SSTI Digest

The National Science Foundation (NSF) was appropriated $7.2 billion in FY14 (not including mandatory accounts) of which over $6.8 billion (nearly 95 percent of NSF’s total appropriations) was used to support research and education awards. Over 1,800 institutions of higher education and other organizations received funding from NSF including 11,000 competitively reviewed awards according to a report released by the NSF.  Other highlights include: Eighty-one percent of NSF awards were made to institutions of higher education; NSF accounts for 25 percent of the total federal budget for basic research conducted at U.S. colleges and universities; An estimated 320,900 people were directly involved in NSF programs and activities, receiving salaries, stipends, or participant support in FY14; and, Only 4.9 percent of all proposals reviewed received funding in FY14. The report also includes performance results related to organizational priority goals outlined in its strategic plan that was published in 2014. Of the 13 goals outlined, NSF achieved eight goals. Of the remaining five goals, progress was made on three goals, one goal was partially achieved, and only one…

The Financial Solutions Lab – a $30 million, five-year initiative managed by the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) with founding partner JPMorgan Chase & Co. – released its funding competition focused on tech-enabled financial solutions for managing household budgets. This is the Financial Solutions Lab’s first competition in a series of challenges to identify, test, and expand the availability of promising technologies and tools that help Americans increase savings, improve credit, and build assets. An anticipated eight awardees will receive up to $250,000 each in capital and technical assistance, including national partnership opportunities, industry expertise, mentorship, and cutting-edge consumer and design insights necessary to build the next generation of leading financial services organizations. The Financial Solutions Lab will accept applications until April 7, 2015. Read the announcement…

The Blackstone Charitable Foundation announced last week that it has awarded a combined $3 million in grants to 20 non-profit organizations around the world dedicated to strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems and supporting high growth entrepreneurs. Now in the third year of its five-year, $50 million Entrepreneurship Initiative, this year’s funding was granted to 14 new organizations and six organizations from last year’s pool of winners. Grants from the foundation work toward helping organizations pilot, expand, or replicate programs that help catalyze growth of companies, industries, and communities. In total, more than 550 organizations submitted proposals to the foundation. Read more about the 20 grant recipients here. Year One Recipients... Year Two Recipients...

This week, governors in Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Texas revealed their budget proposals, with commonalities around STEM education, workforce development, and university research initiatives. Governors in two states, New Hampshire and Texas, made growth in the innovation economy a specific priority area of their proposed budgets. New Hampshire“Supporting a more innovative economic future” is highlighted as a priority in Gov. Maggie Hassan’s proposed $11.5 billion 2016-2017 biennial budget. Included within this goal are a variety of proposed education, workforce, and economic development proposals such as: an increase of $13 million over the biennium compared to FY 2015 for the University System of New Hampshire; a $6.5 million increase over the biennium compared to FY 2015 for the state’s community college system; increased funding for Small Business Development Centers; additional funding for education and accelerator programs at business incubators; funding for a STEM specialist at the Department of Education to modernize the state’s STEM education efforts; and, the expansion of a pilot program between the Bureau of…

Despite having a higher rate of educational attainment than any previous generation, U.S. millennials (between 16-34 years of age) ranked lower than most of their international peers in literacy, mathematics and technology problem solving in a recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Those born in the U.S. after 1980 tied for last among the 22 participating countries in numeracy and technology skills, and 16th in literacy. Top scoring Americans in this cohort ranked lower than their peers in most other countries, and bottom-scoring Americans ranked among the lowest in the whole study. Read America's Skills Challenge: Millennials and the Future...

Less than two months into 2015, Massachusetts and potentially Arizona will join the growing number of states that have adopted intrastate crowdfunding exemptions – one of the emerging trends in economic development from 2014.  In January, the Massachusetts Securities Division adopted a crowdfunding exemption that will allow businesses to raise up to $2 million in equity from both accredited and non-accredited investors.  A similar exemption was introduced in early February to both the Arizona state Senate and House with strong bipartisan support and the approval of several key business leaders and organizations. Minnesota (SF 138) and Colorado also have recently proposed or introduced intrastate crowdfunding legislation. However, both may face a difficult path to approval due to stronger opposition from key organizations and leaders within the state. MassachusettsIn January, the Massachusetts Securities Division adopted the Massachusetts Crowdfunding Exemption – 950 CMR 14.402(B)(13)(o). The new intrastate crowdfunding exemption will allow Massachusetts businesses to raise up to $1 million in funding during a one-year period without a financial…

Over the past decade stem cell research has been touted as a game-changer in the life sciences and a potential fount of new biomedical innovations. As a result, several states have launched targeted programs to support stem cell research, despite the controversy that tends to surround the field. New research suggests that these programs have been effective at increasing the output of researchers in their respective states. State investments in California and Connecticut have helped researchers outperform their colleagues around the country, according to a recent paper published in Cell Stem Cell. Programs in New York and Maryland did not have quite the same impact, but helped research output in those states keep pace with other states. Authors Hillary B. Alberta, Albert Cheng, Emily L. Jackson, Matthew Pjecha and Aaron D. Levine examine the impact of stem cell programs in California, Connecticut, New York and Maryland, though the study also acknowledges efforts in Illinois and New Jersey. Over the past 10 years, each of these states has invested in basic and translational stem cell research for the stated purpose of advancing the science and creating jobs. The programs…

Underrepresented minorities' share of  Science and Engineering (S&E) bachelor's and master's degrees has been rising since 1993, but their share of doctorates in these fields has flattened at about 7 percent from 2002 to 2012, according to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2015 report. Over the same time frame, NSF researchers found the proportion of women in biosciences and social sciences has increased to between 49 percent and 58 percent, depending on the field and degree level. The bi-yearly digest provides statistical information up to 2012 about the participation of these women, minorities, and persons with disabilities  in S&E education and employment organized into topical areas—enrollment, field of degree, occupation, employment status, and academic employment. Read the report, view and download the tables, and view the graphs….

One of the few surveys based on the international collection of primary data on individual entrepreneurial activities, the sixteenth annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report was released earlier this month at the annual GEM meeting in Monterrey, Mexico. Across 73 economies representing 72.4 percent of the world’s population and 90 percent of the world’s GDP, more than 206,000 individuals were surveyed for the 2014 report. The sheer scope and size of the report leads to many findings regarding the current state of global entrepreneurship, including: Early stage entrepreneurs in North America have the most optimistic expectations of high growth in job creation, while Latin American and Caribbean economies have the lowest expectations. The most active age group for early stage entrepreneurs is 25 and 35 years old, and the economies with the most balanced participation around age groups is in North America. Although early stage entrepreneurial activity is mostly performed by men, there are no differences in individual attributes (e.g., perceived opportunities, perceived capabilities) across gender. Only in expressing fear of failure is there a slightly…

This week, governors in Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin unveiled their budget proposals. Included in the governors’ recommendations are several cases of agency restructuring and funds for workforce development, innovation tax credits, and other TBED-relevant issues. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder took an unconventional approach to issuing his $54 billion proposed FY2016 budget, releasing overviews on the popular blog-publishing platform Medium.  More than three-fourths of the governor’s proposed total spending is dedicated to education and health and human services. Under the budget recommendation, universities would receive an operations increase of $28 million (2 percent) and would be required to hold any tuition increases to less than 2.8 percent in order to receive new funding.  For workforce development, Gov. Snyder proposes $17.8 million to better prepare students for colleges and careers by expanding career and technical education programs throughout the state. To encourage more residents to master a skilled trade, Gov. Snyder also proposes a $10 million increase for skilled-trade training programs, bringing total…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the launch of the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) to serve as a DOE-wide functional unit that coordinates the commercial development of DOE’s research outputs and administer the Energy Technology Commercialization Fund – a nearly $20 million fund that will leverage the R&D funding in the applied energy programs to pursue high-impact commercialization activities. OTT will focus its efforts on coordinating technology transfer activities carried out at all 17 DOE national laboratories, as well as other DOE research and production facilities, to actively support private sector commercialization activities. To increase commercialization, OTT will engage and collaborate with industry during each step of the commercialization process for products and services with near-term commercial viability. Read the release…

Following the massive uptick in venture capital activity last year, California has solidified its place as the epicenter of investment activity, according to data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Since the beginnings of the industry, Silicon Valley has dominated the venture capital landscape. Due to California's large overall population and economy, however, Massachusetts has outperformed the state in terms of per capita investment and venture dollars as a share of state GDP. In 2014, that situation changed, with the continued emergence of Los Angeles, San Diego and Northern California as investment hotspots. SSTI has prepared tables showing venture capital activity per capita by state during the 2009-2014 period. The data also includes venture capital dollars per one million dollars in state GDP and deals per one billion dollars in state GDP during the 2009-2013 period, since 2014 state GDP data remains unavailable. These tables are available for download in Excel format. Read the previous SSTI Digest article on total venture capital dollars and deals by state, 2009-2014... Note that GDP by state data…