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SSTI Digest
Geography: Utah
People & TBED Organizations
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has named Dr. Ragula Bhaskar chairman of the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) Board. In addition, GOED has appointed Tamara Goetz as the state's new science advisor.
People
Richard Nelson has been appointed chairman and CEO of the Council of Regional Information Technology Associations.
People
Chris Roybal announced he is stepping down as senior economic development advisor of the Utah Governor's Office to become president and chief operating officer of the Northwest Research Corp., effective Feb. 2.
Utah's Centers of Excellence: A 20-year Review
Since the creation of its Centers of Excellence (COE) program 20 years ago, the state of Utah has invested in aggregate $49.4 million, resulting in the development of 185 spin-off companies throughout the years, according to a recent review of the COE program, authored by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah.
The COE program, established by the state legislature in 1986 with an initial budget of $3.4 million. provides funds to university-based research centers that are chosen on the basis of technical merit, the potential for job creation, and a secured level of matching funds from private and federal sources. Each center annually receives $100,000 to $200,000. Currently, there are 66 spin-off companies created from these centers which are still active, employing between 1,500 and 1,800 people.
People
Ned Weinshenker has been appointed to a restructured position as vice president for strategic ventures and economic development at Utah State University.
People
Thad LeVar was appointed deputy director of the Utah Department of Commerce. LeVar replaces Jason Perry, who was named director of the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED). Richard Bradford, the former director of GOED, retired from state government after 13 years of service.
Utah Governor Outlines Funding for TBED in FY07 Budget Request
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. released last week his fiscal year 2007 budget request, providing a substantial boost in funding for the Utah Science, Technology and Research (USTAR) Initiative. In FY 2005, the legislature appropriated $4 million to fund the initial phase of the initiative. This year, the governor is recommending $62 million for infrastructure and programs.
Under the governor's request, $50 million in one-time funding would be used for building new research laboratories at the University of Utah (U of U) and Utah State University (USU). Program funding includes $11 million of additional ongoing money for a total of $15 million to continue attracting research teams to the state and $1 million of ongoing money for commercialization of research and the creation of Innovation Centers.
Utah Governor Unveils Industry Cluster Initiative to Fuel Economic Development
Within days of taking office in January, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. dismantled the Department of Community and Economic Development and promised to make significant changes to how Utah approaches wealth generation and economic growth.
Six months into his first term, the governor kept that promise by unveiling a new cluster-based strategy targeting state efforts in seven industry sectors: life sciences; software development and information technology; aerospace; defense and homeland security; financial services; energy and natural resources; and competitive accelerators, such as nanotechnology and advanced manufacturing.
People
Envision Utah appointed Alan Matheson as executive director of the Coalition for Utah's Future, the sponsor of Envision Utah.
People
Ladd Christensen and Martin Frey are the new co-directors of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development.
People
Gov. John Huntsman, Jr. named Jack Brittain, dean of the University of Utah Business School, vice president in charge of the new Office of Technology Ventures. Brittain, dubbed the "innovation czar," will continue to lead the business school in addition to his new position.
People
It is an unfortunate and annoying consequence of politics that sometimes, with the change of gubernatorial administrations even within parties, excellent people with enviable records of delivering results for tech-based economic development programs lose their positions. SSTI has learned that Rod Linton and Michael Keene were among 33 "at-will" economic development staff at the Utah DCED fired en masse last Thursday. Gov. Huntsman, who began his term of office on Jan. 3, plans to run most economic development's activities from within the governor's office and to dismantle DCED. We wish Rod and Mike every success in their future endeavors.