SSTI Digest

Charlotte A. Hayes, president of DCTech, the Washington DC Technology Council, has resigned to return to the private sector. John Sanders has been named interim president, while the council seeks a permanent replacement.

Jim Hayes is serving as interim president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama as the group works to fill the position. Hayes was a former director of the Alabama Development Office.

William Parsons is serving as acting executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. Parsons is the vice president of operations.

Correction: Lara Vande Walle is the director of membership and business development for the Maryland Technology Council, not Maryland's TEDCO as was previously reported.

A draft report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recommends the Department for Homeland Security include a centralized office for research and technology development and the senior-level position of undersecretary for science and technology, according to several published reports. The final version of Maximizing the Contribution of Science and Technology Within the New Department of Homeland Security, which was available on the PCAST website temporarily, is to be given to the President next week.

The St. Louis region lags behind a number of metropolitan areas including Austin, Portland, Atlanta, and Indianapolis in attracting 20- to 34-year olds to live and work in the region, according to a report released this month by the regional, nonprofit organization, FOCUS St. Louis.

Preparing St. Louis for Leadership in the 21st Century Economy is the result of a year-long effort by a citizen-based FOCUS St. Louis task force. The 27-member group concluded the St. Louis region must be more effective in attracting and retaining young knowledge workers in order for the region to thrive and compete in the 21st Century economy.

University partnerships lead to diversity in teaching and research, highlight the importance of university research and lead to the development of special expertise, concludes a policy brief by the Conseil Superieur De L’Education in Quebec.

Universities: Working In Partnership, prepared for the Minister of Education, examines the effects of partnerships with outside entities on elements of the university mission in Canada, particularly Quebec. The brief outlines the positive effects of partnerships, as well as the counterproductive and undefined effects.

The brief focuses on the university viewpoint of partnerships and identifies concerns and tensions by universities when engaging in these agreements. These concerns and tensions are parlayed into five key questions to be asked. From these questions, the Counsel outlines five guidelines for partnerships:

A review of recent grant announcements from across the country reveals the growing importance the Economic Development Administration (EDA) places on supporting technology-based economic development projects. EDA's emphasis on technology-led economic development is expected to be the focus of  a keynote address delivered by Dr. David Sampson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development and EDA head, at SSTI's Sixth Annual Conference this October 2-3.

EDA — which since 1965 has provided assistance to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically-distressed areas — has historically concentrated funding on traditional economic development projects focused on public works and infrastructure.

Governor Bill Owen has named Trip Carter as the state's first aerospace advocate, the state's latest effort to help the industry, which employs approximately 110,000 residents and has $4 billion in revenues. Only Florida, California and Texas have larger stakes in the aerospace industry. As a result, the state has undertaken several initiatives over the past two years to develop and promote the industry's health as it goes through a transition period.

The Aerospace Advocate appointment follows a Space Symposium held in Colorado Springs in April and the Colorado Space Strategy Initiative completed two years ago to study the importance of aerospace for Colorado's economy and outline specific recommendations for public-private initiatives to support the industry.

With several of the right elements already in place but scattered across a wide area, the two planning districts comprising the 13-county region surrounding Roanoke, Virginia, combined efforts to develop a strategic economic development strategy that focuses heavily on science and technology-based initiatives.

The Alliance Group and its Planning Leadership Group, a team of public, private and academic stakeholder organizations, have outlined six strategic themes that entail regional economic development activities for the larger region: visibility, connectivity, quality-of-life amenities, knowledge work force, innovation and entrepreneurship, and economic transformation. The next steps, the group asserts, are to communicate the goals of the Strategy throughout the region and manage the necessary resources for enacting the goals.