In This Week's Issue
SSTI News and Analysis
Legislative Wrap-Up II: MA, MN, NJ Dedicate Funds for
S&T
Recent legislative actions supporting technology-based economic
development include level funding for the Massachusetts Life
Sciences Center, funding to support programs of the Minnesota
Science and Technology Authority and the expansion of two state
programs in support of technology and life sciences companies in
New Jersey.
Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a quasi-public agency
charged with implementing the state's 10-year,
$1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, will receive $10 million in
FY12, the same as last year. The appropriation is contingent upon a
consolidated net surplus for FY11. The center has so far committed
$217 million in state funds, leveraged more than $710 million in
additional outside investment, and created a projected 7,000 jobs,
according to the agency.
The full budget can be viewed at www.mass.gov/gaa.
Minnesota
Gov. Mark Dayton last week signed a series of budget bills for
the 2012-13 biennium, effectively ending an impasse that lead to a
state government shutdown lasting nearly three weeks. Lawmakers
included $714,000 over the biennium for the Minnesota Science and
Technology Authority, created in 2010 to stimulate innovation and
encourage investment in new technology products, companies,
industries and jobs. Of this amount, $500,000 is appropriated for a
commercialization fund, internship program, a business and
entrepreneurial acceleration program, and to enhance federal
liaison support. Due to the budget constraints, only one or two
programs will be launched, however. Supporters of the authority
advocated for $25 million annually, saying that amount is necessary
for the state to grow businesses, reports Finance &
Commerce. An earlier version of a bill would have allocated
$1.5 million annually in 2011-12 and 2012-13, and $3.5 million
annually in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
The BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota will receive $356,000 in
the first year of the biennium to create, recruit, retain and
expand biobusiness activity. This is down from $500,000 each fiscal
year approved in the previous biennium. A competitive grant pilot
program is established in the second year of the biennium with $1.1
million in total funding for business development assistance and
services including bioscience business development and entrepreneur
development, among others.
View the budget documents: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/ss2011/.
New Jersey
Two state programs supporting the technology and life sciences
industries recently were expanded in New Jersey as part of the FY12
budget and separate legislation approved during the 2011
legislative session. The FY12 budget signed into law by Gov. Chris
Christie increases available funds from $30 million to $60 million
through the innovative Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer
Program. This restores full funding to the program, which was
reduced the previous year to help fill a budget deficit. The
program allows qualified biotechnology and technology companies to
sell unused net operating losses and R&D tax credits to
unrelated profitable corporations for at least 80 percent of their
value.
Additionally, S.2980
increases the state's R&D tax credit to 100
percent and will be phased in over the next two years. Previously,
R&D spending in New Jersey was used to offset up to 50 percent
of corporate tax liability. The new law will allow R&D spending
in the state to be used to offset all of the corporate tax
liability. Both proposals were among Gov.
Christie's priorities for the legislative
session (see the March
2, 2011 issue of the Digest).
The FY12 budget is available at: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2010/BILLS/S4000/4000_I1.pdf.
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DOE Announced $2M in Funding for University-Based
Clean Energy Business Competitions
Steven Chu, Secretary of the Department of Energy, announced
$2 million in available funding for the National University Clean
Energy Business Challenge — a nationwide network
of regional university-based clean energy business creation
competitions. The intent of the initiative is to
"inspire, mentor and train students from across
the country to develop successful business plans to create a
new generation of American clean energy
companies." Participating teams of students will
work with experienced mentors from the energy industry and startup
community, along with university and national lab-based
researchers, to develop the business plans. The winning teams from
the regional competitions will compete for a National Grand Prize
at a competition held in Washington, D.C., in early summer 2012.
The available funding will support the administration of up
to six regional competitions. U.S. states, local governments,
institutions of higher education and nonprofits are eligible to
receive three-year funding awards to administer the regional
competitions. A consortium of eligible entities also may apply for
the award. An announcement (DE-FOA-0000570)
was posted to FedConnect. Applications are due on August 22,
2011. DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy (EERE) will facilitate the initiative. Read
the press release...
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Pair of IL Bills Boost Investment in Tech-based Firms,
Support Student Entrepreneurs
Gov. Pat Quinn this week signed into law two bills in support of
tech-based companies and student entrepreneurs. SB
107 builds on the state's Technology
Development Account, which allows the state to invest up to 1
percent of its investment portfolio in venture capital firms that
in turn invest in technology-based businesses. The new law
increases the amount to 2 percent. Companies may use the funding
for R&D, marketing new products and workforce expansion.
Another bill signed by Gov. Quinn creates the Higher
Education Technology Entrepreneur Center Act. This allows the
board of trustees at the state's public
universities and community colleges to establish a technology
entrepreneur center. The centers will offer mentors, workshops, a
structured course of work study to bring an innovation from concept
to market, and provide contacts with potential private-sector
investors.
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SBA Licenses First Impact Fund In Michigan
Michigan's InvestMichigan! Mezzanine Fund is
slated to become the Small Business
Administration's (SBA) first licensed Impact
Investment Fund through the agency's new Impact
Investment Initiative. The SBA initiative, which is part of the
White House's Startup America initiative, uses
the existing infrastructure of the Small Business Investment
Company (SBIC) program to encourage small business growth.
Participating funds must make place-based investments in small
businesses in underserved areas, or investments in the clean energy
and education sectors. SBA will provide $80 million to the Michigan
fund, along with another $15 million from Dow Chemical Company and
$35 million from Michigan Growth Capital Partners. Read the announcement...
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NSF Awards $10M for Stanford Engineering Entrepreneurship
Center
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded a
five-year, $10 million grant to the Stanford Technology Ventures
Program (STVP) to create a national center for entrepreneurship
engineering. STVP will partner with the National Collegiate
Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) to develop resources for
undergraduate entrepreneurship programs at engineering schools
across the country. Read the announcement...
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Colorado Blueprint Focuses State
Economic Development Efforts on Innovation
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper unveiled the Colorado
Blueprint: A Bottom-up Approach to Economic Development,
"a document that responds to outlines the steps
that will be taken by the Hickenlooper Administration over the next
few years to support and promote economic development across
Colorado. "The plan consists of six focus areas and 24
action items to spur the state's economic
development. The six areas are:
- Making Colorado more business friendly;
- Recruiting and retaining businesses;
- Increasing access to loans for businesses;
- Increasing tourism;
- Workforce training; and,
- Cultivating innovation and technology.
Each of the six focus areas include four action items, such
as establishing a cluster-focused Information Technology Economic
Development Advisory Council and creating a
"demand-driven" workforce system.
Other Technology-based economic development related initiatives
include expanding venture and angel capital programs; increasing
availability of quality entrepreneurial training; aligning the
efforts of education, workforce training and economic development;
and implementing the governor's Innovation
Initiative and Innovation Network
The report provides item specific benchmarks to measure
achievement of the action items and many of them have achievement
timelines. The report also provides benchmarks to achieve in each
focus area. However, the report does not provide a job creation
goal or a specific increase in the state's
average income.
In developing this plan, Colorado's Office of
Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) employed a
"bottom-up approach" by reaching out
to citizens across the state to provide their input into shaping
Colorado's economy. OEDIT held 50 town hall
meetings and received input from more than 13,000 people in
all of the state's 64 counties. Until August 10, 2011, OEDIT will
welcome public comments regarding the plan. Read the report...
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Study Identifies Barriers, Strategies for Tech Transfer from
Federal Labs to Industry
The diversity and scope of a federal
laboratory's mission, congressional support and
oversight, and the centralization/decentralization of technology
transfer functions at the agency and laboratory levels are among
the factors that affect technology transfer and commercialization
at federal laboratories, according to a recent report sponsored by
the Department of Commerce. Findings are based on literature review
and discussions with technology transfer personnel at federal
agencies and laboratories.
In conducting a review on peer-reviewed publications and texts
and through interviews, the authors found that underfunding of
technology transfer that leads to commercialization is still a
significant problem today. When asked what barriers prevented them
from doing more technology transfer that leads to
commercialization, the most common answer from researchers was a
lack of dedicated and sustained resources.
Strategies and suggestions for addressing barriers are provided
in the report, but the authors caution they are not intended to be
recommendations. Rather, the suggestions resulted from interviews
with stakeholders. To increase the availability of resources for
technology transfer that leads to commercialization, strategies
include providing funding to develop technologies further before
transfer, using partnership intermediaries as a source of
technology maturation funds, and leveraging local, state and
federal commercialization programs.
Another area identified for improvement is engagement of
researchers. Strategies for increasing education and engagement
include conducting "in-reach"
activities for researchers to explain their importance in the
technology transfer process. The example given is training
scientists in entrepreneurship topics through a third party such as
an affiliated business school or university. To increase incentives
for researchers to engage in tech transfer, cash incentives, higher
royalties for patents and instituting entrepreneurial leave
policies are suggested.
Several other strategies to increase the speed and dissemination
of technology transfer that leads to commercialization are
addressed. Topic areas include laboratory mission and management,
agency leadership, coordination, and government-industry
interactions.
Some of the areas identified as beneficial for additional study
include:
- Reviewing technology transfer legal authorities to assess which
of them should be extended to all laboratories;
- Collecting technology transfer data at the laboratory level for
a more sophisticated portfolio of analysis of technology transfer
occurring at the federal intramural laboratories; and,
- Analyzing existing technology-based federal, state and local
economic development programs and how laboratories could leverage
these programs to enhance technology transfer that leads to
commercialization.
The IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute conducted the
research, with funding from the Economic Development
Administration, in conjunction with the National Institute of
Standards and Technology.
Download Technology Transfer and Commercialization Landscape
of the Federal Laboratories at: http://www.eda.gov/commrfi.
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Useful Stats
Academic R&D Expenditures for 2009 by State and Field of Study
About 60 percent of U.S. academic R&D spending support
research in the life sciences, according to data released by the
National Science Foundation (NSF). Engineering R&D, the second
largest target of spending, accounted for 15.7 percent of total
academic research expenditures. While California leads the country
in total spending in every science and engineering field, the
District of Columbia leads in per capita spending in life sciences,
physical sciences, psychology and social sciences. Other leaders in
per capita spending include Maryland (math and computer sciences,
and engineering) and Alaska (environmental sciences).
SSTI has prepared a table showing total and per capita
academic R&D expenditures by state and by field of study. The
Excel version includes tabs for each field, which include state
rank, per capita spending and rank of per capita spending. (See the
June 20, 2011 issue for total 2004-09 expenditures and spending by
funding source.)
Within the life sciences, medical sciences accounts for most
academic R&D spending. In 2009, medical sciences made up 55.6
percent of life science spending and 33.2 percent of all academic
expenditures. Though the District of Columbia leads in per capita
life science spending, it does not have an academic institution in
the top 10 for life science expenditures. The University of
California, San Francisco ranks first in life science spending
($930 million), followed by Johns Hopkins University and Duke
University.
Johns Hopkins University leads the country in engineering R&D
spending, at $703 million for 2009. This figure was almost twice as
high as the second-ranked institution, the campuses of the Georgia
Institute of Technology ($379 million).
Other leading institutions include: University of California,
San Diego for environmental sciences ($879 million), John Hopkins
for math and computer sciences ($787 million), California Institute
of Technology for physical sciences ($213 million), the campuses of
Pennsylvania State University for psychology ($31 million) and the
campuses of University of Michigan for social sciences ($114
million).
Read the NSF release...
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TBED People and Job Opportunities
Job Corner
The High Technology Development Corporation, an agency of
the State of Hawaii, is responsible for promoting and advancing
technology-based economic development in Hawaii. They are currently
seeking applicants for two positions:
- HTDC Manufacturing
Extension Partnership Program Coordinator will mainly provide
project support and assistance to the HTDC MEP center director and
MEP project manager, reviewing documents to ensure state and
federal regulatory compliance plus assisting with tracking,
compiling and enter project progress data.
- HTDC Economic
Development Specialist will work closely with the HTDC
executive team to plan, organize, staff, implement, and track
projects as well as provide support for programs and innovation
centers across the state.
Read more job postings
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Staff Picks
Three Roles Predicted for IT Jobs of the Future
With a dramatic shift from tech support to web-based
applications in the IT environment over the past decade, the future
of IT jobs likely will fall into three areas: consultants, project
managers and developers.
Read more ...
This American Life: When Patents Attack!
This week's
episode investigates the phenomenon of patent trolling, and the
threat that it poses to the American innovation system.
Entrepreneurship Initiative Shares Similar Goals of Teach for
America
Venture for America plans to send promising college grads to
underserved communities to work for companies in up-and-coming
industries, such as energy and biotech — similar
to what Teach for America did for education.
Read more ...
Five Cities to Share $24M to Address Pressing Needs
Mayors of Atlanta, Chicago, Louisville, KY, Memphis, TN, and
New Orleans will be given three years to address two of their
city's most challenging problems. Grant funding
comes from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's charity.
Read more ...
Diversity Increasing in S&E Graduates
The racial and ethnic makeup of U.S. citizens and permanent
residents enrolled in S&E graduate programs has become
increasingly diverse, according to findings in this
NSF brief. In a 10-year period, this group enrolled in S&E
graduate programs more than doubled.
Fate of Emerging Technologies can be Linked to Manufacturing
Location
Carnegie Mellon University Professor Erica Fuchs finds there are
significant differences in manufacturing practices in different
countries and regions, and that those differences drive which
technologies are economically viable to produce.
Read more ...
Today's Govs are Social Media
Savvy
Stateline finds all of the nation's 50
governors are using some form of social media. A whopping 47 of 50
are using both Facebook and Twitter. Click
here for a breakdown by state.
Report finds "A Form of Political Musical Chairs for
Governmental Office"
The Center for Governmental Studies looked at California
"citizen legislators" and concludes that instead of returning to the
private sector, many seek careers in other government positions.
Read more ...
S&T Investment Announced in Peru
Peru's president-elect plans to increase the
proportion of GDP spent on S&T seven-fold by 2016. The country
currently has one of the lowest S&T budgets in Latin America.
Read more ...
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