SSTI Digest

Although the U.S. has been at the forefront of the life sciences revolution, a lack of sustained federal funding in biomedical research and intensified competition are threatening its global leadership, finds a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Another problem for the U.S. is a lack of consistency and predictability in the level of biomedical research funding — particularly through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For example, while the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided a temporary increase in NIH funding, a scheduled sequestration in January 2013 would slash NIH funding by at least 7.8 percent, the report states. This boom-bust cycle causes uncertainty and makes it difficult for researchers or businesses to make long-term planning and investment decisions.

Several SSTI members met yesterday with Sen. Moran (R-KS), his staff, and staff for Sens. Coons (D-DE) and Rubio (R-FL) to express support for the creation of a fund to commercialize university-developed technology, and also encouraged the bill's sponsors to broaden eligibility for funding to include public and nonprofit organizations working with institutions of higher education to commercialize technology. SSTI as part of its efforts in DC will be working on this issue over the coming months.

Sens. Moran (R-KS), Warner (D-VA), Rubio (R-FL), and Coons (D-DE) introduced legislation on Tuesday that would continue to spur the economy through the creation of new businesses. Senate Bill 3217, also known as Startup Act 2.0, expands on the initial Startup Act introduced by Sens. Moran and Warner in December, and builds on the success of the JOBS Act passed with bipartisan support in both houses and signed by President Obama earlier this year.

One of the key aspects of the act is to use existing federal funding to support innovation initiatives to accelerate commercialization of university research and development. Grants would be awarded to universities to improve commercialization efforts and to support programs that allow faculty to commercialize research. The National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) would be tasked with providing advice on the grant applications and awards.

Other provisions in Startup 2.0 include:

Two common themes emerged in a trio of reports aimed at growing the bioscience sectors in Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania: the need for a sustained financial commitment from the states and the importance of a shared vision and better communication between policymakers and industry leaders. In all three reports, the authors say the payoff is big for the states. The bioscience and life science industries support high-wage jobs and attract significant federal funds.

Indiana

The Indiana Health Industry Forum unveiled a five-year strategic plan designed to create a renewed interest in growing Indiana's health sciences sector. Developing an early stage funding mechanism focused exclusively on health sciences and complementing the funding with a statewide support infrastructure geared towards health sciences-specific entrepreneurial support are listed as the top two recommendations.

Throughout our travels across the country, SSTI always is impressed by the important work TBED organizations are doing to improve economic conditions for their state or region. Many of these organizations have been around for decades, and continue to innovate and evolve, while others are just getting off the ground with a creative approach. SSTI seeks to honor these initiatives as part of the 2012 Excellence in TBED awards program. Recipients of this award are invited to attend the annual conference as guests of SSTI (a $595 value) and showcase their work during a dedicated breakout session. Remember, you have to apply to win! Applications are due July 17. More information and complete instructions are available at: http://www.sstiawards.org/.

New Hampshire's University System and Community College System recently committed to increasing the number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates 50 percent by 2020, and then doubling that number by 2025. Currently, the two systems together graduate about 1,120 STEM students each year. Specific steps include the creation of new transfer pathways, cross-institutional sharing of facilities, staff and faculty and partnerships with the state's employers.

This week, the Puerto Rico Broadband Taskforce and Connect Puerto Rico, a subsidiary of Connect Nation, unveiled a comprehensive strategy to expand access to broadband services and improve the quality of Puerto Rico's high speed data infrastructure. Currently, about 14 percent of Puerto Ricans lack access to any broadband services, compared to 5 percent of U.S. households. Data transfer speeds also are much lower than in the U.S., stifling business development, investment and innovation. The plan includes 25 strategic goals and 40 specific policy strategies to increase broadband adoption and availability.

Workers who pursue manufacturing jobs likely are to earn premium wages and benefits and find work in STEM fields, thus improving their skills and directly contributing to the nation's competitiveness, according to The Benefits of Manufacturing Jobs from the Commerce Department's Economics and Statistics Administration. On average, total hourly compensation, including benefits, is 17 percent higher for manufacturing workers compared to non-manufacturing workers. The report also finds educational attainment for the manufacturing workforce steadily is rising.

For the third year in a row, technology startups met or exceeded their revenue targets according to Startup Outlook 2012 — a new survey from the Silicon Valley Bank. Nearly 64 percent of surveyed startup executives said revenue performance in 2011 was at or above target levels. This will lead to jobs with eight out of 10 companies surveyed intending to hire in 2012.

Respondents also remained optimistic about business conditions with 61 percent reporting better conditions than a year ago, and nearly 72 percent expecting conditions to improve in the coming year. However, respondents prioritized six policy recommendations to help them grow:

• Intellectual property protection;
• Controlling healthcare costs;
• Improving the regulatory environment;
• International trade/market access;
• Implementing healthcare reform; and,
• Immigration reform.

The report was compiled from responses by 270 executives of U.S. based, early stage companies in software, hardware, life science and clean tech sectors nationwide. The report also provides industry specific findings for each of the four sectors.

Tom Walker is departing i2E to join TechColumbus as CEO. Walker, a founding member of i2E, has served the private nonprofit for 14 years. Walker replaces Tim Haynes, who has been serving as interim CEO.

Mark Herzog will step down as executive director of the Virginia Biotechnology Association on June 1. Herzog will serve as senior vice president for corporate and government affairs at Health Diagnostic Laboratory, a Richmond-based company that conducts clinical tests.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant named Brent Christensen executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority. For the past 10 years, he has served as president and CEO of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce in Florida.

James Grunke has been named the president and CEO of the Missoula Economic Partnership. Grunke has been the interim director for the past six months.

Steve VanNurden has been named president and CEO of Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, beginning in late May. VanNurden currently is chair of Mayo Clinic Ventures.

Massachusetts House leaders introduced a bill earlier this week calling for funding to support R&D at universities and research centers, manufacturing grants and workforce training, and a venture capital mentoring program for startups. The measure is touted as a jobs bill to stimulate the state's sluggish recovery by focusing on high-growth sectors of the economy.

The matching grant fund would support science and technology projects sponsored by the University of Massachusetts, research universities or nonprofit research institutions and would require recipients to leverage $3 for every $1 in state funding. The bill includes $25 million in new borrowing authorization and $25 million from a higher education bond bill established in 2008 to support the program.

Another major component of the bill establishes within the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency an Advanced Manufacturing Futures program to provide grants for facilitating growth and competitiveness in the manufacturing field. Under the program, grants could be used for several initiatives, such as:

As global economies shift, developing nations are attempting to transition as suppliers of raw materials to nations that are producers of value-added goods. Africa has been a major supplier of raw materials to the developed world. However, it drastically lagged behind in the production of valued-added goods. Recently, African nations have attempted to reinvent their economic development efforts from suppliers to producers by developing programs to grow tech-based economies. Two recent initiatives, the LIONS@FRICA Partnership and South Africa's manufacturing incentives program, highlight the changing attitudes on the continent. In addition, a new survey of European business leaders found discouraging results relative to European Union policies to improve innovation.