SSTI Digest

After holding steady in late 2001, the amount of venture capital investment continued its two-year decline in the first quarter of 2002, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers/Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ Survey. Total investments fell to $6.2 billion — a 24 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of 2001. A total of 787 companies received venture backing, or 207 fewer than the prior quarter.

All leading industries experienced declines, the survey shows. The software, networking and biotechnology industries received the most capital, respectively capturing $1.1 billion, $899 million and $752 million in first quarter investments.

Ohio Proposes to Join Race With the growing need to identify cleaner sources of power, coupled with recent advances in alternative energy technologies, many states are targeting science and technology investments toward fuel cells. California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York all have made investments in fuel cell research demonstration or commercialization projects through energy related research funds. Michigan launched its fuel cell strategy in April (see the April 19, 2002 edition of the SSTI Weekly Digest).

Examples of specific fuel cell activities within the states include:

The Spring 2002 edition of the Isuma, the quarterly Canadian Journal of Policy Research, is dedicated to issues surrounding the New Economy. Many of the 16 papers in the free, online issue will be of interest to readers of SSTI's Weekly Digest, including:

The 2002 Special Session of the Louisiana State Legislature has yielded a series of tax credits that aim to benefit biotechnology companies in Louisiana, promote commercialization of technology, encourage R&D investments, and make the state more competitive in information technology. The tax credits are as follows:

Buffalo

The Buffalo News reports InfoNiagara, a technology council serving 230 IT companies, has signed a reciprocal membership with the Amherst Chamber of Commerce to increase the benefits offered to both organizations' members. The chamber's 2,300 members gain access to InfoNiagara's training and professional development programs, according to the paper, while the tech council is able to offer its members a variety of insurance programs the chamber has in place.

Cleveland

A portion of a struggling three-story, upscale mall in downtown Cleveland may become part technology incubator, according to the May 6 issue of Crain's Cleveland Business. The article reports several alternate scenarios are being discussed by civic leaders to use sections or an entire floor of the 130,000 sq. ft. glass building to house nascent software development and other IT companies.

The president of the Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corp, Alan DeLisle, is leaving to become director of the Office of Economic and Employment Development in Durham, N.C.

Larry Kline has resigned as president of the Wisconsin Technology Council to take a position as chief financial officer and vice president for business development with a biotech firm.

Jeffrey Skolnick has been named executive director of the new Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics based at the University of Buffalo. In introducing Skolnick, Governor Pataki confirmed the new state budget includes $50 million for the center, according to the May 10 issue of the Buffalo News.

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The president of the Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corp, Alan DeLisle, is leaving to become director of the Office of Economic and Employment Development in Durham, N.C.

Larry Kline has resigned as president of the Wisconsin Technology Council to take a position as chief financial officer and vice president for business development with a biotech firm.

Jeffrey Skolnick has been named executive director of the new Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics based at the University of Buffalo. In introducing Skolnick, Governor Pataki confirmed the new state budget includes $50 million for the center, according to the May 10 issue of the Buffalo News.

Members of the House Science Committee introduced legislation this week that would place the National Science Foundation (NSF) on a track to double the agency's budget in five years. The bill, H.R. 4664, authorizes a 15 percent increase for NSF for each of the next three years.

The proposal is similar to the bipartisan effort to double the budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which should be completed with the FY 2003 appropriations. While doubling the NIH budget included support from both the Clinton and Bush Administrations, proponents for doubling NSF's budget have yet to win over key people in the Bush White House, including John Marburger, Director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy.

SSTI has compiled the 2001 statistics from the ten federal agencies participating in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to help states gear up for the next round of competition for the Federal and State Technology Partnership and Rural Outreach Programs (FAST and ROP, respectively). SBIR statistics are also used by several states as one measure or indicator for innovation indices and S&T report cards.

For each of the 10 agencies, 50 states, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the table provides the number of awards, number of proposals, and the award-to-proposal percentage or conversion ratio as a measure of success or futility. SSTI's table of 2001 SBIR Phase I statistics is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/050302t.htm