SSTI Digest

A fun-filled evening of music, drinks and scrumptious hor d'oeurves awaits participants of SSTI's conference with the opening reception at the Marine Mammal Pavilion of the world-famous National Aquarium in Baltimore. This festive event is possible due to the generosity of Team Maryland, a group of 21 Maryland organizations supporting technology-based economic development in their state and region: Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) University System of Maryland (USM) Forest City Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins Battelle Wexford Science & Technology, LLC ANGLE Technology Group Greater Baltimore Committee Greater Baltimore Technology Council The Johns Hopkins University Maryland Chamber of Commerce Maryland Economic Development Association Maryland Economic Development Corporation Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA) Regional Visioning Group Research Parks Maryland Tech Council of Maryland Toucan Capital Corp. University of Maryland University of Maryland, Baltimore University of Maryland, Baltimore County Just…

SSTI's annual conference is the field's most stimulating and rewarding professional development event of the year. We hope you are planning on joining us in Baltimore, Oct. 18-19. You can expect: In-depth examinations of some of the best state and regional approaches to cultivate a bright economic future Unparalleled networking with the right people within the tech-based economic development community Stimulating dialogue and thought-provoking exchange between great thinkers, old friends and new peers from across the country Renewed energy and personal resolve to address the challenges of strengthening your state or local economy A great social networking opportunity enjoying the vibrancy of all Baltimore has to offer If you have come before, you know that each year's agenda provides the newest perspectives, thinking and approaches to dealing with common problems, new issues and the latest trends and challenges facing your efforts to transform your regional economy. Register today to attend SSTI's 11th Annual Conference, Transforming Regional Economies, at: http://www.ssticonference.org/

In addition to the 21-member Team Maryland, led by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) and the University System of Maryland, SSTI's 11th annual conference is made possible by the support of its national partners. SSTI extends its appreciation and thanks to the generous support received by the following exemplary organizations: Greater Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce ASME Center for Engineering Entrepreneurship & Innovation Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer GSP Consulting Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) MEP Utah National Centers of Excellence NorTech The Trent Lott National Center of Excellence for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship Ben Franklin Technology Partners Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Oak Ridge National Laboratory SZD Whiteboard  WestCAMP Descriptions of all local and national partners, including links to their individual websites for more information, are available at: http://www.ssticonference.org/Conf07/partners.htm …

California California lawmakers reached a budget agreement last week, preserving brief funding for an initiative aimed at supporting high-tech research and innovation. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the $95 million Research and Innovation Initiative in January to provide funding to several university-based projects focused on clean energy, biotechnology and nanotechnology research and commercialization (see the Jan. 8, 2007 issue of the Digest).   The fiscal year 2007-08 state budget includes $70 million in lease revenue bond funding for the Energy Biosciences Institute and the Helios Project at the University of California (UC). UC Berkeley will receive $40 million for the Energy Biosciences Institute to focus on the development of alternative fuel, and $30 million is allocated for the Helios Project, an initiative by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to create sustainable, carbon neutral sources of energy. Lawmakers also approved $6 million for UC labor research programs.   Not included in the budget is $15 million in operating funds for the California Institutes for Science and Innovation…

Last week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority (ASTA) would receive $9 million through the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) to enhance the state's research capabilities. The new funds will be used to support a broad range of activities, from attracting world-class scholars to fostering entrepreneurship, in select technology areas.   The program, dubbed the Arkansas Advancing and Supporting Science, Engineering and Technology (ASSET) Initiative, will provide additional research funding to three of the state's university campuses: the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. These schools will receive financial support to establish two new research centers and to promote interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research in promising fields.   The first center will investigate the nexus of agricultural, energy, environmental and health sciences in the use of plant materials for energy generation. The Plant Powered Production (P3) Center will…

Implementing successful technology-based development initiatives in rural areas is an ongoing challenge for many parts of the country. Earlier this month, New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer signed legislation establishing a new program to stimulate employment and income growth by promoting cluster-based strategies in rural regions of the state. Sponsored by Sen. George H. Winner Jr., chairman of New York’s Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, Senate Bill 3234 outlines the Cluster Based Industry and Agribusiness Development Grant Program, which will provide seed grants of up to $25,000 on a competitive basis to community-based economic development corporations.   The initiative will be administered by New York’s Rural Revitalization Program while the funds will be dispersed by the Empire State Development (ESD) Corporation, the state’s lead economic development agency as part of its comprehensive rural revitalization program. Clusters are expected to be organized around the existing strengths in certain regions, as well as the emerging technologies and research under development at the universities and colleges dotting the landscape of rural New…

University technology transfer efforts have been the subject of considerable discussion of late, moving all the way to hearings on Capitol Hill. Whether or not broad changes may be afoot as debate continues on the merits of the Bayh-Dohl Act, but several universities are already tweaking, modifying or stepping up their efforts to establish new businesses in emerging fields through innovative approaches.   The incentive for university direct involvement in tech transfer can be significant as administrators seek new sources of revenue because the payoff to universities and local economic impact can, on occasion, be quite lucrative. Last year, the University of Massachusetts (UMass) generated its best take yet from commercialization of its intellectual property, a record $41.4 million across five campuses, according to UMass officials.   In 2005, university technology managers across the U.S. reported more than $42 billion in R&D expenditures at U.S. academic centers, 628 new spinoff companies created, 4,932 new licenses signed, and an increase in patent applications filed over the previous year, according to the…

While colleges and universities are a natural breeding ground for new businesses, some universities excel at producing entrepreneurs and designing entrepreneurial programs that meet the needs of their community. Fortune Small Business Magazine recently released a list of 56 institutions that have embraced their role as educators of the next generation of successful entrepreneurs. These schools each provide a suite of programs and opportunities that have fostered active and consistent entrepreneurial activity among their students and within their region.   The list was compiled after interviews with entrepreneurs, faculty, students, administrators, alumni and venture capitalists. No rankings are given, but individual institutions are recognized for their achievement in training undergraduates, MBAs, executives and social entrepreneurs and in providing online opportunities.   Fortune notes that nearly 3,000 schools offer classes in entrepreneurship, 10 times more than in the mid-1980s. As the number of entrepreneurship programs has grown, institutions have begun offering more diverse and specialized opportunities to their…

Think back to the early 1980s. The structure of the U.S. workforce was very different than it is today. There were no such jobs as website designers; the mobile phone and personal computer industries were relatively tiny in size; and airline tickets were overwhelmingly purchased with the assistance of living, breathing travel agents. Simply put, advances in technology and computing ability created new employment opportunities and eliminated the need for a variety of jobs.   So how will the advances in technology change the composition of the workforce 25 years into the future? A pilot study performed by Stuart Elliot of the National Research Council’s Center for Education attempts to answer this question and predicts 60 percent of today’s workforce will be displaced by 2030, as advances in the abilities of computers meet or exceed the abilities of humans. In Projecting the Impact of Computers on Work in 2030, Elliot organized data on 93 of the 96 groups of occupations used in the Department of Labor’s Standard Occupational Classification system (information was not available for military-specific occupations). For each of these occupational groups,…

You can bring the whole team to SSTI's 11th Annual conference in Baltimore, Oct. 18-19. Members receive a $100 discount on up to seven conference registrations. Multiple attendees from the same organization allow broader coverage of more of the 19 concurrent breakout sessions, greater networking opportunities with more of the field's top thinkers and practitioners, and super savings on registrations. We encourage you to check out the brochure or the conference website soon to see what we have in store for this year's exceptional conference: http://www.ssticonference.org Join today and while supplies last, we will send you a copy of A Resource Guide for Technology-based Economic Development. The resource guide provides a starting point for transferring the collective wisdom of top TBED professionals from the past two decades to current practitioners. Each of the three main sections can serve separately or together as required reading before your next staff meeting, retreat or brainstorming session to help refine your approaches to transforming regional economies. Additional member benefits include: Funding…

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC), a public/private partnership that serves to foster a healthy and sustainable economic climate in the City and Borough of Juneau and in Southeast Alaska, has openings for two positions. JEDC seeks both an experienced program manager and a technology manager for SpringBoard, its Department of Defense (DoD)-sponsored technology transfer program. The program manager builds relationships with DoD labs nationwide and cultivates partnerships with industry, government and academia. The technology manager works with a portfolio of clients and projects to deliver program metrics, including various contracts, agreements and projects that help transfer technology or commercialize DoD technology. The Medical College of Georgia is seeking a director for its Life Sciences Innovation Center. This position generally serves as the primary contact for emerging life science businesses throughout Georgia by providing assistance with financing, planning and operations. The selected…

Edward Bowman Jr. was selected as chairman of Connecticut Innovations. Bowman replaces Elaine Pullen, who resigned to focus on her consulting business. Linda Burger was named technology manager of the Howard County Economic Development Authority. The creation of the Canadian Association of University Research Parks was announced earlier this month. AURP Canada will represent 25 Canadian science, technology and research parks and will be a chapter of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP). Eileen Walker has been appointed AURP's new executive director. Tom Clarkson was named the new director of Wake Forest University's Babcock Demon Incubator, replacing Paul Briggs. Dr. Donald Colbert is the new executive director of the Augusta BioBusiness Center and Georgia Medical Authority. Colbert replaces Lenie Roos-Gabridge, who retired in July. ConnectKentucky, a public-private partnership leading efforts to accelerate broadband availability and technology literacy throughout the Commonwealth, has formed a national umbrella…