SSTI Digest

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund released a file and map summarizing core economic data for each census tract. Policymakers and practitioners should be aware of these changes for both what the data reveal about local economic trends and the impact the changes could have on future program eligibility. Importantly, tract-level economic distress is integral to CDFI certification and business eligibility for portions of Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), as well as being a common reference for federal programs that prioritize distressed regions. The new data makes numerous changes from the 2018 update, including nearly 23,000 new census tract IDs and more than 11,000 tracts with a different economic distress status. The CDFI Fund update identifies 40,529 census tracts as eligible investment areas. These tracts are designated due to meeting one or more of the following conditions: a poverty rate of 20% or above, an unemployment rate 1.5 times the national average, a median family income of 80% or below the regional median or has a high level of population loss (for details on the…

The U.S. Department of State established a new office intended to develop and coordinate critical and emerging technology foreign policy, including biotechnology, advanced computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum information technologies.  The Office of the Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology began operations Jan. 3. The office will offer policy expertise in technology, diplomatic leadership, and strategic direction for the department. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken established the office as part of a modernization agenda to address the emerging technologies reshaping the world that are an integral part of the conduct of U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy.

This edition of Useful Stats takes a high-level look at the United States’ change in Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP, which is GDP adjusted for inflation) on a per capita basis for each of its counties, boroughs, parishes, etc. (hereon referred to as “counties”). Looking at RGDP per capita allows for an inflation adjusted, population standardized metric for comparing counties over time. This article explores the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA) most recent data release for all industries. RDGP per capita is calculated using BEA’s county-level population data, which uses Census Bureau midyear population estimates. This data can be found at the end of this article. 1-Year Change, 2020-2021 The two most recent years of data, 2020 and 2021, reflect a great deal of economic growth, with the total United States Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) growing by over $1.1 trillion, or around 6%. In terms of RGDP per capita — RGDP divided by population — of the 3,118 analyzed U.S. counties, 2,373 experienced a year-over-year growth and 738 experienced a decrease.[1] On average, counties’ RGDP per capita increased by approximately 3%, with changes as high as +80% (Coke,…

A recent State of Skills report by the Burning Glass Institute, the Business-Higher Education Forum, and Wiley identifies four emerging technical skill sets as the fastest growing in the country: artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), cloud computing, product management, and social media. The authors use these four skill sets to illustrate how businesses, education providers, and learners can best prepare for a changing and increasingly technology-driven labor market.  The report describes how the demand for new skills, despite historic trends, is no longer isolated to the tech sector or new occupations and is an opportunity to draw in talent from a larger pool of candidates. Given the current challenges with meeting employers’ technical talent needs, the authors emphasize the importance of developing talent pipeline strategies that include training for new skills and prioritize continuous learning and skill transition opportunities. Through a recent partnership with Lightcast (formerly Emsi Burning Glass) and the National Center for O*NET Development (an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor), O*NET has updated its approach to…

SSTI is excited to announce staffing changes that are helping us build on our mission to strengthen initiatives to create a better future through science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. Over the past few months, SSTI has added five new staff members — Casey Nemecek, Jerry Coughter, Jonathan Dillon, Lisa Clayton and Sobia Saied — strengthened our student interns/assistants program, and promoted Mark Skinner to executive vice president and Jason Rittenberg to vice president. Recent SSTI staff additions: Casey Nemecek, program director Casey Nemecek is a Program Director for SSTI’s Technology-based Economic Development (TBED) Community of Practice, which is supported by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). Ms. Nemecek’s previous work focused on program design and building partnerships to bring education and industry into alignment. Most recently, she supported workforce development efforts in Indiana through the promotion and implementation of registered youth apprenticeship programs. Casey holds a B.A. from Vassar College and a M.P.A. from Indiana University O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs.   Jerry…

In larger VC firms with more assets under management (AUM), women at all levels received pay in line with what men received, with the median total cash for female general partners above that of the men. However, women at smaller AUM firms received significantly less total cash compensation than men, particularly at the managing general partner level, according to a survey on professional compensation in venture capital firms conducted by First Republic Bank recently and J. Thelander Consulting, Inc.   Over half of survey participants said their firms have policies and programs in place to promote diversity in recruiting and career development.

The National Association of State Budget Officers’ (NASBO) Fall 2022 Fiscal Survey of States, released last month, reflects a more positive fiscal environment than last year and found that FY 2022 general fund spending grew a record breaking 18.3%, slightly higher than previous estimates, although when adjusted for inflation, spending grew at a rate of 9.6%. Alongside rising general fund expenditures, general fund revenue grew 14.5% to $1.17 trillion in FY 2022 (slightly lower than FY 2021’s 16.6% increase). Rainy day funds reached record highs, growing an additional 10.43% in FY 2022, from $121.8 to $134.5 billion, building off of FY 2021’s 58% increase over the prior year. The data used in NASBO’s Fiscal Survey of States was compiled through surveys of executive state budget officers between August and November 2022. As noted by NASBO, with some exceptions, FY 2021 data represents actual figures, FY 2022 preliminary actual (not all states have certified their 2022 actuals, or may still be relying on enacted budgets), and FY 2023 reflect a given states’ enacted budget. Comparing FY 2022 data to FY 2021 data reveals that on average, states increased general…

New fiscal year (FY) 2021 Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) survey data released by the National Science Foundation (NSF) reveals a $3.4 billion (4%) increase in research and development (R&D) spending by institutions of higher education ($86.5 to $89.9 billion), driven almost entirely by a decades high federal government R&D funding increase of $3 billion. The FY 2021 HERD is a survey of all 910 universities and colleges granting a bachelor’s degree or higher that also had R&D expenditures of at least $150,000 in FY 2020. Institutions that reported less than $1 million in R&D expenditures in the prior fiscal year were allowed to submit a “short-form” version of the survey; this made up 262 of the 910. While the 262 institutions were excluded from much of NSF’s provided tables and analyses, they only make up around $149 million – approximately 0.2% – of total higher-ed R&D expenditures. The HERD survey collects a variety of data that shows the diversity of R&D investments in higher-ed; by source of funding (see above figure), the federal government provides the most funding for higher-ed R&D activities, followed by…

SSTI has written a response to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) proposed revisions to the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, which aim to increase program participation. The proposed changes include reductions in licensing fees for first- and second-time funds, exceptions to the conflict of interest rules for follow-on financing, increasing access to credit for leveraged funds and a new “accrual debenture” option for SBICs. The SBIC program provides additional funds, in the form of “debentures,” that privately- and publicly-managed funds can use to provide capital to small businesses. Because the traditional debenture structure requires the SBIC immediately to begin making loan repayments to SBA, much of the financing provided by SBICs has been to relatively later-stage businesses. SBA’s proposed accrual debenture could make the SBIC program more relevant to early-stage business investment. This debenture would not require payment until the end of a 10-year term, with the possibility of a five-year, “roll-over” extension. This proposed rule change would remove the pressure for SBICs to produce immediate returns, thereby helping new…

Thirty-three states have been approved for at least one equity program through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) as of December 2022. The states are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia. SSBCI can fund a wide variety of programs that support small business capital access, including direct loans, loan guarantees or equity funds. In many cases, states looking to support new, technology-focused companies have proposed programs that facilitate equity investment. Broadly speaking, Treasury defines equity programs in two buckets: “Equity Capital Program (Funds)” as programs designed to make investments into one or more funds, which match the SSBCI funds with private capital and then invest in businesses, and “Equity Capital Programs (Direct)” as those in which the state or its administrator/contractor invests in a business (alongside private funds) without…

With the Dec. 20 release of two Requests for Information (RFIs), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy seeks public input to help guide the development and deployment of the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, which is intended to use the two disciplines to advance innovative solutions in health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture, and supply chain resilience. The National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative RFI seeks public responses on or before Jan. 20 to 17 specific questions contained within several broad topic areas: harnessing biotechnology and biomanufacturing R&D to further societal goals; data on the bioeconomy; building a vibrant domestic biomanufacturing ecosystem; biobased products procurement; biotechnology and biomanufacturing workforce; reducing risk by advancing biosafety and biosecurity; measuring the bioeconomy; and, international engagement. Public responses to the RFI for Identifying Ambiguities, Gaps, Inefficiencies, and Uncertainties in the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology are due Feb. 3.  In it, OSTP seeks comments regarding,…

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently launched the Capital Readiness Program grant competition, which will provide $93.5 million to help minority and other underserved entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses and be administered by the Minority Business Development Agency. The program will provide funding to incubators, accelerators and other eligible organizations to assist and train minority and other underserved entrepreneurs seeking resources, tools, and technical assistance to start or scale their businesses in high-growth industries such as healthcare, climate resilient technology, asset management, infrastructure, and more. MBDA’s Capital Readiness Program is funded by the Department of Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), and is intended to serve entrepreneurs and businesses that are applying, have applied, or plan to apply to SSBCI or other government programs that support small businesses. More information about the program is available here and MBDA will be hosting a series of three pre-application webinars beginning on Jan. 10 at 2 p.m. EST. Register here.