SSTI Digest

Scott Doron has been promoted to director for the Southern Technology Council, the advisory council on innovation and technology policy issues for the Southern Growth Policies Board.

Tony Jeff is the new executive director of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Mississippi.

Robert McMahan has been named North Carolina's Science Advisor. In addition to advising the Governor on science and technology matters, McMahan will oversee the support staff for the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology. The advisor position will report to the secretary of the Department of Commerce.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) promoted Michael Werner to the new position as chief of policy. Formerly, Werner served as BIO's vice president for bioethics.

Gov. Jim Doyle last week unveiled his plan to jumpstart the Wisconsin economy. The plan, "Grow Wisconsin," calls for a series of executive actions, private sector partnerships and legislative steps to create high-wage jobs and achieve other goals. Some of the tech-based economic development items outlined in "Grow Wisconsin" are:

• A new Manufacturing Competitiveness Program. The governor proposes $10 million to the Department of Commerce – leveraged with other private funding and existing resources from the University of Wisconsin System, the Wisconsin Technical College System, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and the Manufacturing Extension Partnerships – to provide grants to 50 manufacturers to improve their productivity through training, consulting and application of technology. Gov. Doyle also will convene a Manufacturing Summit later this year.

Gov. Mitt Romney outlined a legislative package on Monday totaling $125 million designed to create more jobs. Many elements of the package target the science and technology communities.

Romney laid out the details of the jobs bill in a series of meetings with key business, labor and academic leaders, and with members of his Regional Competitiveness Councils, which are all-volunteer boards that guide economic development in different areas of the state.

Investments in science and technology (S&T) – from higher education to industry research and development (R&D) – are the decisive factors in creating a sustainable economic future, a new study finds.

The report compares Nebraska with its regional peers and its position relative to national leaders using the Milken Institute’s Technology and Science Index. Seventy-seven indicators in five categories – R&D inputs, risk capital and entrepreneurial infrastructure, human capital investment, technology and science workforce, and technology concentration and dynamism – are used to measure how well Nebraska will perform in a knowledge-based economy. Individual indicators include a variety of measurements such as the percentage of a state’s population with Ph.D.s, R&D expenditures per capita and venture capital investment.

Gaining an understanding of the real and potential economic impact of government investments in research and development (R&D) has suffered for decades from a lack of rigorous but broadly applicable methodologies for the assessment. To advance the field toward a more appropriate degree of uniformity, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released a primer on economic impact analysis of government R&D programs.

Methods for Assessing the Economic Impacts of Government R&D, written by NIST Senior Economist Gregory Tassey, touches on all aspects from metrics to methodology to reasons why these studies are imperative. Tassey also presents guidelines for interpreting the qualitative and quantitative results of various approaches.

An educated workforce is one of the elements required for a knowledge economy, but not all of the critical jobs require a Ph.D. or even a B.A. Few would dispute, though, the importance of successfully completing high school.

With a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Center for Civic Innovation at the Manhattan Institute has prepared a report entitled Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States. The report includes several tables presenting the high school graduation rates by state and race. Overall, 10 states had graduation rates above 80 percent (shown in parentheses): North Dakota (89), Utah (87), Iowa (85), South Dakota (85), West Virginia (84), Nebraska (84), New Jersey (84), Wisconsin (81), Montana (81), and Idaho (81).

Seats Available for Developing Angel Organizations, Financing TBED Workshops

Despite increasing the number of seats available by nearly 50 percent, SSTI is forced to close registration for the full-day preconference workshop, An Introduction to Tech-based Economic Development. Because of the workshop's interactive design, attendance is always capped for this perennial favorite. SSTI will maintain a short waiting list (via the online registration form) in the event of any cancellations. Only people registered for the full conference on October 21-22 will be accepted on the waiting list for the pre-conference session.

The remaining two preconference offerings are designed to accommodate larger audiences so seats remain available in each.

Randy Burge has announced his resignation as director of the New Mexico Department of Economic Development's Office of Science and Technology. Mike Orshan will serve as acting director beginning Sept. 29.

Donald Jakeway will be the new president and CEO for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Joseph James is the new chief operating officer for the South Carolina Department of Commerce.

The Florida Venture Forum named Robin Kovaleski as the first executive director for the organization.

Randy Burge has announced his resignation as director of the New Mexico Department of Economic Development's Office of Science and Technology. Mike Orshan will serve as acting director beginning Sept. 29.