SSTI Digest

Rich Luank, President & CEO of Innovation Works, recently was elected to the State Science and Technology (SSTI) Board of Trustees. Lunak will assist in providing strategic guidance and oversight of SSTI’s operations as the group works to encourage economic growth through science, technology and innovation.

“Rich is an accomplished leader who brings policy experience and a technical background to the field,” said Dan Berglund, SSTI president and CEO. “We are honored to have him helping SSTI grow and further its mission.”

“I’m excited to join the SSTI Board of Trustees. As a leader of a venture development organization, I know first-hand the important role SSTI performs in identifying and setting best practices, connecting people, and advocating for innovative solutions to regional, statewide and national economic issues related to technology and science. I'm looking forward to helping SSTI and its members improve U.S. competitiveness and innovation,” Lunak said.

Robbie Melton has been named the executive director and CEO of the High Technology Development Corporation.

Gov. Bobby Jindal has appointed Louisiana Tech University president Les Guice to chair the Louisiana Innovation Council.

Brian Cummings, formerly Ohio State University’s vice president of technology commercialization, has joined Alta Ventures as the Midwest representative.

KP Reddy, community catalyst at ATDC, has been named interim general manager. Previously, Michael Hersh held the position of general manager.

The Michigan State University Foundation has named David Washburn, president and CEO of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation, as its executive director.

Companies that locate in the 42 communities known as historic manufacturing hubs would be given priority to receive funds for modernizing production, purchasing equipment, developing new technologies, and training workers under a proposal introduced by Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy.

The Advanced Manufacturing Fund would be administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development with support from an advisory committee that includes industry experts. With an initial commitment of $25 million, expected to last two years, companies could apply for funds to grow and modernize operations and equipment. Funds also could be used to attract new companies to the state and support universities’ efforts to increase federally funded research activity, according to a press release. By giving priority to towns with a history rich in manufacturing, the governor hopes to help revive distressed communities and address high unemployment rates in those areas. Funding is included in the FY15 governor’s midterm capital budget adjustments.

Angel and venture capital firms invested more in seed and early stage companies last year than any time in the past decade (for details see the related Useful Stats article). Seed and early stage companies appear to be generating a great deal of attention from the venture capital industry, even as overall U.S. investment activity remains steady. Both seed and early stage investment continue to grow, a development that a recent CB Insights report attributes to the proliferation of new micro VC funds and multi-stage venture firms. Though year-end numbers are not yet available for angel investing, which represents a major source of financial support for seed and early stage companies, early reports indicate that activity levels continue their trend of steady growth.

Last year, U.S. venture capitalists invested about $10.7 billion in seed and early stage companies, 17.1 percent higher than 2012, according to data from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Moneytree survey.  Though the overall venture capital (VC) market has returned to about the same level of activity as before the economic crisis, investment in seed and early stage companies has grown by more than a third. Most of this increase is attributable to growth in early stage investment, but seed activity has grown as well (as discussed in another article).

The fifth installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Connecticut, Maine, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Read part I, part II, part III and part IV.  

Connecticut

Gov. Dan Malloy, State of the State Address, Feb. 6, 2014

“Here are three ways we can continue helping employers to grow jobs this session.

“First, we can continue to fund the Small Business Express program, which has a proven record of success.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell outlined a FY15 budget proposal with further detail and funding levels for TBED priorities announced in his recent State of the State address. The budget would provide $1 million to create a faster path to degree or certificate completion in advanced manufacturing and establishes a $3 million cyber workforce initiative. Higher education institutions would be tapped as partners for the new initiatives, and also would receive an additional $2 million for federal R&D matching grants as part of the budget recommendations.

In his fifth State of the Union address, President Barack Obama touted the administration’s Institutes of Manufacturing Innovation program as central to its plan to reinvigorate the American economy. The president called on Congress to expand the manufacturing network beyond the two existing institutes in Ohio and North Carolina and the six additional institutes to be rolled out in 2014. He also requested legislative action to undo last year’s sequester-related cuts to basic research, to pass patent reform and to improve U.S. STEM education.

While much of the coverage following the address has focused on the president’s plan to make extensive use of executive orders to enact the administration’s agenda in the coming year, much of his plan to boost American innovation would require additional action from Congress.  Many of the policy options that the president linked to innovation and entrepreneurship in his address, including immigration reform, patent reform and boosting federal funding for research, would require legislative approval and have already met resistance in the House and/or Senate.

The fourth installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Illinois, Massachusetts and Utah. Read part I, part II and part III. 

Illinois

Gov. Pat Quinn, State of the State Address, Jan. 29, 2014

"Part of our jobs strategy is investing in industries that are the future of a 21st century economy. ...

"... And that's why now, we're going to invest in a new bio-hub for pharmaceutical, medical device, and health IT startups.”

Massachusetts

Gov. Deval Patrick, State of the Commonwealth Address, Jan. 28, 2014

Filling the pipeline with skilled workers able to perform the high-tech jobs employers say are sitting vacant has long been advocated by state leaders and policymakers as essential to competing in the global economy. Governors in Florida and Louisiana are stepping up efforts this legislative session with proposed multi-million dollar investments through training and scholarship programs to change the landscape of their states’ workforce.

In both states, the governors say the goal is to strengthen the link between college coursework and industry needs while increasing opportunities for job seekers. The Florida plan encompasses worker re-training in its plan while the Louisiana plan puts a greater emphasis on new graduates in STEM fields. 

After hitting an all-time high in 2012, California’s dominance of the nation’s venture capital activity receded a bit last year. California continues to receive about half of the country’s venture investment dollars and about 40 percent of its dealflow, but in 2013, the state’s share of dollars fell from 53 to 50 percent, according to data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association (PwC/NVCA) Moneytree survey. Massachusetts, which has been host to about 10 percent of national venture activity in past years, also saw its share of total U.S. activity decline. Gains in second tier venture capital states appear to account for the shift, including upticks in Florida, Maryland, New York, Texas and Virginia. Massachusetts continue to lead the country in terms of dollars and deals per capita, though for the first time that lead was threatened by the rise of Washington, D.C., as a venture capital hotspot.

The FY15 budget proposal outlined last week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo would provide funding to continue many of New York’s innovation-focused efforts while investing in new initiatives, including a genomic medicine network and STEM scholarship program.

First announced in his State of the State address, the NY Genomic Medicine Network is a proposed partnership between the New York Genome Center and the University at Buffalo’s (UB) Center for Computational Research to accelerate advances in genomic medicine and develop the burgeoning industry in the state. The budget provides $55.75 million for the New York Genome Center and authorizes $50 million of the Buffalo Billion initiative for UB’s Center for Computational Research. With the investment, the state hopes to attract and grow companies on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, including those with a focus on diagnostics and information technology. Companies would benefit from the research and supercomputing resources provided by UB, according to a press release.