SSTI Digest

For many states facing a challenging budget year, level funding for science and technology is welcome news to the tech-based economic development (TBED) community. With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act earlier this year, governors are seeking solutions to stimulate their respective states' economies through new and expanded programs within specific priority areas. The following states recently unveiled budget proposals that would continue or grow TBED investments using a combination of federal stimulus money and state and local funds.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Treasury released the details of its plan to award $100 million in grants to community-based financial institutions. These funds, along with an additional $3 billion in tax credit authority, were allocated to Treasury programs by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) last month. Both the grants and tax credits will support loan funds, credit unions, banks, venture capital firms and other financing entities through the department's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.

The implementation plan provides $90 million in ARRA funding for CDFI Financial Assistance awards. Combined with FY09 standard annual funding, the CDFI Fund expects to make $145 million in Financial Assistance awards in this fiscal year. Another $8 million will support qualified Community Development Entities (CDEs) in Native American communities.

Utah's 2009 legislative session ended earlier this month with a significant boost in funding to the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) for recruiting science and technology researchers at the University of Utah and Utah State University.

Lawmakers approved SB 240, allocating $33 million in one-time federal stimulus funds to the state-funded initiative to grow Utah's knowledge economy. The bill also modifies provisions relating to USTAR's Governing Authority adding the executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development as a member and vice chair of the authority. The appropriation grew significantly from the earlier version of the bill allocating $10 million for operating expenses and funding for research teams.

TechConnect West Virginia (TechConnectWV) released a new plan on Monday to build a larger and more robust technology economy. The report, West Virginia Blueprint for Technology-Based Economic Development, proposes a four-part, general strategy for TBED and targets several key industries for development.

Two years of study went into the report, which highlights the success that neighboring states, such as Pennsylvania and North Carolina, have had in investing in TBED. The initial study concluded that West Virginia would have to move quickly to remain competitive in light of the progress already being made in other states.

The National Science Foundation has made available the FY 2007 version of its Academic Research and Development Expenditures statistical tables. The release contains detailed information on research expenditures at individual academic institutions.

SSTI has prepared a table that shows for each state the amount of R&D expenditures from 2003 to 2007, the percent change and relative rank over this period, the percentage of each state's expenditures that originate from the federal government, and the relative rank of this percentage.

California led the nation with $6.7 billion in expenditures at its universities and colleges, followed by New York and Texas with $3.9 billion and $3.4 billion respectively. Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania were in the $2 billion to $3 billion range in FY07, while six states - Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin - had amounts larger than $1 billion. Fifteen states had amounts lower than $300 million.

According to the National Science Foundation, the number of science and engineering PhDs awarded in the U.S. has been increasing every year since 2002. To further examine trends of the PhDs awarded in each state, SSTI has prepared a table showing the number of S&E PhDs per 100,000 residents and each state's relative rank from 2002 to 2006, as well as the percent change in PhDs awarded per capita over these five years and the rank of that change.

In the U.S., there were 10.00 science and engineering PhDs awarded per 100,000 people in 2006. In that year, the District of Columbia had the highest ratio among jurisdictions with 58.08 S&E PhDs awarded per 100,000 people. This was followed by Massachusetts (26.78), Rhode Island (20.79), Delaware (17.12) and Maryland (14.96). Thirty-four of the states had a per capita number less than the U.S. average, and six states had less than five PhDs awarded per 100,000 people.

This week, Congress passed H.R. 1541, a continuing resolution that extends the SBIR program in its current state until July 31, 2009. The extension provides another four-month window for the two chambers to develop a compromise toward full reauthorization. 

The 100-word resolution extends all other programs within the Small Business Administration that were set to expire Friday, March 19, including the National Women's Business Council, the HUBZone Program, and the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program (which has not received an appropriation for several years).

Many agencies may see Congress passing their annual appropriations bill six months into the fiscal year as worth the wait, given the increases most science, technology and economic development supporting programs experienced. While some budget bump ups are modest, accommodating little more than inflation and Congressional earmarks, others should result in more grants flowing to researchers, universities, small businsses, and TBED organizations. SSTI has prepared summaries below of selected programs that may be of interest to Digest subscribers.

The enacted budget funds the Department of Agriculture (USDA) at $106 billion for FY09, with increases over FY08 funding for several programs related to TBED. Most of the USDA appropriation, $86.6 billion, is reserved for mandatory spending programs such as food and nutrition assistance and farm commodity programs. The remaining $19.4 billion is appropriated for discretionary spending, including most USDA research and TBED-related programs.

The FY09 enacted budget provides $9.3 billion for the Department of Commerce, up $1.6 billion over FY08. Much of this additional funding will support the 2010 U.S. Census and not TBED-related and research activities.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) FY09 allocation is $272.8 million. This is about $7 million less than the enacted amount in FY08 for salaries, expenses and programs, though EDA also received an additional $500 million in FY08 emergency appropriations. EDA oversees programs to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically distressed areas of the United States. EDA assistance is available to rural and urban areas of the Nation experiencing high unemployment, low income, or other severe economic distress. Individual spending allocations at EDA include:

The FY09 enacted budget provides $9.3 billion for the Department of Commerce, up $1.6 billion over FY08. Much of this additional funding will support the 2010 U.S. Census and not TBED-related and research activities.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) FY09 allocation is $272.8 million. This is about $7 million less than the enacted amount in FY08 for salaries, expenses and programs, though EDA also received an additional $500 million in FY08 emergency appropriations. EDA oversees programs to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically distressed areas of the United States. EDA assistance is available to rural and urban areas of the Nation experiencing high unemployment, low income, or other severe economic distress. Individual spending allocations at EDA include: