SSTI Digest

With the latest round of state of the state or budget addresses, the states’ governors focused on their states’ financial situation. Education and economic development were still on the minds of leaders in Maine, Maryland, and Texas. With this fifth installment, less than 10 governors have yet to deliver their addresses in the coming weeks or months.

A multi-decade study shows a 12 percent increase on the math and science ACT for high school students in Wisconsin whose parents were provided with information on how to effectively convey the importance of STEM to their children, according to the UChicago News. The report also finds that the same students were more likely to take high school STEM classes. The researchers highlight that the increased STEM coursework in high school led to increases in college STEM class enrollment and careers.

Canada is targeting innovation to drive economic prosperity through several recently announced investments. These investments are intended to unlock the potential of Canadian universities and entrepreneurs as well as capital for startups. The provincial government of Ontario has also unveiled several tech-based economic development efforts. In addition to these newly announced efforts, the Trudeau administration released a series of economic development-related policy recommendations to support economic growth across the country.

Canadian federal government efforts

While economic dynamism has powered U.S. prosperity for generations, it is now declining in nearly every definition of the term, according to new research from the D.C.-based think-tank and advocacy organization Economic Innovation Group (EIG). In Dynamism in Collapse, an analysis of economic conditions from 1977 to 2014, EIG finds that dynamism has decreased substantially, as seen in diminishing rates of job turnover, the share of employment in new companies, and the percentage of the population moving across state lines. This eroding dynamism, the report finds, has led to considerable challenges for regions, markets, and workers.

A fourth annual review of career and technical education (CTE) and career-readiness policies, found an increase in policy action carried out by states in 2016 with several states – including California, Idaho, Indiana and Virginia – passing packages of legislation that impacted multiple elements of CTE programming. State Policies Impacting CTE: 2016 Year in Review was produced by Advance CTE, formerly known as the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc), and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE). They found that funding remains the most pursued approach, with 28 states taking action to financially support CTE activities in 2016.

While states implement policies to spur innovation, manufacturing and other priorities related to clean energy, there was no single source serving as a collection of all such policies across the 50 states. The recently released Clean Energy-Related Economic Development Policy across the States: Establishing a 2016 Baseline by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) aims to establish a baseline of existing policy as “a critical first step in determining the potential holistic impact of these policies on driving economic growth in a state.” It focuses on the policies most directly related to expanding new and existing manufacturing.

On Feb. 1, SSTI staff, members and The Sheridan Group participated in a Capitol Hill Day for SSTI’s Innovation Advocacy Council. Groups visited more than two dozen congressional offices, including appropriations committee members and freshman Senate offices, and the White House Office of Management and Budget. The message for these visits was to increase federal funding for the Regional Innovation program and to protect science and innovation spending during any broad budget reform or sequestration that may be forthcoming. The Hill staff was receptive to the message of continuing federal support for innovation and welcomed an ongoing conversation. Members of Congress will be making FY 2018 appropriations requests soon, and SSTI will be contacting members in key states to petition for SSTI’s priorities. To get involved in this process, or to learn about an upcoming Capitol Hill Day, contact Jason Rittenberg (rittenberg@ssti.org | 614-901-1690).

SSTI continues to review state budget proposals as they are released, combing through them for TBED-related initiatives. This week, education and research and development programs are revealed as we examine the budget proposals from governors in Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.

More than half of the country’s governors have delivered their state of the state addresses. Last week’s addresses tended to relate to the national election and the incoming administration, with some governors heralding the change and others pledging to try to reach a bipartisan understanding while standing firm on issues they believe in, like climate change in California. Although TBED issues may not have been at the forefront of the addresses, science, technology and especially innovation and higher education continue to receive attention. This week we zero in on comments delivered by governors in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana and Utah.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently released the State of the Department of Energy National Laboratories Report, which reads like a user manual for the National Labs. For readers with questions about what the labs are, what they are trying to achieve, and how they work with other institutions, the report is an excellent resource. As depicted in the visual accompanying this article, DOE’s labs cover a variety of purposes, enabling the report to provide more generalizable information on the labs than might be possible from another agency. Sections detail DOE’s strategic plan for the labs, scientific objectives, partnership structures and tech transfer initiatives, among others. Each section includes case studies or anecdotes of lab activities and numerous appendices provide additional background.

A portfolio company of JumpStart Inc., an Ohio venture development organization, is to be purchased for $1.1 billion. The proposed acquisition of Ohio startup CoverMyMeds by McKesson Corp. marks Ohio’s first tech startup unicorn. JumpStart Evergreen, the non-profit fund that invested in CoverMyMeds, was funded in part by Ohio Third Frontier. CoverMyMeds was started in Ohio in 2008 and is now headquartered in Columbus. It provides electronic prior authorization solutions to pharmacies, providers, payers and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The deal is expected to close in the first half of FY 2018 and its workforce, in both Cleveland and Columbus offices, is expected to grow. Following the close of the transaction, CoverMyMeds will operate as an independent business unit under its existing leadership team. The deal was covered in a Columbus Business First story. Both Ohio Third Frontier and JumpStart Inc. are SSTI members.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) announced $26 million in awards to expand and diversify the economy in coal-impacted communities in five states. This adds to the $47 million ARC has invested since 2015 through the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative. The 31 awards that were announced in late January are projected to create or retain more than 2,500 jobs and leverage an additional $32 million from public and private investors.

The POWER Initiative is a congressionally funded, multi-state strategy to bring federal resources to coal-impacted regions that have been negatively affected by changes in America’s energy production. The awards are intended to better equip workers and students in the Appalachian region with skills and opportunities in manufacturing, technology, entrepreneurship, agriculture, and other emerging sectors.

A sampling of the 31 grantees include: