As the most comprehensive resource available for those involved in technology-based economic development, SSTI offers the services that are needed to help build tech-based economies. Learn more about membership...
SSTI Digest
North Carolina Creates Rural Entrepreneurship Institute
Coupling manufacturing's sharp employment drop with the perennial struggles of a rural economy and the current economic downturn can cause massive struggles for many of the country's sparsely populated areas. The closure or significant downsizing of one manufacturing plant can be terminal for a small, rural town.
To revise that prognosis, North Carolina's Rural Economic Development Center launched the Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship in late October, along with several other new initiatives.
Maryland Supports For-Profit to Speed Tech Commercialization
With the support of Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), BrainChild Maryland was launched this week to identify and capitalize on Maryland's most promising new technologies. The for-profit company will identify university and federal lab technologies that have the greatest potential for becoming viable products and services. BrainChild Maryland will then help to transform these ideas into new spin-out companies and licensing deals.
International Trademarking Easier With U.S. Treaty
The process of registering trademarks in multiple countries became simpler on Nov. 2 when an international treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) entered into force in the U.S.
Under the treaty, American trademark owners who have an underlying registration or pending application at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) may file an international application that designates one or more of the 60 countries that are members of the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks. Trademark owners in other member countries also will be able to file, directly with those national offices, international applications that include a designation of the U.S.
Young, Single College Grads Still Mobile and Urban, Census Bureau Reports
Young, single, college-educated people are moving to large metropolitan areas, often to central cities — a trend that defies the general population’s outward migration from the same areas, according to a report based on Census 2000 data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today.
The New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington-Baltimore metro areas remained popular magnets for young singles who had graduated from college, despite these areas’ overall net out-migration rates. Of the 20 largest metropolitan areas, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose had the highest net migration gain of nearly 50,000 single college graduates in the 25- to 39-year-old range. Many favored other metropolitan destinations, including Las Vegas, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C.
Useful Stats: Net Migration by State and Metro Area
Based on the Census report and accompanying data, SSTI has prepared two summary tables presenting net migration figures for the 1995-2000 for each state and for the 276 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S. For each table, the jurisdictions are ranked by numerical gain or loss in migration.
The state table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/110703t2.htm
The table of MSAs can be found at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/110703t3.htm
The complete MSA data set can be obtained at no charge from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Florida Enters Biotech Race with $510M Scripps Inducement
With a $310 million commitment passed by the state legislature and as much as $200 million in additional support from the county government, the California-based Scripps Research Institute has agreed to locate its first branch or satellite office in northwest Palm Beach County, Fla. In return for the financial support, Scripps is to work toward employing as many as 545 workers on the site by 2011. At $935,780 per job – if the 545 target is met over the eight-year period – the project could be the most expensive tech-based economic development risk yet undertaken by the public sector.
South Dakota Governor Sets Aggressive Targets In 7-year ED Plan
In 2010, the end of Gov. Mike Round's second term – should South Dakota voters choose to grant him one – residents of the state will have several precise ways to measure whether or not he delivered on his economic development goals. Gov. Round's 2010 Initiative, released Oct. 15 at Mount Rushmore, is built on a few, very specific and quantifiable goals in tourism revenues, entrepreneurship, and R&D. They include:
U.S. Losing Ground in College Access, Participation
America has fallen alarmingly behind other industrialized countries in access to and participation in college, which encompasses most education and training beyond high school, according to a study recently released by the Education Commission of the States (ECS).
Closing the College Participation Gap offers a portrait of who is participating in postsecondary education and who is likely to be most at risk for losing access to such education. Accompanying state and U.S. profiles document the extent of postsecondary participation in each of the 50 states and the nation as a whole. They also examine the conditions likely to influence access and participation, calling attention to issues that must be addressed if the nation is to compete successfully in the global marketplace.
The Price of Venture Capital
Does it matter whether a start-up takes money from a large venture firm or a small venture firm? According to the just-released VentureOne Deal Terms Report, the answer is a resounding yes.
Using responses from executives at 269 companies that raised venture capital in 2002 and the first four months of 2003 paired with research from VentureOne, the report found that big venture firms – those with assets under management of $1 billion or more – take larger stakes in early rounds. In fact, investors in rounds led by large firms were likely to end up with 40 percent to 60 percent of a company more than half the time. In comparison, investors in deals led by small firms attained that kind of stake only 34 percent of the time.
Tech Council News Briefs
Arkansas Tech Council in Formative Stages
The nucleus of a new regional technology council is taking structure in Central Arkansas. The Arkansas Capital Corp. has launched Techpreneur, a new forum for the area's biotech and information technology entrepreneurs to be modeled after Washington, D.C.-based Netpreneur. The fledgling group initially will allow people to share ideas and network, but additional activities such as mentoring and educational services may be added in the future.
Upcoming S&T Events
Editor's Note: Because there are so many great conferences of potential interest to the technology-based economic development community, SSTI typically limits announcements to the calendar page on our website. The timely nature of two upcoming events leads us to a rare break with our editorial policy.
Eight Scientists and Engineers Garner National Medals of Science
Eight of the nation's leading scientists and engineers were named on Oct. 22 recipients of the 2002 National Medal of Science — the nation's highest honor for researchers who make major impacts in fields of science and engineering. Administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the White House, the medal recognizes career-long, ground-breaking achievements and contributions to innovation, industry or education.
James Darnell of Rockefeller University and Evelyn Witkin of Rutgers University were among those who received the medal for their advances in scientific theory and developments. Darnell discovered RNA processing, while Witkin confirmed the notion of DNA repair.
Leo Beranek of Cambridge, Mass., a retired leader in acoustical science for the military and the arts, received the medal for engineering.