SSTI Digest

With the end of federal stimulus funding for higher education on the horizon, states are considering proposals to retool current funding formulas for colleges and universities and looking to alternative funding sources to sustain their programs and services in the coming years. Ahead of the 2011 legislative session, groups commissioned by governors in Colorado and Virginia recommended a voter-approved tax and more stable funding streams from the state, respectively. In Texas, the Higher Education Coordinating Board endorsed a method in which a percentage of university funding would be based on student outcomes. The proposals were submitted to Gov. Rick Perry and the legislature last week, reports the Austin American-Statesman.

Colorado

Lawmakers called into special session on Friday approved a $75 million incentive package for a Texas-based energy company to build five biofuel facilities in the state expected to generate 1,000 new jobs through a total $500 million investment. The package approved by lawmakers also includes $4 million for a workforce training fund through the state's institutions of higher education and up to $2 million for biomass research at Alcorn State University and Mississippi State University.

The state assistance package totals $81 million, which includes $51 million in new bonds and $30 million available from a previous state-level authorization.

Texas-based KiOR, Inc. will receive $75 million to build five commercial-scale renewable crude oil production facilities in the state, three of which will be built over the next five years. Another $4 million is allocated to the Mississippi Development Authority Workforce Training Fund and $2 million is available for research on biomass usage in the production of renewable crude oil at the previously mentioned universities.

Ray Gilley resigned as chief executive of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission after nine years on the job. Gilley was responsible for helping lure the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute to Central Florida.

Peter Ginsberg joined the North Carolina Biotechnology Center as vice president of Business & Technology Development.

Leslie Smith was hired as the first general manager of TechTown, Detroit's research and technology park. A Detroit native, Smith previously served as director of business acceleration for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Deputy Director Jonathan Taylor will fill the position of director of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund following the resignation of Alan Kirchhoff earlier this month.

Specialized and high-tech incubators provide crucial services and resources to promote and enhance Commercialization & Entrepreneurship, one of the six thematic tracks of this year's annual conference. Three sessions tied to this theme will be explored during SSTI's annual conference, focusing on direct lessons from successful and proven TBED programs, regional innovation clustering, and more. They include: Distributed, Non-University Models for Commercializing New Technologies Technology Entrepreneurship: Direct Contact Required Sustaining Entrepreneur-in-Residence & Mentoring Programs

Announcements of new incubators designed to hatch ideas, speed commercialization of university-based inventions, and grow technology-focused companies across the nation are detailed below.

Patrick Draper has been appointed as president and CEO of the Toronto Region Research Alliance.

Arlene Garrison has been appointed as vice president of University Partnerships at Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

Innovate Texas Foundation joined the Texas Tech University System and The Wind Alliance to announce the formation of the National Institute for Renewable Energy, an independent public-private collaboration that will work to solve key scientific and technology challenges facing the wind power industry.

TBED People Michael Burcham has been named the first president of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Burcham currently serves as a clinical faculty member at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management.

Austin Burke, longtime president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, is being nominated secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Burke will replace George Cornelius, who is leaving his post to become the president of Bridgewater College in Virginia.

Former National Science Foundation official Deborah Crawford has been appointed Drexel University's vice provost for research. Crawford will begin her tenure at Drexel in September.

The University of Texas at Austin recently announced the formation of a university-wide initative to support technology commercialization, entrepreneurship and innovation. Venture Labs Texas will assist new ventures at the university and broker deals with sources of capital, including venture funds, angel investors and Texas' Emerging Technology Fund. Read more about Venture Labs at the University of Texas at Austin at: http://texasventurelabs.net/

Texas leaders have fully embraced the importance that strongly supported top-tier research universities can serve for attracting and retaining high-wage technology companies and as drivers for future economic growth. With Tuesday’s passage of Proposition 4 by a solid 56.7 percent majority, it is evident the voting population of the Lone Star State gets it as well.

Seven emerging research universities in Texas would receive funding and incentives to help advance their status to nationally-recognized tier one schools following passage of HB 51, awaiting Gov. Rick Perry's signature.

The bill would create three funding pools and establish methods to achieve tier one status, which generally is referred to as a high-performing research university having at least $100 million in federal research grants annually, selective admissions, and low student-faculty ratios. The following funds would be established under the bill and require the universities to increase research, raise private funds, and meet benchmarks required for tier one distinction:

W. Steven Burke is the new president of Biofuels Center of North Carolina.

Bill Gimson has been named executive director of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Gimson recently retired as the chief operating officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jeremy Hill has been named the director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University. Hill replaces Janet Harrah, who left the post for Northern Kentucky University.

Karl Fooks, a past managing director for J.P. Morgan & Co. in Asia, is the new president of the Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation. Fooks replaces John Chock who retired last year.

The U.S. Senate confirmed by unanimous consent President Barack Obama's nomination of Karen Gordon Mills as the 23rd Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Not all of the news coming out of governors' offices is bad for TBED strategies. For example, just in the past week, governors in Missouri, Ohio and Texas proposed increases in state investments for job creation in emerging fields, higher education scholarships, and technology commercialization and research programs. The following overview provides highlights of their recommendations for TBED proposals in the upcoming fiscal year or biennium.