SSTI Digest

Tom Ballard was named director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Partnerships Directorate, formerly known as Technology Transfer and Economic Development. Ballard had been serving as the organization's interim director since August 2007.

The Howard County Economic Development Authority appointed Larry Collins as a new technology manager and as executive director of the new Howard Technology Council.

The Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest hired Diane Durance as its new executive director, succeeding Art DeMonte, now a full-time business consultant. Durance formerly was president of the Ann Arbor IT Zone.

William "Chip" Farmer was named interim director of the Greater Richmond Technology Council. Farmer replaces Robert Stolle, who left in December 2007 to join Core Consulting, a business and information technology consulting firm.

The Indiana Business Incubator Society announced its plans to become a formal organization.

The Illinois Technology Development Alliance (ITDA) this week promoted John Noel to become ITDA's permanent president. Noel had been serving as interim president over the past 15 months.

Lisa Porter was named the first director of the new Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity. Porter, NASA's associate administrator of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said she will leave the agency in February.

Karen Sievewright is the new director of research and analysis at the Toronto Region Research Alliance. Sievewright replaces George Tolomiczenko, who left to become the executive director of research and scientific liaison at the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada.

Brenda Wyland will join the Research & Technology Park Inc. at North Dakota State University as the incubator manager, effective Feb. 1, 2008.

The second installment of the Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes highlights from state-of-the-state, budget and inaugural addresses from Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia. ArizonaGov. Janet Napolitano, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 14, 2008“Higher standards for students mean we must sustain a higher-quality corps of math and science teachers by expanding teacher loan forgiveness, scholarships, and incentives. Last year, you took a big step in this direction by providing initial funding for these incentives, and by funding more math and science teachers; I ask you to do the same this year. … “… The eighth graders of today are the high school class of 2012 – Arizona’s centennial class. I say, let’s make a contract with these Centennial Scholars, and with all the classes that follow. Let’s agree that any eighth grader who pledges to stay out of trouble and maintains at least a “B” average in high school will be guaranteed free tuition at any of our community colleges or state universities. … “… I propose…

Using one-time lottery surplus funds available for fiscal year 2008, Gov. Joe Manchin wants to invest $80 million in world-class research and specialized job training to propel the state toward a knowledge-based economy. The proposal was unveiled to lawmakers during Gov. Manchin’s State-of-the-State Address last week in conjunction with the fiscal year 2009 budget recommendation. Citing a skilled labor shortage for West Virginia companies, Gov. Manchin said that to improve the workforce, the state must target higher education and workforce development investments. The governor’s plan, dubbed “Bucks for Jobs” is twofold. First, he proposes the state create a $50 million education research trust fund modeled after Kentucky’s successful “Bucks for Brains” initiative. The state’s leading research universities – West Virginia University and Marshall University – are the proposed recipients of the endowment, which will require a dollar-for-dollar match by private donations. Funds will be used to simulate world-class R&D and attract venture capital, which will eventually lead to jobs in emerging, high tech and high-wage industries, Gov. Manchin said…

Coinciding with a plethora of state-of-the-state addresses delivered over the past week, several governors have released budget recommendations for the upcoming fiscal year. The following states’ budgets include crucial TBED investments and reductions in programs. California Upon declaring a fiscal emergency and calling a special legislative session to address the current-year budget deficit of $3.3 billion, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his fiscal year 2008-09 budget recommendation to lawmakers alongside the proposed budget stabilization plan aimed at reducing the deficit. The proposal calls for 10 percent reductions to nearly all general fund departments and programs, boards, commissions and elected officials, with limited exceptions. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s fiscal year 2008-09 budget does include funding for the Science and Math Teacher Initiative. Under the governor’s proposal, the workload budget includes an ongoing $2.7 million for California State University and $1.1 million for the University of California to continue its efforts to address the shortage of math…