SSTI Digest

Over the past several months, universities, city and state governments, and private companies alike have announced the creation of high-tech incubators that will serve as springboards for developing specialized companies to help grow the regional economy. Following is a sampling of recent incubator news from across the nation.

 

In September, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) announced a $50,000 Rural Business Opportunity Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be used toward the creation of a high-technology incubator in Grant County. In partnership with Taylor University’s Center for Research & Innovation, Grant County Economic Growth Council will receive the bulk of the money to develop the Grant County Innovators Network Center, providing space for one anchor tenant and up to 20 incubator clients.

 

At $453.28, the District of Columbia led the nation in federal R&D obligations per capita to colleges and universities in 2005, according to recent National Science Foundation (NSF) report. For the U.S. as a whole, the per capita amount rose 25.8 percent from 2001 to 2005.



The District of Columbia was followed by Maryland ($261.49), Massachusetts ($214.11), California ($136.62), and Hawaii ($133.94) in 2005, based on the NSF data. The national average in 2005 was $84.35 per person. At the other end of the rankings, Puerto Rico experienced the lowest average at $16.29 per capita. This ws followed by Maine ($23.06), West Virginia ($27.27), Oklahoma ($30.97), and Florida ($33.12).



States experiencing the largest increase per capita from 2001 to 2005 were North Dakota at 107.2 percent, Idaho at 67.7 percent, Nevada at 66.5 percent, Hawaii at 61.7 percent, and Louisiana at 59.8 percent.

The 2007 state elections resulted in two newly elected governors, both promoting TBED strategies as a means to grow the states’ economies. In both cases, the new governorships reflect a change in party affiliation. A third gubernatorial race resulted in the re-election of Gov. Haley Barbour to a second term in Mississippi.

 

Kentucky

Democratic candidate Steve Beshear defeated Republican incumbent Ernie Fletcher by a 59-41 percent margin. The former lieutenant governor, attorney general and state representative unveiled an economic development platform during his campaign that consists of three major components -- the Kentucky Jobs First Plan, Fueling Kentucky First and Putting Opportunity First.

 

For the better part of the year, lawmakers in Michigan have faced the daunting task of balancing both a budget shortfall for fiscal year 2007 and a nearly $1.6 billion deficit for FY 2008. An agreement between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and lawmakers was reached in the early morning hours of Oct. 31, following a one-month extension of the deadline and a brief government shutdown.

On Tuesday, exactly one year before the U.S. goes to the polls to choose its next president, the Brookings Institution launched a national competitiveness initiative titled Blueprint for American Prosperity: Unleashing the Potential of a Metropolitan Nation. The central premise of the Blueprint is that the “health, vitality, and prosperity” of the major cities and metropolitan areas in the U.S. will be the drivers of the country’s ability to compete globally and meet future economic, social, and environmental challenges. During the next 12 months, Brookings will release a series of reports geared towards the next presidential administration and Congress to address various competitive and economic issues.

 

In an effort to streamline economic development strategies and market the state as a globally competitive place to pursue new business ventures, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano recently announced the creation of a new model for economic development last month.

 

A year-long study on the overall economic health of the state resulted in the creation of the Arizona Economic Resource Organization (AERO) and a newly expanded Arizona Global Network (AGN). AERO will serve as an umbrella organization for all economic development activity in the state to coordinate and leverage assets, set workforce strategies, and provide policy leadership and branding. 

 

The federal government made obligations of $25 billion in R&D to colleges and universities in fiscal year 2005 ­- a 4.8 percent increase from the FY 2004 total of $23.8 billion, according to new National Science Foundation (NSF) data. In its report, Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions: Fiscal Year 2005, NSF details all categories of direct federal science and engineering support to institutions of higher education in the U.S.

 

Delving deeper into the data, SSTI has prepared a table showing the state rankings for total federal academic R&D obligations and percent change over the five-year period from 2001-2005. During this time, federal R&D obligations grew by 29 percent but some states experienced much larger changes. North Dakota showed the largest increase in federal R&D obligations at 106.7 percent, followed by Nevada (91.6 percent), Idaho (81.4 percent), Hawaii (68.6 percent) and Louisiana (61.4 percent).

A complete description of this opportunity and others is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.



The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) is seeking someone to serve as manager of cluster and commercialization support programs. This position is primarily responsible for managing MTI's programs supporting the development of vibrant technology-intensive clusters and its activities supporting awardee commercialization and capital access.