SSTI Digest

Sean O'Kane, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, is resigning from the position at the end of his two-year term in March to return to the private sector.

Broadband access is considered by most to be a key ingredient for encouraging innovation and building a local tech-based economy. Access for many rural areas, however, remains geographically or financially out of reach. Earlier this month, the New Hampshire Rural Development Council (NHRDC) unveiled a plan to change that for the businesses, government and individuals in the northern portion of the Granite State.

Produced by a group of more than 20 regional economic and community development practitioners, the Technology and Telecommunications Master Plan serves as a broad framework that is expected to provide direction to the region. The document is not intended as an implementation plan, but a tool to provide guidance as funding opportunities and projects become available, according to NHRDC.

An initiative aimed at creating 2,500 new jobs throughout New Hampshire will offer low-interest loans to companies who commit to creating new jobs or expanding their current employment base in the state.

Gov. John Lynch, along with Citizens Bank New Hampshire President and CEO Thomas Metzger, recently announced the Citizens Job Bank Program, a $100 million fund that will offer loans at 2 percent below prime for a fixed rate of 3.5 percent.

According to the governor's office, borrowers must create at least one full-time job for every $40,000 borrowed. The terms of the loan will require that the specified jobs be created within three years after the funds are borrowed. The New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development will administer the program and certify that borrowers fulfill their job creation commitment.

Fred Kocher has been elected president of the New Hampshire High Technology Council, which advocates technology-based businesses in New Hampshire.

Sean O'Kane, a hotel manager from Manchester, N.H., has been confirmed as the new commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development.

George Bald, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, has announced his resignation to become executive director of the Pease Development Authority.

In a move to integrate technology and traditional learning, New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson introduced on Tuesday a four-year pilot program to bring laptop computers into classrooms. The program, Technology Promoting Student Excellence, is intended to provide wireless connectivity to all 7th-grade students and teachers from selected schools.

Numerous corporate donors have contributed nearly half of the $1.2 million estimated cost to implement the program, according to the Associated Press. Up to five schools will be selected from a pool of 19 school districts being asked to submit proposals. Installation of the wireless network will begin in November 2003, following an announcement of winning schools.

With the sustained depth of the recession, the IT crash, the rapid growth in unemployment and the speculative office construction craze of the late 1990s, one would expect office vacancies to climb and property lease rates to edge down in many cities. Following this thought further might suggest, with cheaper office space available, the need for publicly supported low-rent technology incubator space would decrease.

SSTI sifts through hundreds of publications each week, monitoring issues of importance to the tech-based economic development community. If the above logic holds true, then after nearly three years of recession we should be reading accounts of incubators across the country closing their doors for lack of tenants, right?

The New Hampshire High Technology Council has announced Paul Houle is the new president and chief executive officer and Mary Collins will serve as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Besides supporting life science research in universities, one of the other key areas states and communities are using to encourage the growth of a local biotech industry is by supporting an increase in the availability of wet lab and other biotech facilities. Biotech space, however, is extremely expensive compared to other traditional tech incubator facilities for a variety of reasons (design, HVAC, environmental, security, regulatory, etc.)

New Hampshire Biotechnology Business Incubator Feasibility Study, a very detailed report released by the State of New Hampshire, presents a critical assessment of New Hampshire's ability to support technology-related business incubators, with emphasis on biotechnology facilities connected to universities such as Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire (UNH).

Earlier this month Governor Jeanne Shaheen released New Hampshire in the New Economy: A Vision for Expanded Prosperity, the first-ever comprehensive economic development plan for the State of New Hampshire. The plan calls for New Hampshire state government to focus its activities toward encouraging innovation, strengthening education and workforce development, retaining and protecting the quality of life, and extending economic opportunity to every citizen in every part of the state.



The plan’s 39 recommendations are divided among six categories. Specific recommendations relating to tech-based economic development are highlighted below.



Maintaining A Strong Economy