SSTI Digest

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has unveiled an economic development package intended to bolster the state’s role in the global tech economy through multi-year investments totaling an estimated $100 million. More details will be available soon, but the package includes a new Global Entrepreneur in Residence Program that will help entrepreneurial foreign students remain in the country even without H-1B visas, an expansion of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s internship and mentoring program, recapitalization of the MassVentures public venture fund, an expanded R&D tax credit program, and a new Middle Skills Job Training Grant Fund. The governor also is proposing to eliminate non-compete clauses for tech businesses, a move modeled on policies in California. More details…

Massachusetts’ continuing success in the biopharmaceutical sector depends on finding new ways to fund startup and early stage research activities, according to a new strategic plan released by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio). The report cites recent data showing that life sciences venture capital has fallen by 50 percent over the past five years and many investors have turned to later stage investments. In place of this model of startup funding, the group recommends engagement with a number of alternative funding channels, including angel groups, foundations, wealthy individuals and crowdfunding services. The report also includes a number of other recommendations to improve the environment for new and growing life sciences firms. Massachusetts remains a global leader in bioscience research and entrepreneurship and tops the list of most indicators of life sciences innovation activity on a per capita basis, according to MassBio.  The state leads the country in per capita funding from the National Institutes of Health for academic research, patents, licensing and biotech venture investment. That key role in the industry, however, had made the…

Between FY2007-12, research and development (R&D) spending at U.S. universities grew 27.5 percent, from about $51.6 billion to $65.8 billion, according to the latest edition of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey. The survey provides a look at R&D spending at U.S. universities, with data broken down by state, institution, research area and funding sources. California remained the leader in university R&D spending, but spending in the state grew at a slightly lower rate than the national average. Most of the other top 20 states experienced gains that exceeded the national average. University research spending in Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington grew at rates far outpacing other major R&D states. Expenditures in Colorado, which ranked 16th in spending, nearly doubled during the FY2007-12 period. Colorado’s gains were attributable to increased research activity at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins and, in particular, the University of Colorado, Denver, and Anschutz Medical Campus. Expenditures at the medical campus grew by 63…

Los Angeles County (CA), New York County (NY) and Cook County (IL) topped the list of places where people older than 25 with graduate or professional degrees moved to between 2007 and 2011, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s County-to-County Migration Flows Tables. Middlesex County (MA) and Fairfax County (VA) also ranked among the top destinations for highly educated transplants. The Census report provides data on domestic migration at the county level, including data on income and educational attainment. The report reveals that large flows of educated workers move both into and between these top counties. Read the Census report…

Patrick Gallagher has been named the 18th chancellor and chief executive officer of the University of Pittsburgh. Gallagher currently serves as acting deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Ben Walker has joined the Innovation Center of the Rockies team as the program manager working directly with CSU Ventures. Bryan Toney has been named The University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s associate vice chancellor for Economic Development. Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced the appointment of John Barros as chief of his Economic Development Cabinet.

The fourth installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Illinois, Massachusetts and Utah. Read part I, part II and part III.  Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, State of the State Address, Jan. 29, 2014 "Part of our jobs strategy is investing in industries that are the future of a 21st century economy. ... "... And that's why now, we're going to invest in a new bio-hub for pharmaceutical, medical device, and health IT startups.” Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, State of the Commonwealth Address, Jan. 28, 2014 “And let’s give our public colleges and universities the resources they need to freeze tuition and fees once again. … “… Let’s keep playing to our strengths by supporting the life sciences and advanced manufacturing, by expanding our clean tech initiatives, including in the burgeoning water technology cluster, by encouraging technology clusters of every kind.” Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, State of the State Address, Jan. 29, 2014 "Science, technology, engineering and math are…

After hitting an all-time high in 2012, California’s dominance of the nation’s venture capital activity receded a bit last year. California continues to receive about half of the country’s venture investment dollars and about 40 percent of its dealflow, but in 2013, the state’s share of dollars fell from 53 to 50 percent, according to data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association (PwC/NVCA) Moneytree survey. Massachusetts, which has been host to about 10 percent of national venture activity in past years, also saw its share of total U.S. activity decline. Gains in second tier venture capital states appear to account for the shift, including upticks in Florida, Maryland, New York, Texas and Virginia. Massachusetts continue to lead the country in terms of dollars and deals per capita, though for the first time that lead was threatened by the rise of Washington, D.C., as a venture capital hotspot. Last week, SSTI reported that national venture capital activity picked up in 2013 following a slower 2012, but investment levels had generally been stable over the past three years. The current level of activity is similar to the…

Eager to attract investment and spur startup activity, city and state officials launched entrepreneurship programs, high-tech R&D centers, and sector-specific facilities as part of the innovation hub trend in 2013. Research suggests that cities and regions with strong, established tech sectors tend to produce more startups. For example, a white paper from the Kauffman Foundation found the recent adoption of entrepreneurship programs in many cities is more an indication of the underlying strength of the region and its base of talent on which those programs can build rather than a cause of startup activity. Using an appendix of the top metro areas by startup density in high-tech and ICT sectors for 1990 and 2010, the study examines the relative performance of the areas over the past 20 years in terms of high-tech entrepreneurship. Specifically, the author wanted to find out what areas saw the biggest increases or decreases in high-tech startup density, compare relative performance by different size MSAs, and discover whether or not the top metro areas identified for 2010 were the same as in 1990. Findings indicate many areas currently considered new startup…

In the latest of a series of announcements outlining MA Gov. Deval Patrick's spending strategy for the coming year, the governor has released his administration's FY14 Capital Investment plan, including details on economic development and education funding. As released, the plan would fund the Governor's Life Sciences capital program at $62.6 million, $13.4 million for the MA Broadband Institute program, $10 million to expand high-speed broadband in unserved areas, and $56.2 million for the state's public infrastructure funding program. STEM education programs also would receive enhanced funding, as outlined in the governor's recently released STEM strategic plan (see the November 12 issue). Another $4 million would support early education and afterschool programs through the new Early Education and Out of School Time Capital Fund. Read the announcement...

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has made a series of announcements over the past few weeks aimed at improving the high-tech skill set of the state's workers and students. A new STEM strategic plan released yesterday would refine Massachusetts' efforts to expand the pipeline of young, skilled science and technology workers and improve the quality of STEM education. The plan is an update of goals originally set by the governor in 2010, and is focused on increasing the percentage of highly-skilled Pre-K-16 STEM teachers and growing the share of students who enter post-secondary STEM programs. Read the announcement...

MassVentures, Massachusetts's pioneering quasi-public capital fund for early-stage technology companies, has announced that its portfolio companies have now attracted more than $1 billion from outside sources over the lifetime of the organization. MassVentures was one of the first state efforts in the U.S. to address the lack of investment capital for early-stage firms. Since its launch in 1978, the organization has leveraged $14 million in state funding to make $91 million in investments. Read the announcement...

On the heels of their big win last week in Portland, OR, SSTI’s 2013 Excellence in TBED award winners have announced more exciting news surrounding their programs’ impact and new initiatives to support regional growth strategies. This year’s winner for Most Promising TBED Initiative, ASU Entrepreneurship & Innovation Group (EIG), has attracted a new partner to expand on their model for entrepreneurial support by repurposing existing library space. The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center announced nearly $200,000 in grants for STEM education as they continue to improve the competitiveness of the life sciences sector, and in Utah, two impact reports have been released by partners of USTAR detailing progress made to expand research capacity. Gordon McConnell, Assistant Vice President for Innovationand Entrepreneurship at ASU The city of Phoenix soon may partner with the Alexandria Co-working Network, a program of ASU EIG, to turn another library into space for entrepreneurs. Called EUREKA spaces, these areas provide access to experienced mentors from ASU’s network alongside physical and digital access from the libraries. Classes taught…