SSTI Digest

Editor's note: The Senate appropriations subcommittees were formally updated after this article originally published. They have been updated to reflect new assignments. The 118th Congress is now sufficiently organized to know who will sit on each committee that is most directly-relevant to federal innovation and entrepreneurship policy. These new rosters include new leaders. In the Senate, both the commerce committee (Sen. Ted Cruz) and small business committee (Sen. Joni Ernst) have new ranking members. In the House, not only has control switched parties, but there are four new leaders among the eight chair and ranking member seats with important roles in this area. See the lists, below, for an explanation of important committees and their full membership. SSTI works to educate each of these committees about the importance of regional innovation economies through its Innovation Advocacy Council. Organizations interested in learning more about federal policy in this area or how to educate your delegation should contact SSTI (contactus@ssti.org). Members marked with an asterisk (*) are new to the committee since the start of the previous congress.…

Although freshman enrollment in higher education increased 4.3% in fall 2022 compared to the previous year, total enrollment declined by 0.6% and still remains below pre-pandemic levels. Total enrollment of both undergraduate and graduate levels is down about 1.11 million students (5.8%) compared to fall 2019. Freshman enrollment in community colleges, which had taken a greater hit during the pandemic, is up 6.1% over fall 2019. The new data on enrollment was released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Public four-year institutions saw a 1.4% decline in enrollment (-88,000 students), while private for–profit four-year institutions increased 5% from fall 2021 (29,000 more students). Graduate enrollment fell 1.2% after two years of consecutive growth. The Current Term Enrollment Estimates (CTEE) from the research center also features new analyses of race and ethnicity, undergraduate and graduate enrollment by major field at the state level, and institutional selectivity.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requests input from stakeholders on place-based innovation activities leveraging research institutions, such as (but not limited to) DOE’s national laboratories and sites. Feedback collected as part of this RFI will inform DOE’s future program planning and development efforts. The RFI is an opportunity to provide input on how DOE can catalyze and sustain place-based ecosystems across the country. The request includes a list of guiding questions about regional characteristics as well as existing and potential place-based regional innovation activities to inform responses. This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement, prize, or other solicitation. The comment period concludes on March 28. In the press release, DOE Under Secretary Geraldine Richmond notes, “Place-based innovation initiatives are key to the success of DOE’s mission going forward … DOE National Labs are catalysts to make sure the benefits of the new energy economy reach all corners of the nation so that communities can thrive." Review the full notice and submit feedback via Regulations.gov. 

This past December, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sent out letters of encouragement, or discouragement, to applicants in the competition for up to $7 billion in federal funding to support the development of regional hydrogen hubs. Of the 79 original applicants, 33 were advised to move forward with writing a full application. The DOE has not released a list of the groups that were encouraged to submit a full proposal but did allow the groups to announce their status on their own. A report from S&P Global identified 18 of the 33 finalists, and other news has been trickling out through local news outlets and group announcements. Some of those that received notice of encouragement to proceed with a full proposal include: Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub Alliance for Reliable Clean Hydrogen Energy System Hub Decarbonization Network of Appalachia (DNA) H2Hub Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Coalition Halo Hydrogen Hub Hawaii Pacific Hydrogen Hub Heartland Hydrogen Hub Mid-Continent Clean Hydrogen Hub Mid-Atlantic Clean H2 Hub Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub Midwest Alliance for Clean…

On Tuesday, Feb. 1, SSTI’s new TBED Community of Practice hosted its first webinar as part of a multi-year effort to build capacity among Economic Development Administration (EDA) grantees to achieve greater impacts and strengthen the overall practice of technology-based economic development (TBED). Webinar participants learned about new funding sources and how they can support regional innovation economies. Chivas Grannum and Amanda Kosty of EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship discussed two programs supporting TBED activities — Build to Scale and the STEM Talent Challenge. Build to Scale has two parts, the Venture Challenge to promote commercialization capacity and the Capital Challenge to assist with access to capital. The STEM Talent Challenge provides two-year grants addressing near-term workforce needs in regional innovation economies. SSTI Vice President Jason Rittenberg presented on other programs across the federal government, including the U.S. Economic Development Administration, U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the…

From 2002-2021 (the last 20 years for which data is available), the total U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP adjusted for inflation, or Real GDP) increased by approximately 45%, from $13.5 trillion to $19.6 trillion in chained 2012 dollars. On a per capita basis, county-level real GDP increased by an average of 36% over the past 20 years, with a range of growth from -77% (Brooks County, Texas) to 3,950% (Culberson County, Texas). Across the country, 2,539 counties experienced an increase in real GDP per capita growth between 2002 and 2021. The plurality were located in Texas (192 counties), (Texas alone has 8% of all U.S. counties), followed by Kansas (100), Georgia (97), Iowa (96), Montana (93) and Nebraska (92). Several states showed consistency in their county-level growth. Three states — Hawaii, North Dakota and Rhode Island — each experienced real GDP per capita growth in all of their counties. Three others saw particularly strong state-level growth — Nebraska (99% of counties), Iowa (97%) and Kansas (95%) — even if a few counties did not experience an increase. The remaining 568 counties experienced a decrease in real GDP per capita. Texas and…

The South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) had an economic impact of over $1.15 billion in FY 2022, through follow-on funding, grants awarded, investments made by affiliate SC Launch Inc, job support and more,  according to their annual report. This total is an increase of almost 15% from their economic impact in FY 2021. The report was compiled by SCRA with assistance on the economic impacts provided by the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business.  SCRA, chartered by the state legislature in 1983, was created to support the state’s innovation economy by contributing to technology-enabled growth in academia, entrepreneurship and industry. SCRA member companies and SC Launch Inc. portfolio companies received over $85.2 million in follow-on funding in FY 2022. Since the 2006 inception of SCRA’s investment affiliate, SC Launch Inc., $2.33 billion of capital has been raised. In addition to follow-on funding, SCRA and SC Launch Inc. awarded $4.75 million in grants and investments to member companies, SC Launch Inc. portfolio companies, and academic institutions during FY 2022. These investments are aimed at, “advancing…

Last fall, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) issued its report on the distributional effects of trade and trade policy on under-represented and under-served communities. The report, which had been requested in 2021 by the U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, found a disparity in wage and employment among manufacturing workers by race and gender resulting from changes in trade policy. Distributional Effects of Trade and Trade Policy on U.S. Workers, released in October of 2022, was compiled from a series of roundtable discussions between March 1 and April 1, 2022, an academic symposium on April 5-6, 2022, and a public hearing on April 19, 2022. Tai had called for the investigation to better identify and measure the potential distributional effects of U.S. trade and trade policy on U.S. workers, by skill, wage and salary level, gender, race/ethnicity, age, and income level, especially as they affect under-represented and under-served communities. Findings from the panels highlighted how manufacturing facilities offer opportunities for building wealth without requiring a college degree in many instances. One academic noted…

Five SSTI member organizations — Conductor, Nebraska Business Development Center, University of Louisville, University of South Alabama, and Verge — were awarded micro grants by SSTI to host policy meetings with state and local officials in their regions about the needs of innovation-driven entrepreneurs. The awards were made possible thanks to a project with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In total, the seven meetings held by these groups connected dozens of entrepreneurs and support organizations with federal, state and local elected officials, program administrators and staff. Conductor hosted the “Small Business Policy Luncheon” on Sept. 27, 2022, at the Arnold Innovation Center in Conway, Arkansas. Congressman French Hill was the keynote speaker at the event, which attracted entrepreneurs, university and chamber of commerce staff and members of the state and local government. Hill spoke on Arkansas’ entrepreneurial climate, while Conductor discussed why entrepreneurship matters and how poor policy can adversely affect growth. Nebraska Business Development Center hosted the “Innovation Policy Forum” on Sept. 21, 2022, at the Nebraska Innovation Campus…

Microbusinesses (businesses with 1-9 domestic employees) spent $7.5 billion in both domestic and foreign R&D expenditures or costs in 2020, of which $6.7 billion was in the U.S. Of this total, $5.6 billion was performed by microbusinesses themselves, according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) and data from the Annual Business Survey (ABS). The $5.6 billion performed by U.S. microbusinesses in 2020 shows over a $1 billion increase in domestic R&D performed by microbusinesses themselves as compared to 2018. The survey found that microbusiness R&D was highly concentrated in a few industries, with selected nonmanufacturing industries accounting for $5 billion alone. Just three NAICS  industries accounted for more than two thirds (69%) of all microbusiness R&D performance: architectural, engineering, and related services (NAICS 5413); computer systems design and related services (NAICS 5415); and scientific research and development services (NAICS 5417). The R&D performed by microbusinesses in 2020 is broken into three categories: basic, applied and development. Development or experimental development…

A previous Digest article gave a broad overview of the most recent survey of Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) for FY 2021 (the most recent data available), including a breakdown of what field of studies receive the most R&D funding. The survey showed that the federal government funds the bulk of higher-ed R&D, and looking at each of its agencies can shed light on investment priorities. Within the federal government, Health and Human Services (HHS) funded the most higher-ed R&D activities by far (approximately $27.5 billion), followed by the Department of Defense (DoD; $7.4 billion) and National Science Foundation (NSF; $5.4 billion). A bulk of HHS funding went toward the life sciences ($24.2 billion), with engineering following behind at approximately $1 billion. DoD primarily funded engineering ($3.7 billion), followed by life sciences ($1.4 billion). To put HHS’ $24.2 billion financing of higher-ed life sciences R&D into perspective, the higher-ed R&D financed by all other federal agencies in every field adds up to $21.6 billion — $2.6 billion less than HHS’ financing of life sciences alone, and $5.9 billion less than HHS’ total.…

Total deal counts across angel, seed and VC deals for Q4 2022 were the lowest of the year at 2,935 deals, a decrease of 670 deals as compared to Q3 2022, according to Q4 data from PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor Q4 2022. Despite low deal counts for Q4, 2022 is still on track to come in close behind 2021, which marked the highest deal count since the data began being collected in 2012. A strong total deal count alongside a high deal value reflects a successful year for venture capital, even amid economic strain caused by high interest rates, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and lingering COVID-19 impacts.  PitchBook reports the total deal count for 2022 to be 15,852 across angel, seed, and VC (with another 2,138 that PitchBook estimates to have occurred but have not yet been formally identified) with a total deal value of $283.3 billion.These totals are approaching those of 2021, which had a deal count of 18,521 and a deal value of $344.7 billion.  Of the 2,935 observed deals (i.e., deals that have been discovered by, or reported to, PitchBook) in Q4, 1,060 of them were angel/seed, 919 early VC, 772 later VC and 184 venture growth deals. Although…