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. The approved budget allocates $21.1 million in total funding for the Advanced Technology…

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. Tony Jeff has been selected as the Mississippi Technology Alliance's new president and CEO. Jeff previously served as vice president and chief operating officer and director of MTA's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell tapped State Rep. Samuel Nixon to become Virginia's CIO. Nixon, who will take over April 5, becomes the third person to serve as state CIO in the past nine months, following George Coulter and Lem Stewart. OCTANe and the Orange County Venture Group…

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). The governor’s budget also would reduce by approximately $5 million certain investments made by the Georgia Research Alliance in core research labs and centers of excellence and eliminate its Next Generation Vaccine Collaboration Planning Grants Initiative. Launched in 2007, the initiative leverages the talent and infrastructure strengths of Georgia’s major research universities to promote new investment in vaccine and drug…

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. James Maher, provost and senior vice chancellor at the University of Pittsburgh, announced his intention to leave that position and return to the faculty at the beginning of the next academic year or as soon after that as his successor can be in place. Steve Martin has been named head of Mississippi State University’s Delta Research and Extension Center. Maine Gov. John Baldacci swore in Thaxter Trafton as the new acting commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development…

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. The Oregon Legislature approved legislation renaming and refocusing the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. When Governor Kulongoski signs the bill, the department will be renamed the Oregon Business Development Department and will do business under the name Business Oregon. Sandra Watson has been promoted to assistant deputy director, Innovation & Global Business Development within the Arizona Department…

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. John Chaffee has assumed the post of president and CEO of North Carolina's Eastern Region Development Commission. His predecessor, Al Delia, left when he was appointed as Gov. Bev Perdue's policy director. Howard Gobstein is now the Executive Officer and Vice President of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Toronto's MaRS Innovation has appointed Dr. Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein as President and CEO, effective June 8. Jeff Mason, currently senior vice president and chief business development officer for the…

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. The longest running award program for incubation is offered by the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA), which recently announced its top incubation programs, clients and graduates as part of its 2009 awards competition. San Jose BioCenter was named the 2009 Randall M. Whaley Incubator of the Year, the organization's most prestigious honor for technology incubators. The BioCenter and the six other award recipients were recognized at a ceremony during NBIA's 23rd annual…

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.  Act 1415, approved by the legislature, authorizes up to $9.7 million for the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority in FY10. Additional funds for Science and Technology Authority projects are included in the General Improvement Fund (GIF) bill, which allocates surplus funds that may be distributed…

SSTI has an effective new learning tool for TBED policymakers and practitioners seeking guidance in approaches to building and sustaining tech-based economies. Through exclusive interviews with Excellence in TBED Award recipients, find out first-hand how these award winning initiatives successfully responded to a critical need by applying innovative approaches to generate substantial economic gains for their region. Georgia Research Alliance VentureLab 2007 Winner for the Commercializing Research category Listen to a six-minute clip of SSTI's interview with GRA Senior Vice President Susan Shows. VentureLab is a technology commercialization program operating at five of GRA's partner universities. The program seeks out university-based research and awards three phases of commercialization and seed grants to universities and early-stage companies. A unique aspect of the program is the VentureLab Fellows, who often serve as the first CEO's of new companies, developing business plans…

Savannah's Creative Coast Alliance (TCCa) and the Savannah Economic Development Authority recently announced that they would provide up to one year of free rent for game designers to take up residence at the region's new Game Development and Digital Media Center. The offer is intended to promote the city's image as a center for game design and help provide local opportunities for graduates from the Savannah campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Savannah College of Art and Design's (SCAD) Interactive Design and Game Development Program. For the past five years, SCAD has sponsored the annual Game Developers eXchange, a national event for the industry that has drawn greater attention to the region. In the press release announcing the free rent offer, TCCa bills Savannah as an alternative for companies looking to establish an East Coast presence with a low cost-of-living, high quality-of-life and a rich talent pool. The release also highlights the incentives the state of Georgia has put in place over the past few years to entice game developers. Last year, the Georgia Department of Economic Development expanded the Entertainment Industry Investment Act to…

The following overview is a synopsis of select recent announcements from research parks across the nation, including groundbreakings and development plans to support vibrant regional economies based on science, technology and innovation.  The University of Missouri Mizzou Innovation Center is the anchor research tenant in the new Missouri Innovation Park - a 500-acre knowledge-based science and technology park being developed by the City of Blue Springs and the university. The project will support public research organizations, private businesses, and other research-related organizations establishing business clusters that focus on commercializing technological innovations. Initial seed capital is provided by the Blue Springs Economic Development Corporation, the City of Blue Springs and Kansas City Power & Light. Tenants are expected to move into the research park within the next five to 10 years, reports the Columbia Daily Tribune. Plans for a 350-acre biomedical research campus in Kansas City were unveiled last month by Oxford Redevelopment Company. The proposed development, which is called Oxford on the Blue, is part of an overall concept…