SSTI Digest

Proposals that promise job creation and economic growth have taken center stage in several state legislatures. Lawmakers who recognize the importance of R&D, tech commercialization, access to risk capital, and investment in higher education are fighting for passage of TBED-focused bills in the final months of their states' 2011 legislative sessions. A bill to revive the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act, which failed in the legislature last year, recently passed the House with broad, bi-partisan support, restoring hope for the program that aims to grow science and technology companies. Meanwhile, two bills in Connecticut seek to boost technology transfer and lawmakers in Alaska and Florida are pushing for statewide R&D tax credits. An overview of select bills relating to TBED is included below.

Vermont Gov. Pete Shumlin has released a jobs package that includes a number of initiatives that could enhance the state's innovation economy. The jobs bill calls for a new creative economy office that would focus on technology efforts, a mentoring program for entrepreneurs, a statewide internship program, and a tax credit for companies that hire STEM graduates. Gov. Shumlin also has renewed his predecessor's pledge to extend full wireless voice and data coverage across the state.

The governor, announcing the jobs bill last week, said that the legislation is intended to help stimulate every sector of Vermont's economy. Accordingly, most of the bill's provisions benefit the state's agriculture and food industries. Several initiatives, however, specifically target manufacturing, high-tech businesses and entrepreneurship.

The fourth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, and Vermont. The first three installments are available in the Jan. 5, Jan. 12 and Jan. 19 issues of the Digest.

Gov. Jim Douglas last week signed a jobs bill that distributes $8.7 million in federal stimulus funds to help seed high-tech entrepreneurial ventures, increase broadband access across rural areas of the state, train workers for careers in emerging sectors, and provide low-interest rate subsidies on loans approved under the Vermont Jobs Fund.

The bill appropriates $750,000 to the Vermont Seed Capital Fund established last year to accelerate job growth by helping emerging companies overcome a gap in financing. This appropriation is in addition to $1 million from the state's Clean Energy Development Fund for a total $1.75 million in FY11. Funding is targeted toward sectors with high-growth potential such as life sciences, agriculture, energy, software and manufacturing. Over two years, the fund has been capitalized with nearly $5 million in state and federal monies.

Earlier this month, Gov. Jim Douglas announced a plan to use $8.7 million in federal stimulus funds for job creation programs, including broadband infrastructure, low-interest loans and workforce training. Many of the proposals mirror last year’s SmartVermont plan, a proposal rejected by lawmakers that would have leveraged federal funds to provide $17.2 million for statewide economic development. (see the June 3, 2009 issue of the Digest).

Entering its tenth year covering governors’ State of the State, Budget and Inaugural Addresses, SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from across the nation. The first edition includes excerpts from speeches delivered in the following states:

Arizona Gov. Janice Brewer, State of the State Address, Jan. 11, 2010

“… I am taking the following specific actions to make Arizona even more competitive in creating jobs.

First, I am announcing the formation of a Governor's Jobs Cabinet. This team of key state agency directors will cut through the red tape and the green tape to speed job creation.

“Second, I will be allocating a significant portion of remaining federal stimulus funds directly to bring new jobs to Arizona. Specifically, I am devoting $10 million in one-time federal stimulus funds for job training. …

In a special session on Tuesday, the Vermont Legislature enacted the state's FY10 budget, overriding last week's veto by Governor Jim Douglas. The budget eliminates or reduces funding for many programs related to economic development and TBED, cutbacks which were cited as concerns by Gov. Douglas in his veto announcement.

The $4.5 billion budget includes $4 million in economic development incentives to be administered through the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA), significantly less than the $11 million proposed by the governor. The Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) will receive only $500,000, which the governor says will effectively shut down the organization by September. VTA has played an integral role in the state's unfinished plan to provide border-to-border cell phone and wireless data access.

Vermont Governor James Douglas has released a plan to spend some of the state's share of funds from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on building a stronger base for technology-based growth. The $17.1 million SmartVermont suite of proposals includes funding for technology company loans, lending to small businesses, seed capital for entrepreneurs and support for regional economic development projects. Governor Douglas' office estimates that the investment would attract another $140 million in private capital to support the state's economic development goals.

The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) would house most of the new and expanded programs covered in the SmartVermont plan. A new Technology Loan program at VEDA would use a $1 million investment from the ARRA funds to secure up to $6 million in loans and attract an additional $4 million in private capital for high-tech companies. These loans would target strategic industries and expansion projects to further the state's economic development goals.

As governors across the nation seek to fill record deficits, many new and longstanding TBED initiatives are facing challenging cuts or elimination. At the same time, governors are shoring up support for critical, targeted investments in the economy that they say are needed now more than ever. Using the platform of the state of the state, budget and inaugural addresses, several governors have announced new or increased investments in workforce innovation, bioscience, and alternative energy (see the Jan. 7, 14, and 21 issues of the Digest). Summarized below are executive recommendations from budget proposals in Georgia, Idaho and Vermont outlining new plans and proposed cuts to ongoing TBED efforts.

The second installment of the Tech Talkin' Govs series includes highlights from state of the state, budget and inaugural addresses delivered by the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont. 

Arizona 

Gov. Janet Napolitano, State of the State Address, Jan. 9, 2009

Gov. Jim Douglas recently announced Vermont will roll out a suite of grants and incentives to strengthen the state's software industry. The initiative includes state-funded low-interest loans to software businesses, employment growth incentives and a tax credit for software research. In his unveiling of the software initiative at Champlain College's new Emergent Media Center, Gov. Douglas explained that state agencies will use these new measures in conjunction with the Center to help build a local software development cluster.

Armed with professional advice from mentors in scientific fields and free access to sophisticated design and engineering software, teachers and students from Hawaii, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Vermont and Virginia will participate in a national competition to solve a real-world engineering challenge defined by the aviation industry.   The idea behind the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Real World Design Challenge is to create a pipeline of highly qualified workers by preparing high school students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields based on issues facing high-tech and defense industries.