SSTI Digest

Joseph James has announced his resignation as head of the Prince George's Economic Development Corporation (Maryland).

The new executive director of the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council is Gail Milligan.

Tucked in the fine print of Illinois' budget bills was language to merge seven financing agencies, according to the June 11 edition of The Bond Buyer. Among the agencies included in the merger are the Illinois Development Finance Authority, the Illinois Research Park Authority (inactive), the Illinois Community Development Authority and the Illinois Rural Bond Bank.

Package Isn't All Governor Expected; Veto Possible

Changing mindsets within a state to embrace making significant public investments toward building an innovation economy can be a daunting task, particularly with the fiscal environment all state goverments are currently facing. With an aggressive series of town meetings and web forums, and strong vision and top-level leadership, Iowa succeeded to make its first big steps toward that goal with late-night votes by the State Legislature this week during a special session.

Breaking new technologies into traditional markets can be challenging, particularly in the energy field it seems. To help overcome that hurdle, the State of Pennsylvania has undertaken a $5 million initiative to help finance the implementation of clean and renewable energy technologies such as biomass and wind power. The initiative, Pennsylvania Energy Harvest, will help improve air quality, preserve land and protect local watersheds while providing economic opportunities for the state’s agricultural community.

Since her inauguration in January, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has pushed legislation intended to increase university tech transfer and commercialization (see related item in this issue). But will it work? Do economic incentives really encourage university researchers to pursue commercialization goals? Or are academics "pure" scientists, truly beyond monetary motives as many would argue?

With a combined annual research budget totaling $4.8 billion, New Mexico's 12 largest research facilities signed a Memorandum of Agreement on May 30 to help turn intellectual property into jobs for New Mexicans. Members of the newly formed New Mexico Technology Research Corridor (TRC) include:

While the nation’s manufacturing sector continues to face major challenges, the National Coalition for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM) suggests in a new white paper that the U.S. can compete successfully with low-wage countries if industry and government rally around two basic goals — increase labor productivity by greatly accelerating the use of advanced technologies and leverage national resources through a major expansion of public-private partnerships.

Arizona Legislation to Encourage Tech Transfer Awaits Voters' Approval

House Bill 2403, a measure that ultimately would encourage technology transfer, has been signed by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and now awaits approval by voters. Passing the Arizona State Legislature in late May, the legislation provides that Arizona's universities may partner with private companies in business ventures. State agencies and organizations would be able to take equity investments in firms wanting to market products developed at the universities. Arizona voters will decide at the next general election whether to approve the change in the state's Constitution. The complete text of HB 2403 is available at: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/

On Wednesday, President Bush signed the Jobs and Growth Tax Reconciliation Act of 2003, providing $20 billion in fiscal relief to state governments. Half of the $20 billion will come through an increase in the federal share of Medicaid.

The Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS), a joint subscription service of the National Governors' Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures, has published a table showing how the State Fiscal Relief Fund will be divided over fiscal years 2003-2004. The state-by-state table, available at http://www.ffis.org/ff/sfr052303.pdf, estimates fiscal relief allocations.

A survey of 330 cities and towns by the National League of Cities (NLC) shows that cities are raising fees and taxes while cutting infrastructure spending and city staffs in order to deal with the worst fiscal conditions for municipalities since NLC began its annual survey of city finance managers in 1985.

The survey's release follows House and Senate conferees' decision to ignore a 95-3-2 Senate vote that would have provided $4 billion to local governments as part of the President's Jobs and Growth bill.

More cities are less able to meet their financial needs, according to NLC. Four out of five cities (79 percent) report they are less able to meet financial needs than they were during the previous year. This is a sharp rise compared to NLC’s 2002 survey, which listed 55 percent of cities as being less able to meet financial needs.

A proposed Cybersecurity R&D Center is the centerpiece of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) first research agenda for information analysis and infrastructure protection, according to recent testimony presented by Dr. Charles McQueary, Under Secretary for the DHS Science and Technology Directorate, before the House Science Committee.

To be developed in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the DHS Cybersecurity R&D Center will provide a DHS focus for the many cybersecurity research, development, test and evaluation activities underway in the defense and intelligence, academic and private laboratory communities.

Dr. McQueary outlined four roles for the center: