SSTI Digest

Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) has stimulated the state's job creation and increased the amount of additional funds leveraged, according to a report by Battelle. In 2010, SFAz-funded programs led to over 1,150 new jobs, 84 patents and 16 new companies. For every $1.00 awarded by SFAz, an additional $3.06 was matched by an outside source (e.g., federal grants, industry, and venture capital). SFAz's leveraging has increased progressively over the last three years. The report also looked at the state's position in technology development and found several positives including: higher than average salaries for technology workers; lower unemployment in these sectors; and, strong gains in university R&D expenditures. However, according to the report, SFAz and the state should focus on developing a talented workforce and increasing the state's digital infrastructure. In comparison to national averages and 12 other benchmark states averages — including Colorado, Utah and Washington — Arizona lags behind national and benchmark state averages in access to school technology and STEM education.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich named James Leftwich as the director of the Ohio Department of Development, effective March 25. Leftwich has worked at the Dayton Development Coalition for six years, including three years as president and CEO. Leftwich will take the post previously held by Mark Kvamme, a California venture capitalist named the state's development director in January. Kvamme was appointed director of Job Creation within the governor's office, effective immediately.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour announced that Jackson businessman Leland Speed will return as executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority for the remainder of the governor's term that ends at the end of this year. Speed, who served as executive director from 2004 to 2006, will succeed Gray Swoope. Swoope recently announced his resignation at MDA to lead Enterprise Florida, that state's economic development organization.

Gov. Bill Haslam is the latest governor to unveil a broad-based proposal to grow the state's economy and create jobs through investments in S&T by asking lawmakers to dedicate $10 million for a research consortium that would recruit senior scientists to advance scientific discoveries into commercial applications and spur high-growth companies. Similar TBED efforts focused on investing in university research, tech commercialization, and increasing access to capital were announced earlier this year in Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska and Virginia (see the Jan. 5, Jan. 19 and Jan. 26 issues of the Digest). The governor's budget also provides funding to continue the state's investment in biofuels and aerospace engineering and recommends new funding to recruit businesses.

Gov. Tom Corbett's budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year funds many of Pennsylvania's longstanding efforts to grow a technology-based economy, but at a reduced level. At the same time, the governor outlined new initiatives and investments centered on a restructured Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) that he says will eliminate duplicative programs and better position the state to attract businesses for job creation.

DCED's budget would be cut by 32 percent, or $114 million, and the number of programs would be reduced to 56 from 127 under the governor's proposal to streamline the state's economic development efforts. The Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority would receive $14.6 million in FY12, down from $16.8 million in FY11 available funds. The authority funds the Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP), one of the nation's longest running and most successful TBED programs. Through its four regional networks, BFTP provides access to capital and entrepreneurial support services to promising tech-based companies throughout the state.

The Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration announced it is accepting applications for the $12 million i6 Green Challenge. EDA, in partnership with the departments of Agriculture and Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, will select six teams from around the country that present the most innovative ideas to drive technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in support of a green innovation economy. EDA will award up to $1 million to each of the six awardees. Its partner agencies will award more than $6 million in additional funding to i6 Green winners.

This year's competition will focus on the promotion of Proof of Concept Centers — these centers support all aspects of the entrepreneurship process. Assistant Secretary of Commerce John Fernandez said, "The i6 Green Challenge will help catalyze American ingenuity by leveraging the proven benefits that these centers offer to promote green growth, advance cluster development and strengthen the economic ecosystems of America's regions."

The Department of Commerce (DOC) is interested in receiving nominations for a 15-member innovation advisory board comprised of business leaders, policy experts and state/local government officials. Board members will contribute in the development of a study on U.S. economic competitiveness and innovation capacity. The board's primary responsibilities will include development of an extended outline of the report and review of the final report's draft. Individual members also may be asked to participate in events across the country related to economic competitiveness and innovation. Nominations are due by March 22, 2011. Membership applications must include:

• Name, title, and personal resume;
• A brief statement of why the person should be considered for membership on the board; and,
• A brief biography.

Board members will not receive compensation for travel or other expenses. Read the release

The latest annual report on state higher education finance by the State Higher Education Executive Officers finds that state and local per student spending fell to its lowest point in 25 years last year. Rising enrollment and stagnant appropriations contributed to the decrease in per student spending. Between 2008 and 2010, state appropriations for higher education remained level, mostly due to federal stimulus funding directed to colleges, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. An enrollment increase of six percent from 2009, however, lead to a seven percent drop in per student spending in 2010. Read the report...

A new prototype website allows users to track R&D grants and awards from federal agencies. The current version provides publicly reported federal agency data from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health from 2001 to 2010. It also provides output data on patents, patent application and publication. Future updates will integrate the site with all federal agency databases and additional output data. Visit the site...

Metropolitan areas with population densities of about 4,000 people per square mile tend to produce the highest rate of patenting, according to a recent article in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology. In a study of U.S. metro areas over a ten-year period, the authors found that metro population density has a significant positive correlation with patenting rates. At about 4,000 people per square mile, the benefits of agglomeration, such as knowledge spillovers and diverse labor pools, are at their highest, compared to negative effects of congestion, such as increasing costs of real estate and other scarce resources. Few U.S. cities, however, approach this level of population density. The authors advise against taking the averaged optimal density level as a basis for policy, but use their data to suggest that cities play a vital role in the innovation economy and that increasing urban density could lead to higher innovation rates in some U.S. urban areas.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy named ING executive Catherine Smith to lead the Department of Economic and Community Development.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo nominated Julie Shimer, the president and CEO of Welch Allyn, a medical diagnostics equipment manufacturer, to chair the Empire State Development Corp. She would join Kenneth Adams, ESCD's president, at the agency.

Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, has announced he will resign as soon as a successor can be found. He has led the VEDP since October 2005.

Howard Gobstein, APLU executive officer and vice president, research, innovation and STEM policy, has been named executive vice president.

The seventh installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. The first six installments are available in the Jan. 5, Jan. 12, Jan. 19, Jan. 26, Feb. 9 and Feb. 23 issues of the Digest.

Alabama
Gov. Robert Bentley, State of the State Address, March 1, 2011
"The Education Budget I present will preserve, protect and bolster areas that should remain a priority for all of Alabama. ... We will protect the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative. ...

Lawmakers approved many of Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposals aimed at growing Virginia's technology and life sciences industries by dedicating about half of the funding requested by the governor to support R&D, commercialization, SBIR matching grants, and funding for early stage equity investments. To help reach a goal of adding 100,000 college graduates to the state over the next 15 years, lawmakers also passed the Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011, providing enrollment-based funding to increase access to higher education and enhancing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields of study.

The legislation and amendments to the 2010-12 budget approved by the General Assembly for attracting tech companies closely mirror components of the governor's economic development agenda presented to lawmakers earlier this year (see the Jan. 5, 2011 issue of the Digest). Specifically, lawmakers approved $10 million for an Economic Development Incentive payment, which includes: