SSTI Digest

We’ve negotiated an extraordinary room rate for this year’s conference: $209 plus nominal taxes and fees at the conference venue, the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in the Gila River Indian Community within the Phoenix, Arizona Metro Region. But our negotiated rate expires once the room block fills or after Monday, November 18. Reserve Your Room Additionally, our registration closes on December 3, so why not check both these items off your to do list and do them now? Register Now We've done all the leg work for you by locating the conference at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass! Now it’s up to you to book a comfortable, convenient, and affordable room. The property’s indoor and outdoor meeting spaces offer the perfect setting to connect with colleagues and refresh, all against a stunning desert landscape. We know you might prefer to stay at another chain where you get super-duper points, but please keep in mind that we’re able to offer three days for $495 only because of the room block. So, help SSTI and the community out and stay in our block. P.S. If you find the room block is full before November 18, email us at…

Forty-one states and Puerto Rico voted on 151 statewide ballot measures this fall. Many measures focused on abortion, citizenship, or electoral system reforms. Three measures with direct connection to innovation all were approved by voters, augmenting the strong track record tech-based economic development initiatives have when they are placed directly before voters. The three measures were for vocational-technical school scholarships in Arkansas, a $25 million R&D bond issue in Maine, and a $160.5 million higher ed facilities bond bill in Rhode Island. Voters have previously approved R&D bond measures in Maine and Rhode Island. SSTI highlights more information on those and other initiatives that could have or will impact economic development in individual states. Minimum wage increases and paid sick leave Voters in Alaska, California, Massachusetts, and Missouri decided on minimum wage increases, with voters in both Alaska and Missouri approving measures to raise the minimum wage while California and Massachusetts voters opposed their measures. Seventy-four percent of Nebraska voters approved an initiative requiring paid sick leave for employees.,…

About three-quarters of Americans (76%) say they have either a great deal (26%) or a fair amount (51%) of confidence in scientists to act in the best interests of the public, according to a new Pew Research Center report. These ratings are a slight improvement over the results of a similar Pew survey in 2023 when 73% said they had either a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in scientists, and represent a halt in decline in scientists' public image seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. (SSTI covered that survey here.) Pew based the new report on a survey of 9,593 U.S. adults conducted Oct. 21-27, 2024. The survey also asked how active scientists should be in debates on scientific issues. The responses were close to 50-50: 51% said scientists should take an active role in public policy debates about scientific issues, while 48% said they should establish scientific facts but leave the discussion to others. As for the current state of involvement, 41% said scientists do not have enough influence in policy debates, 37% said they have about the right amount of involvement, and 20% said they have too much involvement in policymaking. When scientists make…

The TBED community, similarly to research scientists, faces communication challenges with elected officials, regional stakeholders, and even their friends and family. SSTI has conducted three surveys over the last nine years to uncover problematic jargon, illuminate alternative approaches, and inform our members’ communication strategies. At the SSTI Annual Conference, we'll present the latest results from a focus group and survey that will help the community communicate better with non-TBED audiences. Learn more about the conference here.

The Wisconsin Center of Manufacturing & Productivity (WCMP) recently released its fourth annual Wisconsin Manufacturing Report, a comprehensive overview of the state's manufacturing sector. While the survey is specific to Wisconsin and manufacturing, the 58-page report will be of interest to policymakers across the country for possible replication, critical insights into concerns that manufacturers are experiencing, and guidance to manufacturers in other states to apply to their own situations. The WCMP, in collaboration with the Wisconsin Manufacturing Solutions (WMEP) and the University of Wisconsin-Stout Manufacturing Outreach Center, commissioned the survey of 400 manufacturing executives and several stakeholder focus groups across the state, with the report highlighting key issues and concerns gleaned from those interviews. These concerns included workforce, technological investments, and economic challenges. The report provides recommendations that will enable companies in Wisconsin and beyond to position themselves to navigate uncertainties and challenges successfully.   The report’s authors found that while participants noted ongoing workforce…

The Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) program is often compared to the U.S. Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. And, like the SBIR program, ISC has faced criticism from skeptics despite metrics that show the program delivers high returns on investment. When Canada’s Budget 2023 Initiative recommended reallocating 14.1 billion Canadian dollars (CAD) in federal spending, each Ministry was tasked to identify programs that did not address the government’s top priorities. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) identified ISC as one such program. ISC’s budget of 147.6 million CAD in fiscal year 2023 was trimmed by 28.2 million CAD in 2024-25 and 70 million CAD annually thereafter. ISED has reallocated some of those dollars to target high priority industries. One other reason for the cut cited by ISED is, somewhat ironically, that many government departments have consistently failed to meet their spending obligations mandated under the ISC program (1% of R&D expenditures), resulting in significant shortfalls in funding for the program. ISC remains active and continues to support Canadian startups though the reduced funding will limit the…

NATCAST, the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) tasked with bolstering the United States' semiconductor industry, announced Albany NY and Sunnyvale CA as the locations for two major R&D facilities. The funding comes from the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, legislation aimed at revitalizing American semiconductor manufacturing and research. NATCAST selected Sunnyvale, California, as the location for the second CHIPS for America R&D flagship facility. This facility is expected to drive over $1 billion in research funding and is expected to create more than 200 direct jobs over the next decade. Semiconductor Design and EDA: The Sunnyvale facility will focus on advanced semiconductor design and electronic design automation (EDA), which are essential for developing cutting-edge chips. Innovation Hub: By concentrating research efforts in Sunnyvale, a region known for its tech industry, the facility aims to foster innovation and collaboration. Supply Chain Resilience: The facility will contribute to the resilience of the U.S. semiconductor supply chain, reducing reliance on foreign sources. NATCAST announced that the CHIPS…

While most of the country’s attention has been on the contests for control of the White House and Congress, eleven states and two territories, including Puerto Rico, held gubernatorial elections on Nov. 5. Voters in eight of those states (Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Washington, and West Virginia) were choosing a new governor to replace either a term-limited incumbent or governors who chose not to seek re-election. In Montana, Utah, and Vermont, governors seeking re-election, handily won. Information on the winners and their views on economic development follows. Delaware   Democrat Matt Meyer won election as the state’s next governor on Tuesday and succeeds term-limited Gov. John Carney. As governor, Meyer pledges to create incentives for local governments to change regulations that make building housing, including rental units, difficult. He also intends to copy a Pennsylvania program that provides technical assistance and grants to startup businesses. A Meyer administration will continue to build upon Gov. Carney’s green economy, jobs, and infrastructure initiatives, including offshore wind and climate goals,…

Since the pandemic, those working on local prosperity through the nexus of science, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship—the four cornerstones of SSTI’s mission—have seen the largest investment yet by the federal government to catalyze and support their work. It awakened teams of organizations across the country in virtually every city, institution of higher education or region to start or improve innovation-centered economic development strategies. SSTI timed its 2024 annual conference for December 10-12 quite intentionally to talk after the election. We need to talk. The TBED and regional innovation community across the country needs an ideal setting: to gather from every state—we’re still a month out from the conference, and we already have participants from 40+ states and territories representing a broad swath of the various contributors to healthy innovation systems; to share common practices, learnings, and successful outcomes from past efforts; to uplift fresh ideas and revisit the messaging of your purpose to educate newly elected leaders and to appeal to a broader pool of potential stakeholders; and, to mentally…

As SSTI reported earlier this fall in its series of articles on higher education, college tuition and student loan debt are rising. In a recent report from the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL)—the first such comprehensive report from that body since they convened the Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education in 2006—a task force comprised of 29 legislators and four legislative staff from 32 states concluded that increased federal efforts to address these tuition and loan issues "quietly expanded the federal footprint in higher education," and so now calls for a rebalancing of the state-federal relationship regarding higher education. They propose a national strategy for the federal government, states, and higher education institutions to improve the public perception of higher education. The task force laid out bipartisan recommendations in its report. These recommendations are framed as actions that higher education institutions, states, and the federal government should consider. They emphasize in the report that, ultimately, higher education institutions are most responsible for ensuring the value of higher education. Some of the recommended…

When Tennessee reported on its first cohort of students after implementing Tennessee Promise, the nation’s first statewide free community college effort, SSTI reported on the program’s impressive early results. The graduation rate had increased over the previous year’s non-Promise cohort, and overall, 3,257 students in the 2015 cohort earned a degree or certificate within five semesters, an 82% increase over the pre-Promise 2014 group. Earlier this year, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) marked the program’s 10-year milestone, announcing over 150,000 enrolled students and $207 million in funding since its inception in 2014. tnAchieves, which implements Tennessee Promise, along with College Promise, a nonprofit that advocates for making college free, recently released a report, Preparing Tennessee Students for College, Career, and the Future, also marking the 10th anniversary of the program. They noted in the report that providing free tuition is not enough for all students. Consistent student engagement in their tnAchieves COMPLETE coaching program, which they designed for Tennessee Promise students with high levels of financial need, led to higher…

The European Union is engaged in a debate about changing its systems for R&D funding, the first potentially significant changes since its current framework program began in 1984. A group of 15 individuals from research and industry selected by the European Commission last year has submitted a report, Align, act, accelerate, which gives recommendations for overhauling the system. These recommendations are aimed at the remaining three years of Funding Program 9 (FP9)—Horizon Europe (2025-2027) and preparing for the next European Research and Innovation Framework Programme, FP 10 (2028-2034). The report notes that changes are in order now, especially considering the decline in Europe’s global importance in research, innovation, and technology. The report acknowledges various weaknesses of research, development, and innovation (RD&I) in the current EU system, including: The EU stands third behind China and the U.S. as measured by the top 1% of most-cited publications worldwide and, over the past two decades, the EU's contribution to global scientific publications has dropped from 25.5% in 2000 to 18.1% in 2022; From 2005 until 2015, the EU was leading the…