SSTI Digest

Did you use the Recompete Mapping Tool to check your eligibility for this new EDA funding opportunity when the fact sheet and map were first released? If you did, and you got the response, “Contact your local economic development office” don’t stop there! EDA has updated its mapping tool in the past few days to reflect significant flexibility in program eligibility. These changes mean that many more regions may be able to successfully compete for strategy development awards and, ultimately, implementation awards. For areas that were previously marked as partially eligible, the mapping tool now directs users to the Census Tract Viewer, which helps to better-identify regions that can still compete for program funds. Specifically, this viewer shows that your local community may qualify if it: is located within, but does not fully cover, an ineligible local labor market, and contains a subset of the area served by the unit of local government that has five or more contiguous census tracts that each individually have a prime-age employment gap (PAEG) of at least 5% and median annual household income of no more than $75,000, and is contained within the identified…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reduced its funding for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The cut at the Office of Science—the agency’s primary program administrator—appears to be about 35%. The change resulted from congressional direction that the agency had miscalculated its SBIR set-aside and is intended to make the Office of Science’s calculation more consistent with that of the other programs in DOE. The reduction will likely result in tougher competition for SBIR/STTR awards at the agency in the foreseeable future. Congress directed the department to make this change in its FY 2022 appropriations bill. The text of the congressional instruction,[1] the “Department is directed to use the definition of research” from the SBIR legislation, seems innocuous. However, it appears that this instruction was included because DOE had been including activity in its calculation of its extramural research budget that the appropriations committee does not believe belongs there. This recalculation of extramural research is what is driving the cuts. The calculation of extramural research is critical…

If a recent forecast from McKinsey & Company is correct, climate change isn’t the only rough ride ahead over the next decade for regional and national economies. “The next several years will take us on a roller-coaster ride featuring fast-paced innovation and technological breakthroughs that force us to recalibrate our understanding of [generative artificial intelligence’s] impact on our work and our lives,” the team of researchers from McKinsey writes in The economic potential of generative AI: the next productivity frontier. Policymakers, higher education leaders, TBED practitioners, and urban planners would be wise to take notice: no aspect of regional innovation policy portfolios is likely to be untouched. In many sectors, positions requiring creative professionals and knowledge workers, the key labor components of technology-based economic development (TBED), are most at risk. Additionally, the McKinsey researchers note, “generative AI increases the potential for [disruption by] technical automation most in occupations requiring higher degrees of educational attainment.” The need for, and nature of, research parks, innovation districts, and…

NIST has released a plan to make its scientific data and publications more readily available and accessible, following a memo from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) instructing all government agencies to do so. NIST has presented its plan in its June 30 Draft for Public Comment, now open for comment. Comments may be submitted until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on August 14 here. The draft plan includes updates to the agency’s existing 2014 plan, which includes requirements for NIST to provide ways for the public to access and download, free of charge, agency-funded research publications and related data. The publications and data must be available immediately, if legally possible, or up to 12 months following publication. NIST must also provide a portal for public access to data associated with manuscripts, stand-alone datasets, and other research outputs. Thus, researchers must allow manuscripts and data related to a manuscript to be publicly available when published. Also, data acquired via a NIST award must be made publicly available within three years of the end of the award unless the data is protected by legal, privacy, ethical,…

The Acting Secretary of Labor (Secretary) requests nominations of qualified candidates to be considered for appointment to the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA) for the 2023-2025 membership term. Registered Apprenticeship is highly dependent on its stakeholders' and partners' engagement and involvement for its operational effectiveness. Apart from the ACA, there is no single organization or group with the broad representation of employers, labor unions, and public entities available to consider the complexities and relationship of apprenticeship activities to other training efforts or to provide advice on such matters to the Secretary, Candidates for consideration to be members of the ACA must represent a constituent base connected to apprenticeship activities. ACA Members should also have: A demonstrated interest in the national apprenticeship system. The ability and readiness to devote time and effort to attend all public ACA meetings, actively participate in ACA deliberations, advocate for the apprenticeship system, and participate in planned member activities. Appointed ACA members will meet publicly quarterly. Successful nominees will be…

As more households rely on faster forms of internet, broadband internet service has begun to be treated as a necessity in the home and workplace. But its use has varied by generation; according to Pew Research Center, 99% of US adults ages 18-29 report using the internet, while only 75% of senior citizens (65+) can say the same. With Gen Z, aged 11 to 26, moving into the workforce and Boomers, aged 59 to 77, retiring, there will be a shift towards mobile internet (internet from cell towers and 5G data). Statistics from Pew Research Center indicate that smartphone ownership (85%) and home broadband subscriptions (77%) have increased among American adults since 2019 – from 81% and 73%, respectively. However, in recent years home broadband use has diverged, with 18 to 29-year-olds moving towards dependence on smartphones and older generations remaining dependent on home broadband subscriptions; people aged 30 to 49 have the highest dependence at 86%. Gen Z may be gravitating toward smartphones because these devices have provided internet mobility from anywhere outside the home where home broadband subscriptions could not compete. In the 2020’s, in…

This week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury approved the state of Mississippi and 15 Tribal Governments for State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) awards. Mississippi is receiving $86 million to launch four programs, including a $15 million fund investment program and an $11 million direct investment program. Treasury approved the funding of six venture capital programs from the awards to Tribal Governments: Chickasaw Nation ($8.0 million), Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope ($2.9 million), Ninilchik Village ($0.7 million), Levelock Village ($0.6 million), Redding Rancheria ($0.6 million), and Osage Nation (VC program amount not specified from the $5.1 million total award).

On June 26, 2023, the U.S. government announced allocations from the $42.45 Billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. These funds, allocated to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five territories, are intended to close the digital divide in the U.S., as funding will be used to deploy or upgrade broadband networks to ensure that everyone in the U.S. has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service. The announcement included the amount that each recipient is due to receive. These amounts were based on a map from the FCC, which had been challenged by many potential recipients and revised accordingly. Nineteen states will receive at least $ 1 billion, according to an NTIA announcement. Texas received $3.3 billion, more than any other state; nineteen other states, including Alaska and Michigan, received between $1 and $2 billion. Seven recipients, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, received between $100 million and $160 million. States, D.C., and territories (“eligible entities”) will receive their formal notice of allocation on June 30, 2023. They will have 180 days from the date of that formal…

Today, the Supreme Court ended Affirmative Action on college campuses. The syllabus (headnote) to the decision stated: “Because Harvard's and UNC's admissions programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points, those admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause.” With this ruling, the Supreme Court upends a status quo that has existed for 45 years. Impacts, from undergraduates to STEM faculty Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce’s (CEW) report, Race, Elite College Admissions, and the Courts: The Pursuit of Racial Equality in Education Retreats to K–12 Schools, prepared before the decision was released states, “As a result of the expected ruling, selective higher education institutions almost certainly will become less diverse, reducing the rates of degree attainment among students from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups.” In academia, there is a fear that there could be a dampening effect on those trying to diversify…

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has signed into law a bill that establishes a green jobs corps program. This program will identify a talent development strategy for communities to address the impacts of climate change and reduce carbon emissions. The bill includes several provisions to accomplish those goals and a plan to market and recruit these jobs to individuals, especially from underrepresented populations. The bill’s goal is to ensure the development of CT's green technology industry and workforce by implementing green job work-based learning, certification, and degree programs that target green industries facing workforce shortages. These programs will be offered at career schools and institutions of higher education.

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced a funding opportunity and application process for large semiconductor supply chain projects that include materials and manufacturing equipment facility projects with capital investments equal to or exceeding $300 million. Alongside the funding opportunity for larger supply chain projects, the Department also released a “Vision for Success" outlining strategic objectives for investments in the semiconductor supply chain. The goals in the vision paper include: (1) strengthening supply chain resilience, including by reducing chokepoint risks flowing from the geographic concentration of critical semiconductor inputs; (2) advancing U.S. technology leadership, including by incentivizing major U.S. manufacturing equipment and materials suppliers to increase their footprints in the United States and attracting non-U.S. suppliers of the world's most advanced equipment, materials, and subsystems to establish large-scale footprints here; and (3) supporting vibrant U.S. fab clusters, including ensuring an ecosystem of reliable suppliers supports each CHIPS-funded cluster. Application Processes and Timelines…

The U.S. Department of the Treasury released new proposed regulations this week that, together with draft guidance published in March, define how semiconductor companies can take advantage of the advanced manufacturing investment tax credit created as part of the CHIPS & Science Act. This credit is equal to 25% of the capitalized costs of tangible property used to manufacture semiconductors or semiconductor manufacturing equipment placed in service after 2022, and the credit is refundable, meaning that companies posting a loss can still receive its full value. In evaluating the cost of the legislation, the Congressional Budget Office expected more than $24 billion in claims for the credit. The latest proposed guidance defines elective payment procedures, which are intended to help companies receive the credit’s financial benefits more quickly. Comments on the rule are due by August 14.