion will receive six months of free office space
and bandwidth, in addition to $25,000 to $50,000 in funding from a
panel of angel investors and Google. The goal is to replicate the
model in other parts of the globe. The name means
"vision,"
"sight" or
"idea" in Zulu, the article
states.
Three major energy companies announced a joint venture earlier
this year to support clean tech energy companies by establishing a
green technology incubator. General Electric, NRG Energy and
ConocoPhillips will commit $300 million over the next four years to
the Energy
Technology Ventures enterprise. Funding is geared toward 30
startup and early stage technology companies located in North
America, Europe and Israel.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley announced earlier this year his
intentions to create a statewide business incubator focusing on
worker training as part of a new plan to realign the
state's economic development efforts.
The University of Texas at El
Paso recently received a $200,000 state grant to establish a
clean energy incubator to help develop clean energy technologies
and form and expand new companies, reports the El Paso
Times. The incubator eventually will become part of the broader
Paso del Norte Regional Technology Incubator, which also focuses on
biomedical, border security, defense, aerospace, and advanced
manufacturing industries.
An old police department building in Escondido, CA, will be
transformed into a tech incubator following approval by the
Escondido City Council late last year. Partners in the endeavor
will include the Escondido Library, Cal State San Marcos, National
University, and several other educational institutions, reports
The North County Times. This will be the first incubator
located in North County.
Venture
Accelerator, a University of Michigan business incubator for
startup companies, officially launched in January in a building
that housed former Pfizer offices in Ann Arbor. The
16,000-square-foot incubator is expected to house up to 20
companies working on commercializing technologies from the
university.
GateWay Community
College in Arizona will launch a $6 million Emerging
Technologies Incubator, a complex of office spaces, conference
rooms and laboratories to house up to 30 early stage companies
focusing on bioscience and other emerging technologies, reports the
Arizona Republic. Funding for the 17,000-square-foot complex
came from a combination of federal and local grants, a
community-college bond offering, and private donations.
The FedEx Institute of Technology at the University of Memphis
(UM) will manage a business startup facilitator and incubator
expected to be operational by mid-2012, according to The
Commercial Appeal. The Crews
Venture Lab features flex office space with access to mentors,
advisors and regional early stage investors. A second phase will
include a 3,000-square-foot space for a prototype shop and product
design lab. Half of the $2 million needed to renovate and operate
the site was received as a donation.
Denis Lebel, minister of state for Canada Economic Development,
announced earlier this month an initiative to assist university
graduates in establishing businesses through a $3 million business
accelerator called the
Accelerateur de creation d'entreprises
technologiques. The Canadian government will provide $293,500
toward the effort, which aims to support about 30 small and
medium-sized enterprises in the next three years.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute formed a new incubator called
the Emerging Ventures
Ecosystem under a plan to revive a 30-year-old former incubator
program. The new program will help faculty, students and
entrepreneurs commercialize technology and research from the
campus, reports The Business Review. The Institute also is
exploring the creation of an alumni-supported angel investment
fund.
A business incubator supporting primarily startup technology
companies recently launched in New Albany, OH, as part of a campaign
celebrating a culture of innovation that also includes a blog and
forum for technology officers.
Inc@8000 offers 16,000 square feet of space for startup and
entrepreneurial companies.
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Recent Research
Are International Connections More Important Than Local
Partners in Innovation?
Innovative firms rely on global pipelines and communication more
than local interactions to increase their innovative capacity,
according to a working paper by Rune Dahl Fitjar and Andres
Rodriguez-Pose. The authors examine the practices of 1604 firms in
the five largest urban regions of Norway, and find that
international cooperation is the main source of product and process
innovation. While other studies have emphasized the complementary
nature of global and local innovation pipelines, the authors find
little evidence that local interactions lead to radical or
incremental technological advancement. This conclusion comes with
several caveats, but suggests that the roots of innovative capacity
lie in factors that drive a firm to establish links to more distant
institutions and resources.
Fitjar and Rodriguez-Pose begin by confronting the assertion
that "local and global interaction operate
together in fostering firm-level innovation within regions and are
perfectly complementary." This belief is particularly
prominent in Norway and has been proposed as the key to developing
successful products and processes. The authors, however, believe
that this complementary relationship has not been sufficiently demonstrated, and that past
studies have distorted their results by relying on the concept of
clusters.
Firms that have chosen to co-locate with other firms and
institutions linked to their industry are more likely than the
average company to make use of local innovation pipelines. In
particular, technology companies that have located within a region
known for a particular industry are likely to make use of regional
networks, programs and partnerships. This may, however, not
necessarily be true for other firms, even firms that are
innovation-oriented.
To demonstrate this point, the authors spoke with a large number
of business managers with more than ten employees in
Norway's urban regions without focusing on any
particular industry. In phone surveys, they inquired about their
firm's innovation history, the sources of
innovation and whether their innovation partners were located
within the region, in the country or international. The managers
also were asked about the nature of these relationships and the
nature of their business.
In the authors' analysis, the presence of
international partners was closely linked to firm innovation, while
the presence of local partners was not. Also, the presence of local
partners was not correlated with the presence of international
partners. In fact, a firm that was more oriented toward local
partnerships was less likely to engage in helpful international
partnerships.
The authors are cautious to warn that these findings may not be
universal, even within Norway. More research is needed to
differentiate between industries, types of managers and the
varieties of local networks. The work also requires a closer look
at the stage of development of the firms in question and whether
international partnerships are merely correlated with firms that
have already attained a degree of successful innovation.
Read "When Local Interaction Does Not Suffice:
Sources of Firm Innovation in Urban Norway" at:
http://ideas.repec.org/p/imd/wpaper/wp2011-05.html.
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Useful Stats
State Personal Income and Per Capita Income 2005-2010
After declining last year for the first time since 1949, U.S.
personal income rose three percent in 2010 to more than $12.5
trillion, according to a release from the Bureau of Economic
Analysis (BEA). U.S. per capital personal income, which had also
dipped in 2009, rose 14.6 percent to $40,584 last year.
Both U.S. total and per capita personal income, however, remained
below their peak levels in 2008. The largest percentage increases
in personal income came in the Southwest region (Arizona, New
Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas) and the Mideast region (Delaware,
District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and
Pennsylvania.
Only ten states posted income levels in 2010 that exceeded the
pre-recession level in 2008. That group includes Arkansas,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, North Dakota,
Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. Alaska also
surpassed its 2008 level, though the BEA report notes that Alaska
experienced only a marginal decline in 2009, unlike most of the
rest of the country. New Mexico's personal
income grew by 4.2 percent over the previous year, the largest
percentage increase in the country.
While California had the highest personal income overall, the
District of Columbia continues to have the highest per capita
income in the country. In 2010, the D.C. had an average per capita
income of $71,044, 75.1 percent higher than the U.S. average. Other
top states for per capita income include Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland. The largest one-year
increase in per capita income happened in Arizona, where the
average income grew by 5.3 percent. Despite that growth, Arizona
continues to rank 41st in per capita income.
Read the BEA release at: http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/spi_newsrelease.htm
SSTI has put together tables of personal income and per capita
personal income by state for the years 2005-2010. Since 2005, U.S.
personal income has grown by 19.6 percent and per capita income has
grown by 14.57 percent. Wyoming, which ranks 50th in personal
income, nonetheless had the greatest percentage increase in income
during the 2005-2010 period. Average income grew by 35.1 percent to
$27 billion in Wyoming. The District of Columbia had the greatest
growth in per capita income since 2005, with an increase of 29.4
percent. Other top states for per capita income increases include
Louisiana, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming.
View the personal income table at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/033011t.htm. View the per capita personal income table at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/033011ta.htm
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TBED People and Job Opportunities
Job Corner
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National
Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland is seeking a dynamic
and innovative biomedical/biotechnology expert to provide strategic
leadership as the director of the newly created
Office of Translational Alliances and Coordination (OTAC). The OTAC
is charged with accelerating the translation of basic discoveries
and innovations into new diagnostics, devices, and therapeutics,
and facilitating the development of new technologies via SBIR
initiatives. The job announcement will be posted on www.usajobs.gov in late
March/early April for 10 days and open to all U.S. citizens.
Applicants must possess a Ph.D.
Virginia Tech's Office of Economic Development is seeking
a senior specialist
with an interest in both technology-based economic development and
community economic development. The office provides leadership for
the university and the Commonwealth in these areas. Recently this
has included leading a $1.7 million effort to support new product
development and process improvements in transportation equipment
manufacturing funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
The office also is spearheading partnerships managing almost $9
million from the U.S. Department of Labor to develop and implement
advanced training programs in green building and health information
technology.
Read more job postings
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Staff Picks
Vice President Calls on Governors to Help Boost College
Graduation
To help reach the president's goal of
increasing college graduation rates, Vice President Biden unveiled
a toolkit for governors identifying no-cost or low-cost strategies,
action steps, and existing federal funds.
Read more ...
South Korea Launches National S&T Council
The council, which will control about 75 percent of the
country's R&D budget, will take charge of
planning, distribution of state resources, and carrying out
evaluations on all state-funded R&D projects.
Read more ...
France Investing $710M in Space Competitiveness
The French government will support four launch vehicle and
satellite projects at a cost of $710 million as part of a
government bond issue designed to spur innovation.
Read more ...
Harvard Profs Say Manufacturing Still Matters
Gary Pisano and Willy Shih discuss in this interview why they remain
optimistic about U.S. competitiveness despite the
country's decline in manufacturing, labor
shortages and ability to innovate.
NY Times: States Pass Budget Pain to Cities
Governors in Ohio, Wisconsin, New York, Michigan and Nebraska
are the latest to propose deep cuts to municipalities, which is
likely to result in layoffs, service cuts, and local tax increases.
Read more ...
From Motown to Robot Town?
Detroit could be home to a robotics research and tourist
attraction center by 2014 under a plan being discussed by TechTown,
Wayne State University and local industry and research leaders.
Read more ...
Porter Warns Governors Against Using Severe Austerity
Measures
Michael Porter
presented on the necessity of innovation to increase state
competitiveness at the National Governors
Association's winter meeting. Porter warned the governors that severe austerity
measures are not the answer to create sustained, long-term
competiveness. Instead, he argued that competiveness is defined as
"the productivity with which a state utilizes its
human, capital and natural resources." In conjunction with Porter's speech,
the Harvard Business School released in-depth profiles of all 50
states' competitiveness.
Delaware Has Fastest Internet Access
So says data collected by M-Lab, a partnership between Google
and the New America Foundation. Which is the slowest state?
Montana. Check out the
map.
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