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SSTI Digest
Geography: New Jersey
Incubator RoundUp: Growing and Sustaining High Technology Companies
Offering customized workspace such as wet laboratories and specialized research equipment is one of the many benefits provided by technology-focused incubators. Access to university research, business mentoring and administrative support services often accompany the reduced rent facilities with the goal of growing technology companies into successful, self-sustaining enterprises. Following are select announcements of recently launched incubators and partnerships from across the nation.
GateWay Community College recently received a recommendation from the Phoenix Parks, Education, Bioscience and Sustainability subcommittee of the Phoenix City Council to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the college to build a bioscience incubator laboratory with wet lab space, the Arizona Republic reports. The wet lab would be a minimum of 5,000 sq. ft. and located near the Phoenix Biomedical Campus.
People & TBED Organizations
Dr. Michel Bitritto was named director of the new business incubator being run by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
Dr. Peter Reczek was appointed executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology.
Don Siegel, president of the Technology Transfer Society, will be dean of the School of Business at the University of Albany, SUNY, beginning in fall 2008.
Michael Skaggs, former president and CEO of Next Generation Economy Inc., was named executive director of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development.
Paul Wetenhall stepped down as executive director of High Tech Rochester (HTR) to become president of the Ben Craig Center in Charlotte. David Hessler, an HTR entrepreneur-in-residence, was appointed interim president in Wetenhall's stead.
SSTI Job Corner
Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.
The Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF), a Washington State agency that functions like a foundation, is seeking a grants administrator to help shape the organization during its start-up phase. The LSDF supports innovative research in Washington State to promote life sciences competitiveness, enhance economic vitality, and improve health and health care. The grants administrator will manage aspects of a grants portfolio of approximately $35 million per year and will be responsible for information management regarding LSDF’s grant administration processes. He or she also will report to the LSDF Director of Programs. A bachelor’s degree and five years of experience in grant-making or grants administration, or an equivalent combination of education and experience, are required.
New Jersey Plans $450M Stem Cell Referendum
State Also Begins Work on $150M Stem Cell Research Center An agreement between Gov. Jon Corzine and state legislative leaders will result in a $450 million bond referendum being put before New Jersey voters this fall. If approved, the money will be used to augment support for the state’s stem cell research initiative over the next 10 years. New Jersey already has committed to spending $270 million on stem cell research (see the Jan 8, 2007 issue of the Digest)
On the same day the bond issue agreement was announced, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJ EDA) approved $9.2 million in preconstruction costs for the planned Stem Cell Institute facilities in New Brunswick. The New Brunswick Development Corporation will oversee the development of the new research facilities. Major construction is slated to begin next year and is expected to conclude sometime in 2011.
People
Chris Engle, former vice president of Angelou Economics, has joined New Economy Strategies as chief project officer and principal.
People
Connecticut Innovations appointed Dr. David Reed to the position of executive in residence.
New Jersey Appropriates $270M to Build Biomedical and Stem Cell Research Facilities
Last month, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed a bill that will contribute $270 million to the construction of five biotechnology research facilities across the state. The funding source will be bonds backed up by cigarette tax revenue, as issued by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Gov. Corzine believes the state is at a strategic moment to accumulate "a critical mass of scientists, researchers, doctors and physical facilities" ahead of the next presidential administration, which will dictate future federal spending on stem cell research.
The proposal includes:
Rutgers Asks: Is It Time for the Next New Economy in NJ?
For many areas of the country, the first five years of the 21st century may well be remembered as a period of dramatic economic transformation, or the beginning of one as the rate of change continues at a fast clip. Having statistics for the five-year period of 2000-2005, however, provides the first opportunity for policymakers and academic researchers to look for meaning in the trends. The previous Digest included an article on a Brookings study looking at manufacturing losses in the Great Lakes region (see the July 24 issue of the Digest). This week, our attention is turned to New Jerseys New Economy Growth Challenges, the July 2006 Rutgers Regional Report written by James Hughes and Joseph Seneca at Rutgers School of Planning and Public Policy.
People
Peter Gold was appointed associate provost for economic initiatives at Rutgers-Camden.
New Jersey, Virginia Promote Political Veterans to Governorships
New Jersey and Virginia were the only two states to choose governors in November 2005, with both states having open races. Below is a description of each governor-elect's position on TBED.
New Jersey
New Jersey Gov.-elect Jon Corzine handily defeated Republican businessman Doug Forrester by winning more than 1.15 million votes (53 percent) to 956,795 votes (44 percent) in unofficial results. The governor-elect, who is currently a U.S. senator, will replace Democratic Acting Gov. Richard Codey, who will return to the state Senate as president of that chamber when Gov.-elect Corzine takes his oath of office. As the former chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, Senator Corzine put economic development at the top of his agenda during his campaign and said that he will streamline the state’s economic development apparatus and bring the New Jersey Economic Growth & Tourism Commission into the governor’s office.
Stem Cell Research Initiative Could Result in Substantial Economic Benefits, Rutgers Report Indicates
Examining the components that would most likely be attributed directly to Acting Gov. Richard Codey's proposed $380 million Stem Cell Research Initiative, a Rutgers University study finds that, potentially, the state stands to benefit from an estimated $1.4 billion in new economic activity, approximately 20,000 new jobs, and $71.9 million in new state revenue over the next 20 years.
The authors of the study identify six areas of economic benefits to the state, including the economic impact of public expenditures; savings in health care costs; work time and productivity savings; retention and expansion of the biotechnology industry; and royalty payments to the state. The analysis is dependent upon several variables and the largest uncertainty is whether the current promise of stem cell research will actually yield effective therapies, the authors note.
New Jersey Senate Approves $150M for Stem Cell Facility
Just over two months ago, Acting Gov. Richard Codey announced budget shortfalls were delaying the state's $380 million stem cell research initiative (see the April 25 issue of the Digest). Good news for at least part of the initiative, however, came last month in the form of legislation passed by the Senate, which allocated $150 million for construction of the planned world-class stem cell research facility.