SSTI Digest

STEM degrees lead to higher salaries and more employment opportunities than other degrees, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Despite these economic advantages, only 16 percent of 2008 graduates received a STEM degree. The lack of workers with STEM skills has created a difficult hiring environment for many U.S. firms. A recent Brookings Institution study reveals that the lack of STEM graduates has meant that STEM job postings take twice as long to fill as other postings.

An NCES survey of 2008 bachelor’s degree recipients found that, as of 2012, 5 percent of STEM graduates were unemployed, compared to 7.1 percent of other graduates. STEM graduates also were  more likely to be employed full-time, to have just one job and to have spent fewer total months unemployed. Average salary for STEM graduates was $65,000, compared to $44,500 for other respondents.

Download the National Center for Educational Statistics report Baccalaureate and Beyond: A First Look at the Employment Experiences and Lives of College Graduates, 4 Years On…

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it is accepting applications for the SBA Clusters Program. Through the SBA Clusters program, the SBA’s goal is to increase opportunities for small businesses to participate in and promote innovation within a regional innovation cluster and enhance regional economic growth in regions across the country. Up to four contracts may be made to lead organizations of innovation cluster initiatives from across the country.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the launch of the National Incubator Initiative for Clean Energy (NIICE).  NIICE will serve a national support network for the nation’s clean energy startup community and the incubators that support them. The network will provide technical assistance and training services to help clean energy startups move their products closer to market readiness. It also will help establish a suite of technological and training resources, bring together energy industry partners, enhance incubator best practices, and increase access to information about industry resources to advance innovative clean energy technologies with commercial viability emerging from institutions of higher education and federal laboratories.

DOE will commit most of the $3.2 million to support three clean energy-focused incubators to run their programs and commercialization services for clean energy startups and develop best practices for clean energy incubators that can be replicated nationwide. Awardees include:

In recent decades as many countries have developed sophisticated national innovation strategies, the U.S. has generally avoided attempts to introduce a coordinated innovation policy system. Instead, U.S. leaders have placed their trust in the market, rather than the government, to generate knowledge, products and businesses. A new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) suggests that this approach ignores a major factor in the success of innovation economies. Modern, competitive nations rely on three elements that comprise an “Innovation Success Triangle” – business environment, regulatory environment and innovation policy system.

This article is part of SSTI's series on trends in state technology-based economic development legislation in 2014. Read our other entries covering legislative action on research capacity, technology commercialization & infrastructure, capital & tax credits, workforce & STEM and manufacturing & clusters.

This article is part of SSTI's series on trends in state technology-based economic development legislation in 2014. Read our other entries covering legislative action on patent reform, research capacity, technology commercialization & infrastructure, workforce & STEM and manufacturing & clusters.

Several states announced new or expansions to existing capital programs during the 2014 legislative session. The proposals targeted increasing and supporting venture/risk capital in the state; angel tax credits to spur investment in targeted sectors; and, intrastate crowdfunding exemptions to increase access to capital for startups and business expansion.

This article is part of SSTI's series on trends in state technology-based economic development legislation in 2014. Read our other entries covering legislative action on patent reform, capital & tax credits, technology commercialization & infrastructure, workforce & STEM and manufacturing & clusters.

This article is part of SSTI's series on trends in state technology-based economic development legislation in 2014. Read our other entries covering legislative action on patent reform, research capacity, technology commercialization & infrastructure, tax credits & STEM and manufacturing & clusters.

This article is part of SSTI's series on trends in state technology-based economic development legislation in 2014. Read our other entries covering legislative action on patent reform, research capacity, capital & tax credits, workforce & STEM and manufacturing & clusters.

This article is part of SSTI's series on trends in state technology-based economic development legislation in 2014. Read our other entries covering legislative action on patent reform, research capacity, capital & tax credits, technology commercialization & infrastructure and  workforce & STEM.

Lawmakers approved funding for a bond program that dedicates $50 million for re-tooling community colleges with the latest equipment, but failed to pass a larger proposal that would allow universities to compete for $100 million in bond funds for capital improvements to enhance engineering programs. The budget also includes $2 million to establish a new fund for global marketing of Michigan’s automotive sector and support of public-private collaborations with the auto industry.

The two bond issues were touted by Gov. Rick Snyder in the proposed budget as investments to enhance the talent base of the state through universities and community colleges. Lawmakers included in the approved FY15 budget $4.6 million for first year of debt service on the community college bond, which aims to equip the schools with newer equipment to aid in better delivery of educational programs – especially those focused on high-skill, high-demand occupations. Community colleges will compete for the funds and must demonstrate employer demand within their region.

Crowdfunding is touted by its proponents as a model that can democratize and neutralize gender bias in the existing small business investment community, for both female investors and entrepreneurs. Crowdfunding proponents point toward the disproportionate number of middle-aged men who are angel investors or work in the venture capital industry. In 2007, 86 percent of angel investors were men. Crowdfunding proponents also point out that less than 10 percent of all companies that receive venture capital funding are run by women. Although equity crowdfunding for all is stilled delayed by the SEC, two recent academic research studies have found that reward-based crowdfunding in the U.S. and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending in Germany and the United States appear to be opening up opportunities for female entrepreneurs and investors.