SSTI Digest

Tasked with taking the Small Business Administration (SBA) to the next level, Maria Contreras Sweet, the new head of the agency, envisions a modern SBA with a greater focus on inclusion. Contreras Sweet outlined steps to achieve her vision earlier this week in a speech at the Center for American Progress.

NASA is looking to U.S. universities to explore transformative space technologies and help the agency advance its plans for exploration to deep space and Mars. The agency will make up to 12 awards totaling $500,000 each this fall with R&D efforts taking place over two to three years. Notices of intent to submit proposals are due June 24.

National Institute of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. Collins has accepted recommendations from an NIH working group that call for increased investment in the federal government’s effort to map and understand the human brain. Under the recommended plan, the initiative would receive $400 million each year between 2016-20, which would grow to $500 million a year for 2021-25. The BRAIN Initiative is a multi-agency effort, supported by NIH, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, National Science Foundation and Food and Drug Administration. NIH has announced that BRAIN Initiative funding for FY14 will total $40 million. Read the report…

In a recent Pacific Institute and Vox Global survey, about 80 percent of U.S. companies reported that water availability has become an issue for their business, particularly among firms in the South and Southwestern regions of the country. About 63 percent said water issues would affect their future location decisions, and more than half reported that they expected water scarcity to impact their growth and profitability over the next five years. This year’s Global Risks report from the World Economic Forum, ranked water concerns as the third greatest risk to the global economy, separate from and ranked above climate change and extreme weather events.  In recognition of these developments, Michigan’s University Research Corridor institutions have begun highlighting their work in the water economy.

In recent years, national polices supporting university-led innovation have shifted from the linear, science-push model to a model that supports an interactive, reciprocal process of knowledge transfer between industry and university through research parks, university-industry research projects, etc. As these new national polices mature, academic researchers are starting to examine the effectiveness of university-focused policies on spurring innovation and their impact on economic development. A recently released study examines the effectiveness national polices in leading Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries in spurring university-led innovation and the impact of these policies on social and economic development.

Last year, 108 unique institutional funders made a total of 260 investments in North Carolina companies, according to a report from the Council for Entrepreneurial Development. The 2013 Innovators Report details the $461 million in equity investments, grants and awards received by firms, including support from venture investors, angel networks, foundations, federal agencies, competitions, crowdfunding and other sources. Life sciences firms generated the most activity with $275 million in 134 deals, driven by the biopharmaceutical industry. Technology firms secured $117 million in 106 deals. The report identifies the location of the state’s funding institutions, with the largest number based in North Carolina (26), followed by the Northeast (24) and the Mid-Atlantic (14). Read the report…

A project underway between IBM and Louisiana State University’s School of Engineering aims to better meet employer needs by tripling the number of computer science graduates in five years. Hoping to generate more partnerships like these, lawmakers approved legislation supported by Gov. Bobby Jindal that allows colleges and universities to compete for funds in an effort to produce graduates in high-demand areas. A smaller percentage of the funds distributed under the new Workforce and Innovation for a Stronger Economy (WISE) Fund will be based on federally funded research expenditures.

This week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the first 12 communities to participate in the federal government’s multi-agency Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) initiative. The initiative will concentrate federal economic development spending across agencies and departments on key manufacturing regions with strong economic strategies in place. Eleven federal agencies and programs, managing  $1.3 billion in federal economic development assistance, will coordinate their efforts to support the strategies developed by the 12 designated communities. Federal agencies will use the local plans to make targeted investments in public-private partnerships to strengthen regional manufacturing and the competitiveness of the U.S. economy.

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, a group created when the St. Louis County Economic Council and the city’s St. Louis Development Corp. merged last year, has released an ambitious economic strategy for the region. Planners are calling for collaboration between the region’s economic development organizations and startup initiatives, such as Accelerate St. Louis, VentureWorks and the ongoing $100M early stage investment initiative. The plan provides tactics and metrics in six categories, designed to leverage the significant growth the region has experienced since 2010. Plan stakeholders have set the goal of becoming a top 10 region for entrepreneurs and the fastest growing major metro region for foreign born residents by 2020. Download the plan…

In 2012, U.S. science and engineering graduate programs saw a small 1.7 percent drop in enrollment by U.S. citizens and permanent residents, according to data from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Enrollment by foreign students, however, rose by 4.3 percent. NSF notes that 2012 is the second year in a row that saw very little increase in citizen enrollment, following five years of growth in the range of 2-3 percent. Enrollment by female graduate students, who make up about 43 percent of the total graduate student population, decreased by 0.1 percent, the first decline for that group in 10 years. Strong growth in a few engineering fields, including chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and materials engineering, led to a rebound in overall engineering enrollment following a decline the previous year. Read the report…

You talk about your program often, tout its success and share with stakeholders your program’s impact. Why not let the entire country in on your good work? Telling your story helps generate buzz about the value of investing in science, technology and innovation to create vibrant regional economies and improve our nation's competitiveness. All you have to do is send us a five-page narrative describing your most successful innovation-focused efforts. Tell us: What you did, How you do it, How it is funded, How it works, and Why you should be recognized. Winners are announced during a special ceremony at SSTI’s annual conference in Chicago, September 14-16 and are provided a forum to showcase their initiative. Applications due June 17. Learn more: http://www.sstiawards.org/.

Building on a bare bones structure for privatizing economic development established last session, Gov. Pat McCrory outlined a plan for transitioning the state’s Department of Commerce to a public-private partnership, effective July 1. The move, according to the governor, will allow for more flexibility to support businesses and achieve savings for the state. Several innovation-focused investments also were presented as part of the recommended state budget adjustments for FY15, including matching and incentive funds for early stage, high-tech companies and funding to assist campuses in commercializing technology.