SSTI Digest

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the solicitation for the second round of the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) will be released in the coming weeks. Through this federal funding competition, regions from across the country will compete to receive the designation of manufacturing communities and receive the financial and technical support of 11 federal agencies to achieve economic growth and job creation through manufacturing. Application due dates, eligibility requirements and funding totals will be announced in a future edition of the Federal Register. As with the first round of the IMCP competition, applicants must demonstrate the significance of manufacturing already present in their region and develop strategies to make investments in six areas: workforce and training; advanced research; infrastructure and site development; supply chain support; trade and international investment; and, operational improvement and capital access. The first round of 12 manufacturing communities was announced in May (read the related Digest article). Read the press release…

Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a Request for Applications (RFA) for cities seeking economic revitalization through the National Resource Network (The Network), a public-private initiative that works with national experts and strategic partners to increase the economic competitiveness of cities and reverse population decline, job loss, and high poverty rates. The Network, which was created out of demand from cities across the country, was funded by $10 million from HUD and is a component of the Obama administration’s Strong Cities, Strong Communities Initiative. Through The Network’s direct technical assistance program, local governments and their partners in economically challenged communities will receive support in developing and implementing strategies for economic recovery. Although over 275 cities are eligible to receive assistance, it is limited to those cities with more than 40,000 residents and exhibiting one of the following: a 2013 annual unemployment rate greater than 9 percent, a population decline of 5 percent or more between 2000 and 2010, or a poverty rate of 20 percent or more (excluding…

On Tuesday, 36 states held gubernatorial elections. Though it was a good night overall for incumbents, 10 new governors will take office next year. Republicans picked up four governorships that are currently under Democratic control, including Arkansas, Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts, while Democrats managed a win in currently Republican Pennsylvania. New governors will also take office in Arizona, Hawaii, Nebraska, Rhode Island and Texas. Several of these new candidates have made technology-based economic development a part of their platform, including new funding for research, STEM initiatives, workforce development and manufacturing. Arkansas Asa Hutchinson (R)Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson, who will succeed Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, plans to implement a number of workforce-oriented initiatives to better connect the state’s education system with the needs of employers. His PREPARE plan calls for new Workforce Education Councils to coordinate and expand training programs for high school students and to help direct educational curriculum. These councils would partner with regional economic development authorities to help fill local private sector…

On November 20, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold its annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation in Washington, D.C. The forum will include a morning panel session and four afternoon breakout groups. During the morning panel, the SEC panel will kick off the event by tackling several topics including the hot-button issue of defining accredited investor. In the afternoon, attendees can register to attend one of four topic-specific breakout groups: Definition of Accredited Investor; Disclosure Effectiveness for Smaller Reporting Companies; Exempt Securities Offerings; and, Secondary Market Liquidity for Securities of Small Businesses. The intent of these small breakout groups is to encourage public discussion between attendees and formulate specific policy recommendations. Over the last year, the SEC has indicated they may raise the economic thresholds for accredited investor. Currently, the economic thresholds are: $200,000 income per individual; $300,000 for joint filers; or, $1 million net worth not including primary residence. Under Dodd‐Frank, the SEC was mandated to review these economic thresholds for…

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder recently signed a new law (HB 5273) that will allow for the creation of secondary markets through which intrastate crowdfunded securities can be listed, sold and resold. Under the new securities exemption, broker-dealers interested in establishing an exchange (online or in person) must apply and be registered with the state as well as follow rules of operation laid out in the legislation. They also must take steps to ensure that both businesses and investors are protected from fraud and are located in the state. The bill is intended to complement legislation passed earlier this year that will allow Michigan businesses to raise up to $2 million from non-accredited Michigan investors (Read related Digest Article). The creation of secondary markets provides a solution to one of the primary issues stalling intrastate crowdfunding across the country, a lack of liquidity due to the difficulty of connecting buyers with sellers. Read the bill…

The federal government should invest in strategic technologies and multi-agency initiatives to iincrease U.S. advanced manufacturing capabilities, according to a new report from the President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) Steering Committee “2.0” is a cross-sector, national effort to secure US leadership in emerging technologies that create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance the nation’s competitiveness. The committee released its second and final AMP report, Accelerating U.S. Advanced Manufacturing, this week as part of the White House’s rollout of new actions and initiatives intended to strengthen U.S. manufacturing.  The committee’s recommendations focus on enabling innovation, securing the talent pipeline, and improving the nation’s business climate.    AMP is a working group of the President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology (PCAST), an appointed advisory team of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers. In AMP’s inaugural 2012 report, Report to the President on Capturing Domestic Competitive Advantage…

On November 4, 42 states will vote on 146 ballot issues across a wide array of issues. In addition to initiatives on gun control, bear baiting, and the minimum wage, several initiatives relevant to the TBED community are also up for decision. SSTI has gathered information on many of these and will discuss their results after next week’s elections. Arkansas voters will decide on Issue Three, an initiative that seeks to establish an independent citizens’ commission to evaluate salaries for public officials, eliminate free meals and gifts to state politicians, prohibit politicians from receiving donations from corporations, and restructure term limits for state senators and house representatives. Currently, Arkansas’ state representatives can serve six years in office, while senators can serve eight. Issue Three will allow politicians to serve 16 years in either chamber, rather than forcing them to switch chambers after serving at the current limits. The bill will also force legislators to wait two years before they can become a lobbyist. In Colorado, residents will vote on Proposition 105, which would require any prepackaged, processed food or raw…

November 3, 2014, is the last day to submit an application for FY14 grants through the Economic Development Administration’s Regional Innovation Strategies program.  The current solicitation includes three different types of awards: i6 Challenge grants, Science and Research Park Development Grants; and, Cluster Grants to support the development of seed capital funds. See previous Digest article for details or watch SSTI’s webinar with EDA officials about the program.  View the solicitation (EDA-HDQ-OIE-2014-2004219)…

The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will administer two new initiatives to bring clean energy technologies to market. Lab-Corps, a $2.3 million pilot program, will build on the National Science Foundation’s iCorps model to accelerate the development of cleantech discoveries and train lab researchers. Wells Fargo launched the Innovation Incubator (IN2) program, a $10 million environmental grant for clean technology startups funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and co-administered by NREL and the foundation to foster the development of early stage clean technologies for commercial buildings. Read more…  

On the heels of a recent memo from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) highlighting the difficulty middle-skill workers are having finding a route into the modern economy, reports from two tech hotspots suggest that local action is needed to ensure that tech success translates into widespread economic prosperity. San Francisco and Austin are leaders in the nation’s innovation economy and fared better than most of their peer cities through the Great Recession. However, rising housing prices and a lack of resources for middle- and low- wage workers have led to rising inequality and less robust economies in both cities. A recent MIT Technology Review article explores the phenomenon of tech prosperity fueling, rather than reducing, regional inequality. Author David Rotman uses the writings of Erik Brynjolfsson to explain why new technologies and increased productivity aggravated the divisions between the wealthy elite and everyone else. Brynjolfsson argues that tech-based economies amplify the winner-take-all characteristics of capitalism, with the majority of benefits reaped by small groups of people. Much of the work that would…

Purdue University, the University City Science Center, and Washington State University announced the creation of new investment funds to support the growth of university-affiliated startups in their respective communities. These three recently announced commercialization funds all share a common trend – they will be managed or assisted in the management process via public-private partnerships. In Baton Rouge, LA, the Research Park Corporation also announced the creation of a fund to assist Louisiana State University researchers compete for commercialization funding from the university. Purdue UniversityIn partnership with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the Purdue Foundry announced the creation of the Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund, a three-year, $2 million fund to support qualified Purdue-affiliated startups. The funds are intended to support a startup venture that will commercialize licensed Purdue University intellectual property or that will leverage other Purdue assets such as research collaborations. It will offer two levels of support: Black Award – a $20,000 convertible nonrecourse note; and, Gold Award – a debt or equity…

Commercial knowledge and technology-intensive (KTI) industries produced nearly one-fourth of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012 ($3.8 trillion), according to a recently released National Science Foundation (NSF) Infobrief using Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Nearly 90 percent of KTI GDP came from knowledge-intensive (KI) services industries that employed 18 million workers in the United States, while the high-technology (HT) manufacturing industries employed 2 million workers and produced 2 percent of the nation’s GDP in 2012, with both industries paying more than $20,000 higher than the private sector average. Although a considerably smaller portion of KTI, HT manufacturing industries have a greater concentration of workers in science and engineering occupations and perform a larger proportion of the nation’s research and development – the six HT manufacturing industries performed nearly one-half of U.S. business R&D. Nearly half of the 20.2 million workers employed in knowledge and technology-intensive industries came from business services, with nearly half of that total employed across four advanced-…