SSTI Digest

The CDFI Fund awarded $165 million in financial and technical assistance awards to 264 organizations yesterday. The awards include funding to SSTI member Launch NY and to three other groups certified by the CDFI Fund as community venture capital funds, out of applications from 432 organizations around the country. Yesterday’s announcement included an additional $37 million for organizations supporting financing for Native Americans, individuals with disabilities, and healthy food initiatives. Financial support from the fund requires community development financial institution (CDFI) certification; learn more at cdfifund.gov.

Although more city finance officers are optimistic about the fiscal capacity of their cities than last year, that optimism is tempered by the fact that tax revenue growth is experiencing a year-over-year slowdown, with growth in service costs and other expenditure outpacing it. That, taken together with other results of the 2018 City Fiscal Conditions survey, suggests that cities are reaching the limits of fiscal expansion, according to the National League of Cities (NLC).

In its 33^rd annual survey, NLC found that general fund expenditures are outpacing revenues and they expect that trend to continue into next year. All major tax sources grew slower in FY 2017 than in FY 2016 and are expected to grow less than 1 percent in FY 2018. NLC notes that although cities’ fiscal health “is not yet declining, these conditions echo several cautionary signals from previous economic downturns.”

Investments in rural broadband deployment can create significant returns on investments for state economies. A recent study from Purdue University's Center for Regional Development contends that Indiana could generate a $12 billion economic impact over 20 years with strategic broadband investments in rural areas across the state. Purdue researchers estimate that for every dollar invested in broadband by the state, there would a ROI of nearly $4 to the economy. The Federal Communication Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have recently announced efforts or proposed rules to create incentives for private investments, deploy new technologies, and develop other resources for rural communities across the country with the intent of spurring economic growth.

The carbon tech industry in Wyoming could support an average of 2,600 jobs annually over the next 17 years, according to a new report by the American Jobs Project — a U.C. Berkeley-based nonpartisan think tank. Developed in partnership with the University of Wyoming, American Jobs Project researchers contend that the projected job growth could occur if the state government and private industry invested in growing this industry cluster. Carbon tech companies use coal, an abundant resource in Wyoming, to make graphene, carbon fiber and other products. In addition to job creation within the carbon tech industry, the authors cite job growth potential in downstream industries, primarily wind and transmission line developers.

To achieve this, the authors of the report propose several steps the state and private industry should take, including:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the 2026 Idea Machine – a prize competition to help set the U.S. agenda for future fundamental research in science and engineering. Participants can earn cash prizes and receive public recognition by submitting the pressing research questions that need to be answered in the coming decade. The top submission(s) will help guide NSF in the development of its next set of “Big Ideas.” Monetary prizes include a grand prize of $26,000 and approximately 12 Blue-Ribbon Panel awards of $1,000 each. Up to an additional 30 submissions will receive thank you letters from NSF leadership and 100 entries will receive public recognition by having their ideas posted on the Idea Machine website. Submissions are due Oct. 26.

The “AI Next” campaign, announced by DARPA last week, is geared toward moving AI defense applications into a “third wave” of advancement, capable of complex problem-solving. DARPA will be investing $2 billion into AI through a variety of programs, and a core element of this initiative will be “AI Exploration” projects designed to move from proposal to start in three months, and from start to feasibility assessments within 18 months. New funding opportunities will be announced through multiple projects and over multiple years — SSTI members will find these notices in the Funding Supplement. Not a member? Contact Jason Rittenberg (rittenberg@ssti.org | 614.901.1690) to receive funding notices for DARPA, and all of the other federal agencies plus numerous foundations and other project sponsors, in your inbox every week.

JPMorgan Chase announced the creation of AdvancingCities, a new $500 million, five-year initiative to drive inclusive growth and create greater economic opportunity in cities across the world. The firm will invest in cities where conditions exist to help those who have not benefited from economic growth. This includes demonstrated collaboration across the public and private sectors on solutions that create opportunity for people at risk of being left out of economic growth. Successful applications will be eligible for a three-year grant of up to $3 million. Cities interested in applying for the AdvancingCities Challenge should visit www.jpmorganchase.com/advancingcities. The RFP closes on Nov. 30, 2018 and winners will be announced in the spring of 2019.

Companies employing more than 5,000 people represent nearly two-thirds (63.9 percent) of all business R&D in the United States, according to an analysis of NSF’s Business Research, Development, and Innovation Survey (BRDIS). With the recent release of more detailed numbers and to expand on a Useful Stats report from earlier this year, this analysis focuses on business R&D by company size. Small and mid-sized companies made up the highest share of business R&D in Alaska, New Mexico and Louisiana. In Delaware, Michigan and Oregon, large companies made up the highest share of business R&D.

Colleges and universities that conduct research and development around science and engineering are central to technology-based economic development strategies and are at the core of America’s innovation hubs. The distribution of science and engineering R&D at colleges and universities (S&E R&D) – already distributed unevenly across the country— appears to have grown radically more so since the Great Recession. In fact, SSTI analysis using data from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics reveals that approximately 60 percent of all new funds for S&E R&D at colleges and universities from 2008 to 2016 went to institutions in just three states: Maryland, California and New York.   

Federal funding for S&E R&D grew by $7.2 billion from 2002 to 2016, reaching more than $31.6 billion. This represents a 29.4 percent increase during the period, or approximately 2.0 percent per year, according to an SSTI analysis of data from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Among states, California ($4.3 billion), New York ($2.4 billion), and Maryland ($2.3 billion) received the most in federal funds for S&E R&D in 2016, while Baltimore ($2.0 billion), New York City ($1.7 billion), and Boston ($1.3 billion) led among metropolitan areas.

S&E R&D accounts for roughly 98.5 percent of all federal funds for R&D, and roughly 93.2 percent of all R&D at colleges and universities. The fields where the federal government invests the most at colleges and universities are the life sciences (comprised of agricultural, health, biological and biomedical sciences).

After nearly 18 months of planning and meetings that gathered input from nearly 140,000 participants, Gov. Matt Mead announced the release of a 20-year strategy for the diversification of the state’s economy. Through the plan, the leaders of Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming (ENDOW) provided more than 50 recommendations for the state government and private industries to help grow and attract businesses to Wyoming as well as keep talented young people in state. The intent of this new blueprint for the state’s economy is to reduce the likelihood of repeating the boom-and-bust cycles that plagued the state in the past.

Organizations that assist and finance innovation and high-growth entrepreneurship have largely been left out of one of America’s great drivers of local investment: Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) activities by banks. Now, with the U.S. Department of Treasury actively seeking to modernize CRA regulations, the tech-based economic development community has an opportunity to help CRA to become a tool for advancing local innovation economies. All parties are encouraged to read below for more information and to submit comments by Nov. 19. SSTI members interested in discussing the notice, including the option of submitting combined or coordinated comments, should contact Jason Rittenberg (rittenberg@ssti.org | 614.901.1690) to get engaged.