SSTI Digest

Public policies should seek ways to promote entrepreneurship in order to boost economic growth, according to a review of existing research by David Audretsch of Indiana University. Audretsch seeks to distinguish what is known (supported by existing data and theories) from areas of future exploration related to entrepreneurship and economic development in "Sustaining Innovation and Growth: Public Policy Support for Entrepreneurship," an article from the September 2004 issue of Industry and Innovation.

The article examines academic literature on small enterprises and entrepreneurship since the early 20th century across various disciplines. The review considers three issues in the literature: (1) the role of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in economic growth; (2) theories about the links between entrepreneurs and economic performance; and (3) empirical evidence supporting these linkage theories using different units of analysis, including the firm, region and country.

Foundations and philanthropists are playing increasingly important financial roles for many academic and regional technology-based economic development (TBED) efforts. The latest issue of Philanthropy News Digest, the weekly electronic newsletter of the FoundationCenter, highlights three recent announcements that provide examples of the size, scope and opportunity presented by these types of awards. The announcements are summarized below.

Evan Barrett was named chief business officer of The Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity in Montana.

Betsy Biemann will be the new director of the Maine Technology Institute, pending legislative confirmation in January. Biemann currently serves as an associate director at The Rockefeller Foundation.

Evan Barrett was named chief business officer of The Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity in Montana.

Betsy Biemann will be the new director of the Maine Technology Institute, pending legislative confirmation in January. Biemann currently serves as an associate director at The Rockefeller Foundation.

Brian Fitzgerald will be executive director of the Business-Higher Education Forum, a nonprofit organization that separated earlier this year from the American Council on Education, beginning in January. Fitzgerald stepped down from the independent Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, a panel that advises legislators and the U.S. Department of Education on student-aid issues.

Kelly Lewis, a state legislator in Pennyslvania, will be the new president and CEO of the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania, beginning Jan. 1.

C. Peter Magrath, president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, announced he will resign from his position in late 2005.

Indiana Gov.-elect Mitch Daniels recently named Michael "Mickey" Maurer as president of the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

Whether it is explicitly stated or implicitly understood, one of the distinctions between technology-based economic development (TBED) and more traditional economic development functions is TBED's goal of encouraging the creation of high-skill, high-wage jobs to raise the standard of living for the state or region's residents. An area's income levels and its positive change over time could be considered measures of success toward that goal.

But should affluence be the measure of competitiveness? The Boston-based Beacon Hill Institute (BHI) answers yes in its fourth annual indicator report, Metro Area and State Competitiveness Report 2004. Authors Jonathan Haughton and Cagdas Sirin define competitiveness as "the policies and conditions that ensure and sustain a higher level of per capita income and its continued growth.”

It may not be getting much attention from the White House or Congress, but encouraging innovation and technology-based economic development through coordinated national strategies and initiatives is very much on the legislative agenda of many other countries around the world. Recent highlights from the past few weeks include (all dollar figures are for U.S. equivalencies):

Friday's issue of the Idaho SBIR Competition Newsletter brought to our attention two announcements from the SBA regarding the SBIR Program. Proposed changes for the program were included in the Dec. 3 online issue of the Federal Register. We reprint an extended excerpt of the text from the Idaho SBIR Competition Newsletter verbatim below, with our great appreciation for the work of Dr. Chris Busch, consultant to the University of Idaho EPSCoR Program, and Dr. Jean'ne Shreeve, Idaho EPSCoR/IDeA project director.