SSTI Digest

Across the U.S. people are working to build a more talented, skilled workforce, but often those efforts happen in isolation, separated from larger economic development efforts without engaging community and business leaders. A recently released playbook from the Aspen Institute and Futureworks, Communities That Work Partnership Playbook, aims to change a siloed approach and explores seven regional efforts to develop the local workforce for different industries and occupations. The playbook highlights key takeaways and is intended to provide guidance to others developing talent pipelines. SSTI also talked with individuals in Milwaukee and Kansas City about their regional efforts to develop the talent pipeline.

Twelve gubernatorial seats were up for election Tuesday, five of which were held by incumbents seeking reelection. Four of those – Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D), Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D), Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) – were reelected for second terms. In North Carolina, Democratic candidate and State Attorney General Roy Cooper has a lead of less than one percent over incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory. Gov. McCrory has not conceded and the result is pending a canvass of votes, which may not be complete until November 18.

As of this publication, there are seven new governors taking office:

·         Democratic Congressman John Carney won the seat in Delaware.

·         Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb won in Indiana.

·         Republican and former Navy Seal Eric Greitens won in Missouri.

·         Republican Chris Sununu won in New Hampshire.

The Delta Regional Authority  (DRA) released the Regional Development Plan III (RDPIII) – an economic development strategy to help guide DRA’s 252-county region’s economic growth over the next five years. In RDPIII, DRA identifies three goals and related action items to guide its economic development efforts in the Delta region:

Leaders in Des Moines, Kansas City, Omaha and St. Louis have teamed up to leverage their respective resources and help build an economic mega-region in the center of the country. The Heartland Civic Collaborative will focus on four main areas of opportunity: transportation, federal advocacy, life science and entrepreneurship. In the coming months, the collaborative plans to begin work on an entrepreneurial metrics dashboard for the participating metros and a map of life sciences research assets. The group also plans to improve the research commercialization pipeline for biomedical and bioenergy research. The initiative’s first event, around transportation futures, will be held next month. Learn more at: http://heartlandciviccollaborative.org.

Many governors around the country have begun laying out priorities for the next legislative session. In the coming weeks, SSTI will review gubernatorial addresses and budget proposals related to economic development. This week, we highlight developments in Arizona, Maryland, Missouri and South Carolina.

On November 12, Gov. Jay Nixon announced $1 million in state funding to ARCH Grants to provide entrepreneurial support to St. Louis startups. ARCH Grants is a nonprofit organization that provides $50,000 equity-free grants and pro-bono services to entrepreneurs who locate their early stage businesses in St. Louis. This is Gov. Nixon’s third announcement in two months awarding funds to the state’s regional organizations that make up Missouri’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In September, Gov. Nixon awarded $1.19 million in grants to three Kansas City organizations to support the region’s startup community. Last month, Gov. Nixon also announced a total of $675,000 in state funding to organizations in Springfield. Read the announcement: https://governor.mo.gov/news/archive/gov-nixon-announces-1-million-arch-grants-support-st-louis-startups

Recently announced programs in the St. Louis and Minneapolis-St. Paul regions offer startups and major corporations new chances to connect and work together. Pioneered by Illinois’ Corporate Startup Challenge, these types of programs seek to build bridges between important components of the innovation ecosystem: revolutionary new products and services and established market leaders.

Kansas City is leaving millions of dollars on the table, funding that could fuel early-stage startups that are the key to creating jobs and economic growth, according to a new report from KCSourceLink and its partners. The report will serve as a roadmap to a new capital initiative led by the Kauffman Foundation; several regional economic and community development organizations; and, other stakeholders in the Kansas City metro region. The new initiative – We Create Capital – aims to increase the availability of microfinance, angel, seed stage, and venture capital for startups by creating better connections between investors, attracting venture capital to the region, and cultivating a deeper talent pool of people to manage venture capital funds. The plan also calls for increasing awareness about available startup funding sources including federal, state, local, and private sources. Read the strategy...

Over the past few months, SSTI has followed proposals issued by governors in their budget requests, State of the State Addresses, Inaugural Speeches and other events. Now that many state legislatures have begun approving budgets, the Digest will check on the status of these proposals, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review actions in Missouri and Montana.

Missouri
Late last week, Gov. Jay Nixon signed a $26 billion budget package, including $15.9 million for the core budget of the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) (HB 7). MTC funds the state's innovation centers and programs, as well as the Missouri Enterprise center. Another $2.5 million would be allocated through MTC for soybean and beef cattle industry research and commercialization.

The final budget includes the $10 million proposed by Gov. Nixon for a public-private partnership supporting a clinic campus in Springfield, linked to the University of Missouri in Columbia.

The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) announced the establishment of a consortium for research and innovation that is intended to have a long-term positive economic impact on the region. The 35-member consortium will be comprised of universities and other private and public institutions in eight states – Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. DRA selected Arkansas State University to lead the consortium and bring together university research officers and local economic development leadership to support the commercialization efforts and economic impacts of research universities in the DRA's footprint. Founding members of the consortium include Delta State University, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, Southeast Missouri State University, University of Memphis and University of Tennessee at Martin. Read the announcement…

This week, governor’s in eight states released their budget proposals. Balanced budgets and fiscal austerity were undoubtedly emphasized by the governors, yet funding for STEM education and workforce development initiatives were increasingly popular.

Nevada
Gov. Brian Sandoval’s education-heavy $7.3 billion biennial budget for FY 2016-17 includes considerable amounts of TBED funding, such as $10 million over the biennium for the Knowledge Fund. The Fund, which was created by AB 449 during the 2011 legislative session, provides grants that: establish technology outreach programs; recruit, hire, and retain researcher teams and faculty; construct research laboratories, facilities, and related equipment; and, provide matching funds for federal and private sector grants. Additional funding is also added to continue the Center of Excellence efforts to be a world leader in water technologies that focus on dealing with arid conditions.

SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series has returned as governors across the country formally convene the 2015 legislative sessions. The series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' State of the State, Budget and Inaugural addresses.

The third installment of this year’s series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Delaware, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and South Carolina. Read the first and second installments of this year’s series.