SSTI Digest

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.

The fourth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs' series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Illinois, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Rhode Island. The first three installments are available in the Jan. 11, Jan. 18 and Jan. 25 editions of the Digest. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, State of the State Address, Feb. 1, 2012 "Today, I'm announcing a $2.3 million dollar investment in '1871,' a new technology center at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago to foster and launch digital start-ups. "Today, I'm also announcing a $6 million dollar statewide competition to build ultra-high speed broadband in neighborhoods across Illinois. "Through this challenge, we want our neighborhoods to become Gigabit communities with Internet connections more than 100 times faster than today! Our goal is to build smart communities that will foster the job engines of the future." New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, State of the State Address, Jan. 31, 2012 "There are tax reductions that can spur job growth here in New Hampshire. Innovative companies create jobs and lay the foundation for a stronger future for our state.

The sixth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey and North Carolina. The first five installments are available in the Jan. 5, Jan. 12, Jan. 19, Jan. 26 and Feb. 9 issues of the Digest.

Connecticut

Gov. Dan Malloy, Budget Address, Feb. 16, 2011

“We are combining our economic development efforts under one agency so we can have a single powerful voice when it comes to attracting, retaining, and growing jobs in Connecticut...like our new First Five initiative that will offer powerful incentives to the first five companies that bring hundreds of new jobs to Connecticut.

The second installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs' series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, New Hampshire, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. Our first installment was in the Jan. 5 Digest.

Arkansas
Gov. Mike Beebe, State of the State Address, Jan. 11, 2011
"I want to tie funding for higher-education institutions more closely to coursework completion and graduation rates, not simply to enrollment. These tax dollars must produce college graduates, not just fill up seats. We can and must double the number of college graduates in Arkansas by 2025 if we are to stay competitive. This is a lofty goal aimed at the future, but we must begin implementing it today."

The third installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs’ series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Delaware, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin. The first and second installments are available in the Jan 13 Digest and Jan. 20 Digest, respectively.

Delaware
Gov. Jack Markell, State of the State Address, Jan. 21, 2010
“We have a proud legacy of technology innovation that we will build on. Together, we will create a Delaware where entrepreneurs and inventors imagine the new products and services that make life better, more productive and more enjoyable for millions, and workers make good livings delivering these wonders to the world.

Angel investors are reducing the average size of their investments, according to the latest report from the University of New Hampshire Center for Venture Research. In the first half of this year, total angel investment dollars fell by 27 percent from the same period in 2008, but the number of angel deals increased by six percent. As a result, the average deal size has fallen by 31 percent since early 2008.

The report attributes the change to lower company valuations and to angel investors taking a more cautious approach to investing without decreasing their level of activity. Investors have also begun shifting their focus away from seed- and startup-stage firms in order to support their portfolio companies and reduce their risk.

Decreases in the number of young adults in the state are more a result of fewer children being born 25 to 35 years ago, and not because of a substantial brain drain or outmigration of talent from New Hampshire, according to a task force convened by New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch. However, attracting and retaining younger workers to the state is imperative because of the large share of baby-boomers in the workforce that will be retiring in the next decade. Coupling the state's skilled workforce needs with the demographic trend of a 23 percent reduction of 25 to 34 year-olds in New Hampshire from 1990 to 2000, the task force presented to the Governor recommendations for boosting the number of young adults in the state.