SSTI Digest

Lawmakers in Georgia and Kansas recently approved scaled-back funding for their states' respective tech-based economic development (TBED) programs in the coming fiscal year. Although many states are struggling to fill large deficits in the aftermath of a national economic downturn, funding for TBED initiatives, even at reduced levels, continues to be a priority for most states as a means to grow and diversify the economy.

Georgia
Lawmakers recently approved a $17.9 billion budget for FY11, an increase of $800,000 over the amended FY10 budget. Tackling a budget deficit of more than $1 billion at the start of the session, lawmakers cut funding across several state agencies, including those focused on economic development. Many of the reductions to university-based research initiatives were in line with Gov. Sonny Perdue's recommendations (see the Jan. 20, 2010 issue of the Digest). The Georgia Research Alliance, a public-private partnership that acts as Georgia's lead science and technology initiative, is slated to receive $18.25 in FY11, down from $23.9 million in FY10.

Jeff Blodgett, Vice President of Research, at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc. is retiring.

The University of Virginia has named W. Mark Crowell, vice president for business development at The Scripps Research Institute, to the newly created position of executive director and associate vice president for innovation partnerships and commercialization.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will receive the BIO Governor of the Year Award this week at the 2010 BIO International Convention.

Guido Silvestri will serve as chief of the Division of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory University's Yerkes National Primate Research Center as a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

Bryan Allinson has joined Ohio University as director of technology transfer.

Martha Connolly, director of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute Maryland Industrial Partnership program (MIPS) at the University of Maryland, was given the President's Award at the Greater Baltimore Committee's fifth annual Bioscience Awards ceremony. In 2007, the MIPS program received an SSTI Excellence in TBED Award in the Improving Competitiveness of Existing Industries Category.

Stephen Cross has been selected as Georgia Tech's executive vice president for research. Cross has served as vice president and director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute since 2003.

Gov. Sonny Perdue last week outlined an $18.2 billion budget for FY11 that reduces spending across several state agencies, including a $9.6 million reduction for R&D activities through the Research Consortium. The governor’s budget also would eliminate two science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs within the Department of Education.

The Research Consortium, which supports R&D and tech-based economic development activities at Georgia’s research universities, would receive $16.7 million in FY11, down from $26.3 million approved last year. Executive recommendations include eliminating funding for the Traditional Industries Program ($1.6 million) and the Bio-Refinery program ($200,000).

TBED People
Eric Abelquist has been named executive vice president of Oak Ridge Associated Universities and deputy director of the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

Arn Boezaart, who has been interim executive director of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center the past six months, will take over the position permanently.

Melanie Brandt has been hired as chief operating officer for the Technology Association of Georgia.

President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale to serve as assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing and services within the International Trade Administration.

President Obama nominated Francis Collins, a physician and scientist who helped guide the Human Genome Project to completion, as the next director of the National Institutes of Health.

Stephen Fleming has been named vice provost of Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute. Since 2005, Fleming has served as chief commercialization officer and led the Enterprise Innovation Institute's Commercialization Services Division. Fleming succeeds Wayne Hodges, who retired recently after a 40-year career at Georgia Tech.

Larry Irving will step down as co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance in September. Irving will join Hewlett Packard, the world's leading technology company, as vice president of Global Government Affairs.

J. Mike Books is leaving his post with the Indiana Health Industry Forum to become the first economic development director for the city of Columbia, Missouri. He also will serve as president of the Regional Economic Development Inc. Brooks will assume his new responsibilities on July 15.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the appointment of Judith Canales as Administrator for Rural Business and Cooperative programs in USDA's Rural Development agency.

Donald Cardon, who has been serving as director of the Arizona Department of Housing since March, was named director of the Arizona Department of Commerce.

The role of a technology incubator or accelerator for supporting nascent firms generally is regarded with the utmost importance by the tech-based economic development community. Tech incubators provide essential resources for startup companies to develop and commercialize new technologies, leading to the creation of high-quality jobs.

With estimates suggesting there could be as many as 5,000 incubators of all shapes and sizes worldwide, finding the latest and best practices for tech business incubation could be a challenge. Fortunately, award programs, such as the currently open SSTI's 3rd Annual Excellence in TBED Award, can help call attention to some of the most successful approaches.

While there is no question that the economic recession has taken a toll on states' fiscal conditions, the degree by which states are affected can vary widely from one state to another, as evidenced most recently in Arkansas and Georgia. In Arkansas, legislators wrapped up their 2009 session with a plan to distribute a $300 million surplus, while the budget agreement made in Georgia would cut spending by $1.6 billion in the coming year. The following overview provides an outline of legislative actions affecting the two states' programs that support tech-based economic development efforts.

Arkansas
Operating with a nearly $300 million surplus, lawmakers passed a spending plan last week that authorizes funds for several economic development projects, including $50 million for Gov. Mike Beebe's Quick Action Closing Fund to attract new businesses to the state.