SSTI Digest

Hoping to combat and reverse job losses in the manufacturing sector, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell outlined his blueprint for recovery last month, entitled "Manufacturing Innovation."

Nearly 165,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Pennsylvania since 2001. Manufacturing, however, remains one of the largest sources of jobs in the state's economy, accounting for one out of every eight jobs. Gov. Rendell's blueprint targets this important sector for Pennsylvania, defining key business finance, workforce and technical support tools for manufacturers to remake themselves.

To increase business capital for manufacturing, the blueprint recommends the state undertake three steps:

Kelly Lewis, a state legislator in Pennyslvania, will be the new president and CEO of the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania, beginning Jan. 1.

During the states' fiscal crisis, a number of TBED programs were eliminated, while others survived. SSTI staff spent a fair amount of time analyzing what the survivors had in common, and we boiled the results down to three items that successful TBED programs have in common. While it may seem simplistic, the three commonalities are:

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP), a nonprofit economic development organization based in Philadelphia, seeks someone to serve as director of its investment and entrepreneurial services. Established in 1982, BFTP exists to stimulate economic growth through innovation, entrepreneurship and the development and adoption of new technologies. The selected candidate will direct the planning, coordination and execution of activities associated with the sourcing and evaluation of BFTP's applicants, among other responsibilities. The candidate also will oversee the client management of portfolio companies in the manufacturing and nanotechnology sectors. Qualifications include having a B.S. or B.A. in Engineering or other technology discipline, preferably with an MBA. Inquiries should be directed to Katie Rotella, manager of administrative services for the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, at katie@sep.benfranklin.org.

The discounts ending this week on registration and accommodations for SSTI's annual conference will pay for much, if not all, of your round trip airfare to Philadelphia, so we encourage you to act soon on both. Or you can use the savings toward having one of your colleagues attend as well!

Building Tech-based Economies: Preparing for Tomorrow's Challenges will be held at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel on Oct. 14-15, 2004. Three optional, intensive pre-conference workshops and a tour are offered on Wednesday, Oct. 13. The full conference offers 30 timely and focused breakout session options.

A two-year grant from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Community and Economic Development enabled Lehigh University to announce last week the appointments of Glenn Doell and Graham Mitchell to serve respectively as director of the office of technology transfer and director of the entrepreneurship program.

Travel and training dollars are limited for most tech-based economic development programs. For many states, these are the first budget items frozen in a cutback. As a result, you need to get the most bang for each dollar spent on professional development for each staff member.

Fortunately, SSTI thinks this way too when planning its annual conference, Building Tech-based Economies: Preparing for Tomorrow's Challenges. In addition to 30 top-of-the-line breakout sessions during the main conference -- a full slate for your full staff -- we are offering three intensive pre-conference workshops and a behind-the-scenes tour to use your limited training dollars to their fullest potential.

Few of us would consider one piece of a jigsaw puzzle to be sufficient for comprehending the whole picture. Similarly, a state or regional strategy to develop a knowledge-based economy is not complete with just one element of a complete portfolio to nurture science, technology and entrepreneurship.

Research has found innovation does not follow a simple linear path, but instead requires a complex system of inputs. It also happens locally with the presence of key resources. Strategically developed public and public-private initiatives can be supportive players in strengthening a regional innovation system, but only if well designed, well managed and well funded.

Florence Mendelson has resigned as president and CEO of Pittsburgh-based Innovation Works. She will remain in her position through the end of the year, helping to identify her successor and implement plans for fiscal year 2005.

On October 13, SSTI will offer four exciting options as pre-conference activities: three day-long sessions on topics that will help you prepare for tomorrow's challenges and a tour of one of the world's foremost science parks. The sessions are:

Marketing Success: Telling the TBED Story

Successful tech-based economic development organizations (TBED) have three things in common: they do good work, they know they're doing good work through program evaluation and impact assessments, and they make people aware of the good work they’re doing.

This stimulating, day-long workshop goes in-depth into the best way to communicate your success. We’ll consider how to define your audiences, determine what your message is, and then tailor your message to clients, constituents and key decision makers.

SSTI annual conferences don't come in a box. We don't publish proceedings or post conference materials. Each year's event is designed as an intensive learning experience; it's about the question and answer, the give and take, the push and pull, the dialogue as much as the individual presentations. You have to be present to win, if learning and growing is winning. We think it is.

We're happy to say we know of multimillion-dollar state science & tech initiatives that have been launched as a direct result of the ideas, the enthusiasm, and the energy that past conferees took home after attending SSTI annual conferences. The key was the dynamic nature of the experience.

Need yet another reason why this conference fits your training needs? SSTI’s 8th Annual Conference is recognized by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) as a professional development event that counts toward the recertification of Certified Economic Developers (CEcDs).

CEcDs greatly enhance their skills and marketability by attending the nation’s most comprehensive and intensive learning opportunity for building tech-based economies — SSTI's annual conference!