SSTI Digest

More information on these opportunities and others is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The City of East Lansing, Mich., a residential community of 47,000 people and home to Michigan State University, is seeking a project manager for its New Economy Initiatives. This newly created position will focus on business and economic development, including the Lansing Regional SmartZone, East Lansing’s high-tech incubator/accelerator, arts and cultural entrepreneurship program, and related initiatives. The position also will have some responsibilities with housing and Community Development Block Grant programs. A bachelor’s degree in business, economics, urban planning, community development, geography, or a related field is required; a master's degree is preferred.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm unveiled her fiscal year 2009 budget last week, proposing to refinance a portion of the state’s general obligation and taxable tobacco bonds and reduce spending across nearly all state departments in order to finance new proposals without raising taxes.   In addition to the proposed use of $150 million in pension funds for Invest Michigan! (see related article in this issue), Gov. Granholm outlined several other TBED-focused during her State of the State Address (see the Jan. 30, 2008 issue of the Digest). One of those initiatives – the Michigan Job Creation Incentive – would be paid for by capitalizing on the sale of state bonds. Under the proposal, new businesses in the top 50 growing sectors are not required to pay any taxes the first year of the tax cut, and existing top 50 growth-sector businesses will get a triple tax credit on their Michigan Business tax.   To support the alternative energy industry throughout the state, Gov. Granholm recommends:

William "Chip" Farmer was named interim director of the Greater Richmond Technology Council. Farmer replaces Robert Stolle, who left in December 2007 to join Core Consulting, a business and information technology consulting firm.

The University of Michigan announced last month that it will spend $30 million in the next five years to hire an additional 100 junior tenure-track faculty members to build multidisciplinary research and degree programs. Additionally, the university will participate in the Michigan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, a partnership between the state’s public universities and foundations that would provide entrepreneur training to interested members of the faculty and increase the amount of gap-funding to push research discoveries to market.   Hiring additional faculty on the tenure-track is another strategy for building the research capacity of an institution, in addition to the popular policy of seeking and hiring extremely prolific “star” researchers. Will the long-term strategy of hiring increasing numbers of tenure track faculty become more commonplace?  

Daniel Krichbaum was named Gov. Jennifer Granholm's new chief operating officer, replacing Mary Lannoye who left the administration as chief of staff.

For the better part of the year, lawmakers in Michigan have faced the daunting task of balancing both a budget shortfall for fiscal year 2007 and a nearly $1.6 billion deficit for FY 2008. An agreement between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and lawmakers was reached in the early morning hours of Oct. 31, following a one-month extension of the deadline and a brief government shutdown.

Ten foundations have joined forces to create an eight-year $100 million New Economy Initiative for southeastern Michigan, with a goal of transitioning the region’s economy toward more knowledge-intensive industries. Three foundations, Ford, Kellogg and Kresge – each created from the personal fortunes made by some of the founders from the state’s historic economic bases – have contributed $25 million toward the effort. Additional support ranging from $1.5 million to $10 million is being provided by seven other community foundations.   The Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan will provide organizational management for the effort, which, according to the Sept. 14 Detroit Free Press, will be chaired by Steve Hamp, brother-in-law and former chief of staff to Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford. A search is underway to hire an executive director for the effort.  

Public universities in most states compete with other state priorities for appropriations each year or two-year budget cycle. With the state’s fiscal year ending Sept. 30, no new budget passed by the legislature and a projected state revenue deficit of more than $1.5 billion for 2008, universities in Michigan may feel greater pressure to assert their importance to the state’s economy. The recent release of an independent analysis of the economic impact of the state’s three research universities, collectively known as the University Research Corridor (URC), may provide timely support for the argument to sustain or increase state investments in its higher education establishment.   Findings of the analysis indicate the URC is a major asset to the state’s economy, with contributions of $12.8 billion in 2006. The URC helped create 68,803 jobs in the state and produced 54 percent of the state’s science and engineering degrees, according to the analysis.  

The business development organizations Ann Arbor SPARK and Ann Arbor IT Zone are in the process of finalizing a merger. The resulting organization will be Ann Arbor SPARK.

Rich Cook has joined the West Michigan Science and Technology Initiative as venture center director.

Lisa Kuuttila is the first CEO of Michigan State University Technologies, a business organization to train MSU students in the commercialization of science and technology.

The New York Biotechnology Association has named Nathan Tinker its executive director, replacing Karin Duncker, who resigned in 2006.