SSTI Digest

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has appointed Stephan Helgesen as director of the Office of Science and Technology at the state Economic Development Department.

South Dakota State University named Teresa McKnight as the first permanent director of the Innovation Campus at SDSU, the university's new research park.

The Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. has named Larry Penley, president of Colorado State University, the recipient of its first Regional Economic Development Excellence Award.

The Association of University Research Parks named the Science Center in Philadelphia "Outstanding Research Park of the Year."

Gov. Jim Risch has appointed Nor Rae Spohn to his science and technology advisory council.

Gov. Haley Barbour has named Gray Swoope as the new executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority. Swoope replaces outgoing executive director Leland Speed, who will serve through the end of December.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch announced he will nominate his deputy chief of staff and policy director, Michael Vlacich, to be the state's next director of economic development.

The University of South Dakota appointed Terry Young as the director of research and development, a newly created position.

Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) has released its strategic investment plan for fiscal year 2006-07, which includes grants to support university research, new high-tech businesses, and K-12 STEM education. The investment strategy will guide SFAz’s grant award decisions during its first year of operations and represents a starting point for the organization, which hopes to develop the plan into a long-term strategy for economic development.   The state’s 21st Century Fund, an initiative established by the governor and state legislature during the last session, provides public funding for SFAz’s grant programs. An initial allocation of $35 million will support SFAz’s five cornerstone programs, including: $18 million for Strategic Research Groups, which seed partnerships between research institutions and the private sector; $5 million for Competitive Advantage Awards between $100,000 to $400,000 to support in-state R&D;

Governor Urges Pension Fund to Invest in Emerging Tech Companies Starting in January, a new advisory council within the Texas Governor’s Office will begin work on a long-term strategy to bolster the state’s economic competitiveness. The Competitiveness Council will be charged with designing an overall framework for cooperation between public and private organizations involved in economic development. Gov. Rick Perry will appoint the group’s members by the end of the year.   The governor made the announcement during his keynote address at the Texas Lyceum’s 2006 Public Conference in San Antonio earlier this month. Gov. Perry told the audience of state economic development leaders that the new state strategy devised by the council would be a logical extension of other recent Texas TBED initiatives, such as the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Emerging Technology Fund.  

The number of doctorates awarded in the U.S. within science and engineering (S&E) fields reached an all-time high in 2005, according to a recent National Science Foundation (NSF) issue brief. After the previous high of 27,273 S&E doctorates awarded in 1998, the number decreased for four years until 2002, and has steadily increased the past three years to the 2005 number of 27,974 Ph.D. graduates.   NSF’s Division of Science Resources Statistics reports that several groups, including women and non-U.S. citizens, also received a record number of S&E doctorates in 2005. In fact, from 2001 to 2005, S&E doctorates awarded to non-citizens increased by 25 percent, which accounted for almost all of the recent growth in the number of total doctorates awarded. The issue brief indicates there is little evidence of a decline of non-citizen S&E doctorate attainment since the terrorist attacks in September 2001.  

One out of four public, venture-backed companies started since 1990 were founded by entrepreneurs who immigrated to the U.S. before starting their company, according to a recent study commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association. Immigrant-founded companies are even more common within high-tech industries, where 40 percent of all new publicly traded firms in the past 16 years have had immigrant founders, including widely-acclaimed IT success stories like Google, Yahoo! and eBay. The aggregate market capitalization of new immigrant-founded tech companies since 1990 exceeds $500 billion.