SSTI Digest

A continuing concern of many TBED organizations is the departure of university graduates from their communities, leaving at various stages of their lives and taking their talent and education with them. The resulting "brain drain" from this exodus leaves many states with the frustration of paying the costs to educate its citizens, but not reaping the benefits of an educated workforce. For example, a survey completed two weeks ago by the Detroit Free Press reported 53 percent of students at Michigan's three largest universities (University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University) were definitely planning to leave the state after graduation. The main reason for leaving, cited by 47 percent of respondents, was to go where good jobs are located. A secondary reason, named by 24 percent of departing graduates, was the desire to see what it is like somewhere else outside of Michigan. Questions facing policymakers addressing brain drain include: What are the various measurable components of the brain drain problem in my locality, and what can be done to fix it? A recent report about the retention rate in…

Manufacturing firms come in all shapes and sizes. Little ones. Big ones. Ones that need more labor from their employees to assemble components. Ones that need more R&D from their employees to design products.   And, for a variety of reasons, many manufacturing firms decide to collaborate with other entities in order to develop new and improved products. A recent discussion paper from the Center for European Economic Research sheds new light on the motives of these collaborative firms. In Motives for Co-operation: Evidence from the Canadian Survey of Innovation, Tobias Schmidt develops a typology of these firms, differentiated by their reasons to engage in collaboration.   What’s new about Schmidt’s research is the tool he uses to explore the relationship between these motives (to share costs or to access external knowledge, for example) and the descriptive factors (size, industry type, educational attainment of employees, for example) of these firms. Much of the previous research in the field has used proxy measures to explore the motives of firms. But Schmidt utilized a direct question about firm motives that was…

Last week’s release by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the results of the 2005 survey of academic R&D expenditures reveals the nation’s investment in research through its universities and colleges rose 5.8 percent in fiscal year 2005. Academic research expenditures for FY 2005 totaled $45.75 billion.   The results permit SSTI to prepare an updated version of its statistical glance at the five-year trends by state. As in past tables, the new rankings for the percent change in a state’s share of the total over the period 2001-2005 confirms it is extremely difficult for states to change their overall ranking on a year-by-year basis.   In fact, during the past five years, only a handful of states have shifted rankings by more than one position either up or down over the five years.   The only three states to show “dramatic” improvements of more than two spots are: Nebraska, which moved from 35th in 2001 and 2002 to 31st in 2005; Tennessee, which climbed steadily from 26th in 2001 to 20th in 2004 and 2005; and, Virginia, moving from 17th in 2001 to 14th in 2005. Of…

Are you thinking about making a career change? If so, visit the SSTI Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. In addition to the new opportunities described below, the SSTI Job Corner has openings for these positions: Executive Director at the Georgia Medical Center Authority Director of the Student Innovation Center with the University of Maine Or, maybe you're interested in posting a position. SSTI members are entitled to unlimited, free postings, and a brief mention in the SSTI Weekly Digest. The cost for all others is $95 per ad, which will run for 30 days on the SSTI Job Corner. To place a job posting, contact Noelle Sheets at 614.901.1690. New opportunities are highlighted below. Each opportunity was announced by TechColumbus, a nonprofit corporation focused on developing local opportunities to impact Central Ohio's tech-based business growth: Director of IT Commercialization Services. This position is primarily responsible for recruiting, mentoring, assisting and servicing client companies of TechColumbus Incubation Services tenant and client companies. The position also will collaborate…

Against the backdrop of BIO’s annual meeting, held this week in Boston, Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled a comprehensive, collaborative Massachusetts Life Science Strategy. The plan includes a 10-year, $1 billion investment package to support biomedical and stem cell research. Key to the governor’s Life Science Initiative is passage of legislation yet to be introduced that will strengthen the Massachusetts Life Science Center and, according to the governor’s press release, “charge it with the execution of a life science mission focused on science and economic development, strategic investments at critical stages of the development cycle, and collaboration with the private sector to create innovation infrastructure critical to both researchers and companies.” The governor also announced his commitment to making targeted investments in companies that encourage life science economic development in the Commonwealth. Highlights of the proposal include a $1 billion investment package to provide funds to: Bridge the NIH funding gap – A competitive grant program to make up for recent losses and flat NIH funding at the state’s public and private…

This year, the Florida Legislature focused a great deal of attention on TBED issues, approving and continuing its support for several tech-related programs. Though Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed $20 million investment in stem cell research did not survive the legislative session, initiatives designed to encourage other cutting-edge research, improve access to capital and attract promising companies garnered more than $400 million in the state budget.   Enterprise Florida will manage the state's new Opportunity Fund, which will provide seed and early-stage venture capital to high-tech companies through investments in private venture capital firms. The fund will launch with an initial, one-time appropriation of $29.5 million and will specifically target its investments toward companies in the advanced manufacturing, IT, life sciences, aviation and aerospace, and defense industries. Recipients must be Florida-based companies and have received twice as much as the state investment from other sources.   A new nonprofit Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research will coordinate the marketing and commercialization of…

Indiana's General Assembly adjourned for the year last week, after passing a $29 billion budget that included more than $100 million for TBED-related programs.   The budget contributes $20 million to a new Life Sciences Fund that will provide grants of $15 million and $5 million to the Indiana School of Medicine and Purdue University, respectively, for life sciences research. Late last year, Gov. Mitch Daniels had proposed leasing the state's lottery to a private firm in order to generate more than $1 billion for the Life Sciences Fund and undergraduate scholarships (see the Dec. 18, 2006 and Jan. 15, 2007 issues of the SSTI Weekly Digest). That plan would have made more than $400 million available for life sciences research; however, it was not approved by the General Assembly. The approved measure follows on the heels of Purdue University's announcement that it would partner with the Arthur Mann Foundation to establish a $100 million biomedical engineering research center (press release is available here).   The budget provides $70 million over the next biennium to the state's 21st Century Research and Development Fund…

The 2007 Iowa state legislative session has looked very favorably on TBED. One of the centerpieces of Iowa Gov. Chet Culver’s campaign last year was his pledge to "develop the next-generation energy ecomony in Iowa" through a $100 million state fund (see the Feb. 19, 2007 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest). The Iowa Power Fund was approved by the state’s General Assembly late last month and closely resembles Gov. Culver’s original plan. For the first year, the fund will be capitalized with an initial $25 million from the state and an additional $25 million annually over the next three years.   The authorizing legislation also calls for the creation of a board to oversee the distribution of the funds and a new Office of Energy Independence. The board is authorized to make grants and loans that will accelerate in-state R&D and knowledge transfer and will improve the economic competitiveness of the state’s renewable energy industry. Iowa’s Office of Energy Independence will coordinate all state efforts to promote the use of renewable energy sources and to lead the development of a strong biofuels industry.   The General…

A number of crucial TBED initiatives introduced earlier this year by North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven were recently enacted by the state legislature, including a $42 million renewable energy plan, $20 million in new funding for university-based Centers of Excellence, a 25 percent R&D tax credit, and additional investments in research and workforce development.   A comprehensive renewable energy plan aimed at supporting both state and national energy goals was created to help maximize use of the state’s renewable energy resources. The package also includes funding for programs that support the 25 x 25 Initiative, a nationwide goal that calls for 25 percent of the nation’s energy to come from renewable resources by the year 2025.   Funding for renewable energy investment programs and alternative energy development is central to the plan. This includes a new Biomass Energy Center to conduct research on biomass production and conversion; $5 million for the Biofuels PACE Fund, an interest buy-down program; and, $7.3 million for the governor’s Ethanol Production Incentive Fund, offering counter-cyclical support for ethanol…

University administrators most commonly measure success for their technology transfer efforts by revenue generation. Public institutions, however, increasingly have state legislators, governors and local civic leaders expecting those licenses and spinoffs to occur within their political borders. Tech transfer does not always equate to regional economic development to the degree desired by policymakers.   The carrot and stick analogy plays well to the different approaches states are attempting to keep more of the technology commercialization at home. Ohio's new Technology Commercialization Incentive (TCI) Fund is one of the latest carrots - rewarding the best schools, whether public or private, with cash.   Two weeks ago, the Ohio Board of Regents selected three universities as the first-ever recipients for TCI awards, totalling $500,000. The annual reward is based on an index score, calculated with weighted measures of: 1. Each university’s research expenditures provided by in-state companies, normalized by the total statewide research contributions from in-state companies during the previous fiscal year. (…

At the 2007 SSTI annual conference, the Trent Lott National Center of Excellence for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship <http://www.trentlottcenter.com/> intends to make an award to the researcher or research team that has made the most significant impact on the field of technology-based economic development in the last five years. The chosen researcher will receive a significant honorarium and will present findings at the 2007 SSTI Annual Conference, Oct 18-19 in Baltimore. Judges will include active researchers who have significant practical experience in TBED. Judges will consider the quality of the research, the applicability and impact of the research findings on TBED policy and practice, and the ability of the selected researcher to present at the 2007 SSTI annual conference. Please enter nominations at http://www.trentlottcenter.org/researchaward.htm or e-mail nominations to ken.malone@usm.edu with the names of nominees; contact information of nominees, including e-mail, mailing address, and/or phone number; references to journal articles (preferred), conference presentations, websites or a very brief…

A big week for big cheeses: Idaho Gov. Butch Otter selected James Ellick to head the Idaho Department of Commerce. Ellick brings a tech perspective to the department, having run four venture capital backed tech companies in Silicon Valley in his past. Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher named John Hindman, retired former vice president of strategic communications and public affairs for UPS Airlines, to run the state's Economic Development Cabinet. John Mengacci, CEO of Connecticut Innovations, announced his resignation. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson appointed Fred Mondragon as the director of the state's economic development department. Mondragon had been economic development director for the city of Albuquerque. New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer nominated Edward Reinfurt to serve as executive director of the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation. Reinfurt has been vice president of the Business Council of New York State, a statewide 4,000-member chamber of commerce, since its founding in 1980.