SSTI Digest

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recently signed two bills to improve the commonwealth's standing as a leader in environmental protection and to support the growth of the clean technology industry.  Supporters of the Global Warming Solutions Act and the Green Jobs Act believe that the legislation will position Massachusetts as a recognized center for cleantech policy and business.

Massachusetts will invest $68 million over the next five years to promote the clean energy industry through the Green Jobs Act. The bill establishes a new clean energy technology center as the lead agency, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, in the promotion and development of new jobs in the clean energy sector. Its mission will include funding research and workforce training, supporting new and existing clean energy businesses, attracting capital and fostering collaboration between the state's public and private research institutions.

According to National Science Foundation (NSF) data released two weeks ago, companies spent in aggregate $247.7 billion on R&D expenditures performed in the U.S. in 2006. Leading the nation was California, with $58.4 billion in industrial R&D, followed by Michigan ($16.5 billion), Massachusetts ($15.6 billion), New Jersey ($14.6 billion), and Texas ($13.3 billion).   SSTI has prepared a table presenting the state rankings for industrial R&D performed in 2006, the per-state gross state product in 2006, and each state's industrial R&D intensity. The industrial R&D intensity is the ratio of industry-based R&D to the gross state product.   Using these calculations, Massachusetts experienced the largest industrial R&D intensity in 2006, at 4.64 percent. This was followed by Michigan (4.38 percent), Connecticut (4.04 percent), Washington (3.89 percent), and California (3.35 percent). The industrial R&D intensity for the U.S. as a whole was calculated to be 1.89 percent.  

California California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill authorizing community service districts to provide high-speed Internet services in areas in which no private company has done so. The districts, which provide basic infrastructure such as water, sewer and police services, will help extend broadband access into rural areas of the state that remain underserved. The bill reflects the recommendations of the California Broadband Task Force, which was created in 2006 by Gov. Schwarzenegger and presented its findings in January (see the Dec. 4, 2006 issue of the Digest).

National Governors Association Twelve states recently received grants of $50,000 from the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices to support clean energy initiatives and to overcome obstacles preventing the adoption of clean energy technologies in their region. The awards were made through NGA’s Clean Energy State Grant Program, a part of the association’s Securing a Clean Energy Future Initiative. Several companies and foundations, including American Electric Power, Dominion Resources, The Ford Motor Company and The Rockefeller Fund, have provided financial support for the grants, which are intended to fund state projects that support research, analysis, training or outreach to advance clean energy implementation. Highlights from the list of awardees include:

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

CTC Tampa Bay is seeking a venture lab manager to establish and build its Venture Lab program. This postion involves bridging relationships with government, private sector, and university entities in order to support the growth of selected early-stage technology-based companies. The selected companies must offer innovative products and services that can potentially generate significant revenues from the defense/homeland security market and other dual-use markets. A BA/BS degree in science, engineering or business, plus at least 10 years of directly related experience (or an MA/MS degree, plus at least eight years of directly related experience), are required.

A little more than a year after unveiling a comprehensive proposal to provide crucial funding for R&D, commercialization and infrastructure to position Massachusetts as a global leader in life sciences, Gov. Deval Patrick signed an historic 10-year, $1 billion life sciences investment package, transforming the ambitious idea into reality.   The signing of the bill coincides with BIO’s annual meeting, currently underway in San Diego – the same event during which the governor unveiled the proposal last year. With a typical draw of more than 20,000, the event provides an opportune backdrop for the governor, legislative and industry leaders to promote the state to biotech companies and investors.

As Massachusetts legislators are in the process of crafting a compromise bill for the statewide Life Sciences Initiative, one new issue to emerge would have the state taking an equity position in the life sciences companies in which the state provides financial support.

David Rooney will replace Tyler Fairbank as president of the Berkshire Economic Development Corp., effective next month. Rooney leaves the Empire State Development Corp. as its regional director.

Mark Robinson resigned as chief operating officer of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Robert Coughlin will replace Thomas Finneran as the new head of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council by October. Coughlin is Gov. Deval Patrick's undersecretary for business development.

Gov. Patrick has appointed Sharon Gillett to head the newly created Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable. Gillett previously served as a principal research associate and chair of the Broadband Working Group for the industry-sponsored Communications Futures Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a member of the Boston Wireless Task Force.

While many parts of the country are looking for innovative means to increase the number of citizens and businesses connected to high-speed Internet in both urban and rural areas, two governors recently announced initiatives targeting the further extension of broadband services throughout their states.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick declared the commonwealth would invest $25 million into a new “broadband incentive fund” to be managed by a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), named the Broadband Institute. Under the plan, private companies will compete for funds to install equipment such as network fiber and wireless towers in rural areas that currently do not have broadband. According to the MTC, 32 towns in Massachusetts lack broadband access and 63 municipalities only have broadband in a limited area. The program’s goal is to make broadband available to all communities by 2010.