In This Week's Issue
SSTI News and Analysis
Tech Talkin' Govs: Part IV
The fourth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs' series includes
excerpts from speeches delivered in Illinois, New Hampshire,
Tennessee, and Rhode Island. The first three installments are
available in the Jan.
11, Jan.
18 and Jan.
25 editions of the Digest.
Illinois
Gov. Pat Quinn,
State of the State Address, Feb. 1, 2012
"Today, I'm announcing a
$2.3 million dollar investment in
'1871,' a new technology
center at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago to foster and launch
digital start-ups.
"Today, I'm also announcing
a $6 million dollar statewide competition to build ultra-high speed
broadband in neighborhoods across Illinois.
"Through this challenge, we want our
neighborhoods to become Gigabit communities with Internet
connections more than 100 times faster than today! Our goal is to
build smart communities that will foster the job engines of the
future."
New Hampshire
Gov. John Lynch,
State of the State Address, Jan. 31, 2012
"There are tax reductions that can spur job
growth here in New Hampshire. Innovative companies create jobs and
lay the foundation for a stronger future for our state. Five years
ago, we put in place a research-and-development tax credit to
attract companies to create the products of the future here in New
Hampshire.
"This year, I am proposing we double the
research-and-development tax credit. This is a tax credit that
works to help create jobs; the same cannot be said of the cut in
the tobacco tax.
"The cut in the tobacco tax was nonsensical.
That money would have been better spent on our community college
and university systems, for example. We should roll it back, and
use the revenue to invest in our economic future."
Rhode Island
Gov. Lincoln Chafee, State of the
State Address, Jan. 31, 2012
"I believe there is tremendous opportunity for our state to grow
our economy in the Knowledge District, with the
'meds and eds' leading the
way. We must have the wisdom and foresight to make good decisions
regarding our hospitals and our educational institutions. ...
"... [W]e must be a state that provides access to capital and
encourages innovation. I have heard from many Rhode Islanders who
have exciting and promising ideas. But they are unable to obtain
the needed resources to invest in new technologies, expand their
operations, or start a new company. This is an area where we need
to work together with experts and develop a plan for Rhode Island
to strategically invest our state and private assets in the types
of industries that will bring good jobs to our state."
Tennessee
Gov. Bill Haslam,
State of the State Address, Jan. 30, 2012
"Access is critical to a successful education program. Let me
speak plainly, for the last several years we have not been funding
higher education's capital plans to the degrees
necessary to meet growing student demand. We need more space to
train students in science, technology, engineering, and math —
critical subjects in which we must provide more trained
graduates.
"This budget will finally provide the state's
funding for the long-overdue science building at MTSU, the science
laboratory facilities at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, a
new patient diagnostic center at the University of Tennessee Health
Science Center in Memphis, as well as the planning money for new
buildings at Nashville State Community College and Northeast State
Community College, the University of Memphis, and the University of
Tennessee — Chattanooga."
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Governors in KS and NY Outline TBED Proposals
Governors in Kansas and New York unveiled budget proposals for
FY13 that would maintain funding for economic development proposals
initiated last session. In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback proposed
funding for a new Creative Industries Commission, while
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a new round of $200 million in competitive grant funding for the state's regional economic development councils.
Kansas
Gov. Sam Brownback's FY13 budget includes $3.3 million for the Innovation Growth program, established last year to operate grant programs previously managed by the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC). The program also
manages the Small Technology Pilot program that helps target and
recruit small, tech-based companies to the state. Funding comes
from the Economic Development Initiatives Fund within the
Department of Commerce.
A new Creative Industries Commission also would be established
by merging the Kansas Arts Commission and the Kansas Film
Commission. The board would be seeded with $200,000 in FY13.
Gov. Brownback seeks to eliminate nearly two dozen tax
credit programs in the coming year, including the angel investor
tax credit created in 2004, reports The Kansas City Business
Journal. The credit allows individuals investing in
qualified companies to get back half of their investment, up to
$50,000 a company.
The governor's FY13 budget is available at:
http://budget.ks.gov/publications/FY2013/FY2013_GBR_Vol1--1-13-2012.pdf.
New York
The FY13 budget unveiled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo includes a new
round of $200 million in competitive grant funding for the
governor's 10 regional economic development
councils. The first round of funding was awarded in December
following a six-month long competition that called on the councils
to submit innovative plans for improving local economies (see the
Dec.
7, 2011 issue of the Digest).
Of this amount $130 million is capital funding from the New York
Works program and $70 million comes from Excelsior Tax Credits.
These refundable tax credits are available to high-tech firms that
create and maintain new jobs or make significant financial
investments in the state.
Another $75 in New York Works infrastructure funding is included
for the Buffalo Regional Innovation Cluster activities outlined in
the governor's
State of the State address.
Budget documents are available at: http://www.governor.ny.gov/20122013ExecutiveBudget.
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President Obama Announces Startup America Legislative
Agenda
On the one-year anniversary of the entrepreneur-focused Startup
America Initiative, President Obama issued a new legislative agenda
to boost the creation and growth of startup companies. The
proposals include tax breaks for small business payrolls and
expenses, an expansion of the Small Business Investment Company
(SBIC) program and the elimination of country-specific caps on
immigrant visas. The agenda was released in concert with the
announcement of a third round of the Economic Development
Administration's i6 Challenge, a second round of
the Department of Energy's
America's Next Top Energy Innovator program and
a new Small Business Administration regional mentor network
initiative. Read the complete list of proposals...
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Georgia Plan, Budget Support Efforts to Enhance Research
Capacity
A survey of Georgia's 12 regions finds
collaboration and leveraging assets to support existing businesses
are most critical for enhancing the innovation economy. In support
of these efforts, a task force convened by Gov. Nathan Deal
recommends increasing funds for the Georgia Research Alliance
(GRA), extending the state's angel investor tax
credit, and marketing the state to promote its research and
innovation assets.
Gov. Deal unveiled last week the findings of the Georgia
Competitiveness Initiative, led by a group of business leaders and
government officials tasked with identifying regional and statewide
factors affecting the state's competitiveness.
The initiative centered on six areas, including Business Climate,
Education and Workforce Development, Innovation, Infrastructure,
Global Commerce, and Government Efficiency and Effectiveness.
Among the strategies for investing in innovation is continued
support and expansion of GRA — namely an
increase in funds for the Eminent Scholars program, which matches
university funds for recruiting world-class researchers to the
state. Gov. Deal's FY13 budget boosts GRA
funding within the Department of Economic Development by $1.5
million to recruit two new scholars who typically bring research
teams and additional private and federal research funds. GRA would
receive $14 million in state funding under the
governor's proposal, which is up from about $7.5
million last year (see the May
25, 2011 issue of the Digest). GRA also will manage the
Georgia Cancer Coalition, which previously operated as an
independent nonprofit organization. The coalition is primarily
funded by the state's tobacco settlement and
would receive $6.8 million in FY13 under the
governor's proposal.
Additional recommendations include extending the Angel Investor
Tax Credit by five years to 2018, capitalizing on state assets to
promote economic development in rural parts of the state, and
developing a marketing campaign to promote the
state's research and innovation assets. The
report is available at: http://www.georgiacompetitiveness.org/uploads/GCI_Report.pdf.
Gov. Deal's
budget for FY13 also includes $5 million for cancer-related
research at Georgia Health Sciences University. The funding would
be used to hire research faculty and provide for equipment and
infrastructure enhancements.
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Matching Fund Planned To Attract Venture Funding for
MI Tech Companies
The Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) and the Michigan Economic
Development Corporation (MEDC) announced public hearings for the
Pure Michigan Venture Match Fund — a new program
that will match early stage investments from eligible venture funds
in Michigan-based technology businesses. MSF and MEDC intend for
the program to attract venture funds, within and outside of
Michigan, to consider investments in early stage and pre-revenue
technology companies and to mitigate some risk for venture fund
investments through the matching MSF funds.
The minimum venture investment of $700,000 is required and the
maximum eligible investment is $3 million. MSF will match between
$350,000 and $500,000 with similar investment terms as the venture
investment. To be eligible for funding, a company must have secured
a qualified venture investment and face a peer review of its
business plan. Eligible investors must fulfill all the requirements
of the 21st Century Jobs Fund legislation.
After consideration of the comments and information received at
the public hearing, the final MVM Fund program guidelines will be
presented to the MSF Board for approval and implementation. The
program is anticipated to launch on March 1.
Read the press
release...
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Three Elements Needed for
Small Business Success, Report Shows
The U.S. must increase the access to three elements help small
businesses thrive and restore U.S. competiveness, according to a new
report from the Center for Public Policy Innovation (CPPI)
— Restoring U.S. Competitiveness: Creating Jobs
and Unleashing the Potential of Small Businesses through Technology
and Innovation. The key elements include:
- Access to Capital — Gaining access to
capital is an obstacle for all small businesses. However, the U.S.
must work to connect local startups with regional investors to
boost local investments and make the capital gains tax exemption
permanent for investors in qualified small businesses.
- Access to Modern Technology — U.S. small
business must have access to cloud computing, mobile technologies
and virtual global supply chains to invest more into their
products, to collaborate on a global scale and to expand their
presence to foreign markets.
- Access to Global Markets — The U.S.
government must make existing programs, that help domestic small
business enter foreign markets, easier to find and navigate.
The authors contend that it is imperative that the U.S.
increase access to these three elements due to our global competitors
providing "effective top down policy
support" for small business development.
The report also looked at the importance of failure for startup
founders. Failure is a natural and important part of future successful firm
development, the report notes. Startup founders learn
valuable lessons when their firms fail, and they often develop an
expanded professional network that will benefit them over the long-term.
The authors contend that learning from mistakes is the true driver
of private sector innovation.
The report was compiled using the recommendations of leaders
from private industry, government and the nonprofit sectors
collected during a CPPI-hosted panel discussion in December of
2011. Read the report...
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Useful Stats
Venture Capital Dollars and Deals Per Capita,
1995-2011
Last year, as U.S. venture capital activity continued to
rebound, venture investment rose to $91.23 per U.S. resident and
11.79 deals per million residents, according to data from
PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association and
U.S. Census Bureau. Massachusetts remains the top state in per
capita activity, as it has since the beginning of the Moneytree
Survey in 1995. In 2011, venture capital firms invested $452.65 for
each Massachusetts resident in the state and conducted
approximately 58.14 deals per million residents. Over the past five
years, the greatest growth in per capita investment has occurred in
Iowa, Maine, Delaware, Vermont, Kansas and Missouri.
SSTI has assembled tables of per capita venture investment
dollars by state and venture deals per million state residents for
2006-2011. Additional data dating back to 1995 is available in
Excel format. For details on total venture dollars and deals, see
the January 25 issue.
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R&D As a Percentage of GDP by State, 2003-2008
U.S. research and development (R&D) spending rose to $372.6
billion in 2008, a figure equal to 2.61 percent of U.S. gross
domestic product (GDP), according to the National Science
Foundation's Science and Engineering Indicators
2012 publication. Since 1992 when NSF began tracking R&D as a
percentage of GDP, the metric had fluctuated between 2.4 and 2.6
percent but had never exceeded 2.6. New Mexico had the greatest
R&D concentration in its economy in 2008, followed by the
District of Columbia, Maryland and Massachusetts.
SSTI has prepared tables based on data from the NSF report that
include R&D as a percentage of state GDP for 2003-2008, state
agency R&D expenditures per $1 million in state GDP for 2006-2007
and academic science and engineering R&D per $1,000 in state
GDP for 2004-2009.
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SSTI Events
New Research Targets High-Growth Companies to Create Jobs
Less than 1 percent of companies in PA are creating 74
percent of the net new jobs, according to a new report.
Team PA is targeting high-growth companies to create jobs.
SSTI Webinar: High-Growth Companies: Identifying and Learning
from Them
Thursday, February 16 • 3:00 PM EST
Register
The Team PA Foundation intends to harness the power of these
high-growth firms (higros) through a new pilot program in
Pittsburgh. In the first installment of SSTI's new monthly webinar
series, Team PA will provide an insider's look at their new
high-growth pilot program, a program intended to learn from the
region's higros and potentially incorporate their best practices
into economic development policy. You also will have the
opportunity to learn about the characteristics of higros and what
separates them from other businesses.
Presented by:
Matt Zieger, President & CEO, Team Pennsylvania
Foundation
Gary Kunkle, Founder, Outlier, LLC
View Matt talking about targeting higros as a new approach to
economic development.
Register today — spots are filling
up quickly! Members can attend a minimum of one webinar for
FREE. Contact Noelle at sheets@ssti.org to receive your promo code or
become a member.
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TBED People and Job Opportunities
TBED People & Orgs
John Morris, who has led Tech 20/20's
Center for Entrepreneurial Growth, has become the president and
CEO. He succeeds Mike Cuddy who retired.
The Tech Council of
Maryland named Art Jacoby as its interim CEO.
Jacoby, who is also a managing partner at Maryland Cyber Investment
Partners, will head TCM as the organization looks for a full-time
replacement for former Chief Executive Officer Renee Winsky, who
left the council in December.
Don Cardon, CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, a
joint public-private entity created to replace the state Department
of Commerce, is resigning.
The University at Buffalo reorganized its research
office. The Office of the Vice President for Research is now the
Office of the Vice
President for Research and Economic Development. In addition,
Marion LaVigne has been named associate vice president for
economic development.
Douglas Banks has been selected as associate vice
president for economic development at the University of Massachusetts. Most
recently, Banks was editor/publisher of Mass High Tech, New
England's leading high tech journal. He succeeds
Jeff Brancato, who left UMass to join Northeast Ohio-based
NorTech as vice president.
Read more job postings
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Staff Picks
TBED Community Represented at SOTU
In this
blog post, Hiroyuki "Hiro" Fujita, a technology entrepreneur
invited to sit in the First Lady's box, talks about how TBED
programs helped his company grow and expand in the international
market.
Can Governors Create Jobs?
The debate over government's role in job
creation is examined in this Stateline article, which
discusses the deep philosophical differences demonstrated in the
policies of governors across the country.
Read more ...
St. Louis Business Leaders Entice Entrepreneurs with Grants,
Mentorship
With about $2 million in funding, a local group is awarding
$50,000 each to entrepreneurs who start companies in the downtown
area.
Read more ...
Clinical Research Center Supported by Tax Revenue Opens in
Kansas
A sales tax approved by voters in 2008 will help pay for
development of new research and educational facilities at the
University of Kansas clinical research center.
Read more ...
ND 20-Year Development Plan due this Fall
The plan will build on the state's 10-year
strategic plan with recommendations for further growth and is
expected to result in several legislative initiatives next session.
Read more ...
The Chronicle: A Disrupted Higher-Ed
System
Applying a "people-centered"
vision to higher ed, this article examines the rising trend of
nontraditional students and its effect on how they are educated and
prepared for the workforce.
Read more ...
States Receive Disappointing Grades in K-12 Science
Performance
A majority of states received D's or
F's for science course standards in K-12
education. Individual profiles are provided for each state.
Read more ...
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