SSTI Digest

Legislators in Alaska, Iowa and Oklahoma recently approved funding for several TBED-related initiatives within state operating and capital budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. Alaska Legislators Create Renewable Energy Fund The 2008 legislative session wrapped up earlier this month, resulting in statewide support for renewable energy following the passage of the fiscal year 2009 operating (HB 310) and capital budget (SB 221).   Lawmakers agreed to Gov. Sarah Palin’s proposal supporting alternative energy projects in the upcoming fiscal year and beyond with the passage of HB 152, which creates a renewable energy grant fund and recommendation program to be administered by the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) and establishes a seven-member advisory committee.   The legislation requires AEA, in consultation with the advisory committee, to identify criteria to evaluate the benefit and feasibility of energy-related projects and develop a methodology for distributing funds. The capital budget agreement includes a "$50 million capitalization of the fund" for the grant program in FY09, AEA notes. AEA will solicit projects…

SSTI’s VC Dashboard Value Enlarged with Addition of Per Capita Data The runaway success of California and a few other major venture capital centers in the U.S. has made it difficult to get a firm grasp on the venture capital scene in the rest of the country. In the April 16, 2008 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest, SSTI looked at the impact of removing California from the data to get a clearer picture of how venture capital investment is distributed throughout the other 49 states. This approach, however, does not make it any easier to evaluate a state's venture activity relative to its actual capacity for investment. Such a study would require reliable metrics on the demand for investment, which we have yet to uncover.   In the absence of such metrics, it may help to examine each state's amount of investment and number of deals at the broadest and most general standardization level -- venture capital investment relative to the state’s total population. While total population is no substitute for data on investment capacity, it can provide a thumbnail sketch of how states are performing in light of their size. This approach could also help…

Two weeks ago, Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter vetoed legislation to repeal state R&D income tax credits for Idaho companies. Among his reasons for the veto, Gov. Otter claimed removing the credits would put Idaho at a competitive disadvantage because surrounding states over similar incentives. Was he right? It is true most states offer R&D tax credits to their corporate residents at this point. Little has been known about the credits’ impacts or effectiveness on recruitment, however. Most of the academic research on the topic has focused on the federal R&D tax credits and competition among nations.   On the state level, in theory at least, a rationally acting, research-intensive firm can be expected to select a location within a state that has an R&D tax credit over another state without one – all other things being equal. Note: The italicized phrase is a critical but impossible one that is required for these kinds of conclusive statements.    A recent research paper published in Economic Development Quarterly begins to shed some light on the effectiveness of state R&D tax credit…

Urban universities often have to cope with issues of land scarcity unique to their high density settings. In many cases, it’s because of their own success as an attractive magnet for other activities. The result? Major expansions can take years of negotiation and planning – and top dollar – to accomplish. In addition, tensions with neighbors and community sometimes arise over new development or incompatible land use. Some municipalities may struggle in a love-hate relationship with the colleges, welcoming the above-average wages of academic employment and accompanying economic growth, yet fretting over losing tax base as schools acquire more land. Rarely does a large piece of land exist in close proximity to an urban university that is both available and affordable – land providing the academic institution and local tech-based economic development programs the room to create opportunities for future research, innovation and science-based growth.   Fortunately for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, one of those large tracts of marginally used land - the state fairgrounds - sits adjacent to and between the school’s…

As Massachusetts legislators are in the process of crafting a compromise bill for the statewide Life Sciences Initiative, one new issue to emerge would have the state taking an equity position in the life sciences companies in which the state provides financial support. Insuring the state receives the economic development impacts promised by a company when the state provides financial support is not particularly new. Clawbacks for deals that leave state or fail to live up to employment promises are being demanded by states and communities with increasing frequency on conventional recruitment economic development projects.   The House version of the bill – H. 4554 – includes an “Equity investment” clause in which the state receives no less than 3 percent of the equity in a company that received state grants. The equity clause calls for a future quasi-public agency to become an equity partner in a biotech firm if state funds are used, and it only applies to firms that fail to secure venture or angel investor capital, according to a Boston Herald article. However, S. 2566, the Senate version of the bill that passed last month, does…

With just about two weeks left to apply for the 2008 Excellence in TBED Awards, applications are already coming in, and while there is no prize for early birds, we’ll gladly accept your entry at any time. No need to worry though; there is no penalty for procrastinators, other than the risk of a too hastily prepared proposal.   New to this year’s application brochure is a one-page set of application guidelines that was developed from the suggestions submitted by judges on last year’s award committees. This resource serves as a useful tool when crafting your narrative. Be sure to check it out at http://www.ssti.org/awards.htm.   The deadline to apply is May 16, 2008.   To learn more about last year’s winners, please visit: http://www.ssti.org/Awards/07winners.htm

Excitement already is building for SSTI's 12th annual conference, Encouraging Regional Innovation, and we only published the "save the date" postcards last week! Past participants know SSTI's annual conference is the only event of the year to bring together so many thought leaders and practitioners from all aspects of TBED from every corner of the country and every type of organization, with such varied angles and perspectives on every issue. The Oct. 14-16 event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cleveland promises to help professionally advance the tech-based economic development community through a series of fully interactive plenary sessions and discussion based breakouts.  To help our members get the most of the premiere conference of the year, SSTI is making available for the first time team pricing for members' registration to the full conference. This special offer provides significant discounts to our member organizations for multiple-staff registrations to the conference. The first registration is the regular price – already discounted $100 from non-member prices. Each additional employee of the member organization registering at the same…

A complete description of this opportunity is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, a nonprofit economic development organization created to stimulate economic growth through technological innovation, is seeking a vice president to lead its Technology Commercialization group in the Physical Sciences. This position will be responsible for developing strategic and operational plans and cultivating regional partnerships and initiatives with key personnel at universities, companies, government and private research institutions, and other key institutions. A Bachelor of Science degree in engineering or science related to the physical sciences is required. Candidates also should have at least 10 years of private sector experience in a related field.

To paraphrase an old automobile ad campaign, the SBIR program reauthorized for two years by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday is not your father’s SBIR program as it was created and sustained for the past 25 years. Nor would it be the same, smaller STTR program if the bill becomes law.   H.R. 5819 means bigger awards, but fewer awards. It means more flexibility as to when research projects can enter the SBIR/STTR process. It clarifies and expands eligibility to include companies owned by venture capital firms. It opens up significant subcontracting opportunities. It has, for the first time, requirements to give preferences in SBIR/STTR awards to companies based on geographic and demographic considerations.   Also reauthorized in the bill is a dramatically changed Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST). FAST would make two-year matching grants of up to $250,000 to support state SBIR/STTR outreach and proposal assistance. An amendment introduced by Rep Carney (R-PA) that was passed by voice vote, requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) to give preference in making FAST awards to proposals involving Small…

With the goal of helping frame innovation policy for the next Administration, the Brookings Institution and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released two reports today calling on the federal government to respond to America’s slipping leadership in commercial innovation. Together, the reports argue that without fundamentally new and different federal interventions, the U.S. lead in innovation will continue to shrink.   In Boosting Productivity, Innovation, and Growth through a National Innovation Foundation, Brookings and ITIF researchers recommend that the federal government reorganize and augment its diffuse current activities by establishing a National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – a lean, nimble and collaborative organization designed to work with businesses and other organizations in support of their innovation activities. Optimally, the report suggests NIF would have an annual appropriation of $1 billion to $2 billion annually.   NIF is proposed to engage in the following activities: Catalyze industry-university research partnerships through national sector research grants to help promote…

Lawmakers in Georgia and Maryland approved action earlier this month on several TBED-related measures for the upcoming fiscal year. Highlights of the approved budgets are outlined below.   Georgia Lawmakers committed $2.5 million, half of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s recommendation, to create the Georgia Research Alliance venture capital initiative to speed commercialization of university derived technologies to the marketplace. Earlier this year, Gov. Perdue asked legislators to provide $5 million to the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) in FY09 that would be matched with $5 million in existing funds and pooled with $30 million in private funds (see the Jan. 30, 2008 issue of the Digest).   Lawmakers reduced by half funding for the Georgia Youth Science and Technology program, which aims to increase interest and enthusiasm in science and technology among elementary and middle school teachers and students. The program is slated to receive $250,000 in FY09.   The FY 2009 approved budget is available at: http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2007_08/house/budget/reports/FY_2009_Bill_Final_Conf_Cmte_.pdf …

Last year, Congress authorized $5.9 billion in new spending on research, education and entrepreneurship as part of the Bush Administration’s decade-long $50 billion American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). Though Congress did not appropriate a significant amount of new funding to match this authorization, many remain committed to the goals of the ACI. This initiative would double federal funding over 10 years for research within agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. A recent study, however, finds the speed proposed for reaching these goals, while well-intentioned, may be a mistake.   In their paper, What if Congress Doubled R&D Spending on the Physical Sciences?, Richard Freeman and John Van Reenen argue that rapid increases in funding for R&D are substantially less effective in improving U.S. competitiveness than steady long-term increases. They examine the consequences of the federal government's effort between 1998 and 2003 to improve the U.S. standing in the life sciences by doubling the research budget of the National…