SSTI Digest

President Obama’s proposed FY16 budget would provide $25 million for the EDA’s Regional Innovation program, a key legislative initiative for the technology-based economic development community. The Regional Innovation Program was authorized under the American COMPETES Act and is designed to provide funding to support regional innovation activities. The program received its first funding of $10 million in FY14 after extensive work on the Hill by SSTI, its members and others. A second infusion of $10 million was provided in the December FY15 continuing resolution/omnibus spending bill. More than 60 organizations signed a letter urging Congress to fund the program at $20 million (see August 7, 2014 Digest article) for FY15. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the FY14 solicitation had received 254 applications requesting more than $100 million in funding.

Advanced industries employ just 9 percent of the U.S. workforce, yet produce about 17 percent of all U.S. gross domestic product, 60 percent of exports, 85 percent of patents, and 90 percent of private-sector R&D expenditures, according to a new report by The Brookings Institution.  Using data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Moody’s Analytics, the report defines advanced industries as those where industry R&D spending exceeds $450 per worker and where at least 21 percent of workers have STEM-knowledge intensive occupations (the average across industries is 20 percent). The advanced industry sector is comprised of 50 industries, as defined by four-digit NAICS codes, with 35 manufacturing sectors, 12 service sectors, and three energy sectors.

New Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently announced several planned changes for the state’s economic development efforts. The governor is restructuring a number of offices, including the Workforce Investment Council and Women’s Commission under the Director of Economic Development, to increase focus on job creation. Abbott also proposed the elimination of the state’s Emerging Technology Fund, and using the programs remaining balances to launch a new University Research Initiative. The new program would provide matching funds to help Texas universities recruit world-class researchers. Additional ETF funding would be transferred to the Texas Enterprise Fund, a deal-closing fund administered by the governor’s office. Read the announcement…

The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announced that it will combine three existing programs (Incubator, SolarMat, and SUNPATH) into the Sunshot Technology to Market Program – a new funding program to support startups and other for-profit organizations as they bring disruptive solar innovations to the market place. Historically, the three programs that comprise the new program were separated by stage of technology development. In the interest of optimizing the application and selection process, the new program will focus on disruptive solar technologies at all stages of development and offer six tiers based on the type of product (hardware or non-hardware) and product maturity. Concept papers are due Feb 24; applications are due Apr 22. For more information, read the announcement (DE-FOA-0001225)…

The Department of Defense (DOD) released a federal funding opportunity (FFO) to establish the newest Institute for Manufacturing Innovation (IMI) focused on flexible hybrid electronics manufacturing. Administered by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Flexible Hybrid Electronics is the seventh IMI to be established under the Obama administration and the fifth to be led by the DOD. Lead applicant eligibility is restricted to nonprofit organizations. However, applicants are encouraged to establish a regional consortium that includes members from academia, government and industry. For those interesting in applying, the DOD will host two Proposer’s Days on: February 19 in Arlington, VA; and, February 26 in Monterey, CA. Applications are due May 29. For more information, read the announcement (BAA-RQKM-2015-0014)…

In a report released by the Commission on Entrepreneurship and Middle-Class Jobs at this year’s Milstein Symposium, a convening held at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center dedicated to restoring the American Dream, the authors deliberate the significant barriers to American entrepreneurship and postulate potential policy recommendations. Ultimately, the authors propose five ideas that they believe would help rebuild the American dream by promoting entrepreneurship:

Governors in Maryland, Minnesota, and Florida proposed substantial funds to higher education in their budgets this week, with an emphasis on affordable education and expanded research capacity.

Maryland
Gov. Larry Hogan’s structurally balanced $40.5 billion FY 2016 budget marks the first time in 10 years that the state’s general fund spending would be aligned with available general fund revenues, according to the governor’s office.  Included in Gov. Hogan’s proposed budget allowance is:

As the federal and state governments look for methods to support the creation and retention of well-paying science and tech (S&T) and manufacturing jobs, two recent reports have found that R&D tax credits play a vital role in helping keep domestic R&D-intensive firms resilient from economic downtowns and competition from emerging economics. These studies confirm the importance of R&D-intensive firms, which have taken advantage of R&D tax credits, are more likely to report a higher percentage of corporate liquidity; are less likely to cut capital expenditures and employment; and, downsize considerably less than the average firm.

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 fourth installment of this year’s series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Hawaii and Montana. Read the first, second  and third installments of this year’s series.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced a second round of the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) competition. IMCP, a cross-agency initiative, coordinates federal investments behind long-term economic development strategies in manufacturing communities. The first four designee communities were announced in May 2014. Applicants must demonstrate that their communities have a significant manufacturing presence and develop strategies to boost workforce and training, advanced research, infrastructure and site development, supply chain support, trade and international investment and capital access. Read the Federal Register notice…

The first wave of year-end 2014 data on U.S. venture investment painted a portrait of a resurgent capital market. Investment activity reached its highest level of activity in a decade, finally shaking off the stagnation of the Great Recession (see last week’s article). Within the data, however, there were some concerning trends. The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)/National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Moneytree data indicated that while later-stage investments and megadeals drove the 61 percent one-year increase in total VC dollars, seed stage dollars fell by 29 percent.

Authors of a CB Insights report argue that this perceived drop in seed activity, however, is just an artifact of the imperfect methods used to collect data, and seed investment is actually on the rise. The rise of newer, smaller investors has made data collection more difficult, particularly for seed stage activity.

Ernest Moniz, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, announced the creation of the Jobs Strategy Council (JSC), an initiative to develop a methodology for providing consistent, usable data measuring energy job growth and help align workforce development systems with the needs of the clean energy industries through partnerships with the private sector, community college systems, union apprenticeship programs, and other educational institutions. JSC also will develop a resource tool kit and workshop materials that instruct states on how to access the Department of Energy’s technical knowledge and funding opportunities to create state-based energy jobs plans. The continued growth in energy production is expected to produce 2.4 million Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) jobs in the next three years. Jobs in STEM fields paid, on average, between 160 to more than 300 percent more than the U.S. average, according the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Read the release…