SSTI Digest

The National Science Foundation has published Federal Funds for Research and Development: Detailed Historical Tables: Fiscal Years 1951-2001. The five-volume report includes seven tables (55-61) that present the data by state for the period 1970-1999. Federal R&D obligations are characterized by industrial, university, nonprofit, FFRDC and intramural performers. Only available online, the report can be downloaded at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf01334/pdfstart.htm 

The latest monthly update from http://www.econdata.net, an excellent portal for regional economic development related data on the web, included the following table prepared by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The table presents the top 100 cities based on the total value of NIH research and development grants, contracts and training awards made in FY 2000. The funding may have been provided to a number of different organizations, companies, academic institutions, government agencies, or individuals located within the cities.  Boston led the list with $1,078,198,949. New York City was a distant second at $865,191,623. Number 100, with more than $21 million in NIH research funding was Athens, Georgia. Cities in approximately 40 states made the list. The complete table is available at: http://silk.nih.gov/public/cbz2zoz.@www.cities.top100 

On July 16, both houses of Wisconsin’s state Legislature passed a state budget including numerous incentives for technological development. The budget covers state spending for a two-year period that began July 1. Gov. Scott McCallum has until August 30 to approve the budget; several of the tech-related items were in the Governor's first state of the state and executive budget addresses. See the February 23, 2001 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest for a related story: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2001/022301.htm

Highlights include:

Despite many indications that show strong potential for growth, Southern California's bioscience industry still faces challenges, according to a new report from the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (larta). Released July 19, Heart of Gold: The Bioscience Industry in Southern California highlights the strengths of the region's industry and honestly assesses the ways that the industry can overcome its weaknesses. The report was created to present a full  and objective overview of the industry through analysis of data from numerous sources, interviews with leaders of the biosciences industry, and insights from bioscience publications.

Tom Murphy says when he first took office as Mayor of Pittsburgh in January 1994, the city was suffering from one of the worst inferiority complexes in its history. To be sure, Pittsburgh once was known first and foremost as being the capital of steelmaking in the U.S. By 1994, the devolution of U.S. steelmakers during the past 25 years had taken its toll on the steel city, physically, economically and psychologically. Boy, have things changed in seven years! Rightfully proud of what has been accomplished and demonstrating the city's top-level commitment to being competitive in a tech-based economy, Mayor Murphy will lead SSTI's upcoming Policy In Practice tour of Pittsburgh's revitalization on September 19.

The House Small Business Committee approved H.R. 1860 this week, legislation that amends and reauthorizes the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. STTR funds cooperative research and development projects between small companies and research institutions such as universities or federally funded R&D laboratories. H.R. 1860, as amended, increases the percentage of R&D funds earmarked for this program from 0.15 percent to 0.3 percent beginning in 2004, thus doubling the support for small high-tech firms. The Senate version of the STTR reauthorization would increase the program set-aside to 0.3 percent beginning in 2004 and 0.5 percent for fiscal year 2007 and each fiscal year thereafter.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has posted its selections for the FY 2001 Phase I solicitation of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. Using information obtained from Ruth Lange of the USDA SBIR Program Office and the USDA website, SSTI has prepared the accompanying table presenting the state-by-state distribution of proposals, awards and total funding provided for the Phase I cycle. Phase II information will be available in September, once awards are finalized.

Birmingham, Alabama A $90 million building and as many as 2,000 more jobs are in the works for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, reported The Associated Press July 25. Construction costing up to $125 million would provide more than 1.4 million sq. ft., doubling the university’s research space. The new building is among the university’s plans for an additional three buildings that would add up to 500,000 sq. ft. and 2,000 jobs. The announcement of the building follows Gov. Don Siegelman’s $35 million recent pledge to build the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Institute — an 11-story building and $90 million project expected to create 1,400 jobs. School officials anticipate the project also will create $100 million in new research dollars annually. Franklin, Virginia

The DOEd Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research invites applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 awards under the following programs. More information is available under the July 31 announcements of the Federal Register: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/

One of the few new spending bills to make it through the 2001 session of the Minnesota Legislature provides $10 million in seed money for technology commercialization through a new Biomedical Innovation and Commercialization Initiative (BICI – pronounced beach-ee). The BICI appropriation is contingent upon state economic development officials securing a three-to-one private sector match. BICI is a collaborative economic development initiative involving the State of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota and the state’s medical research institutions, companies and investors. It establishes a commercial enterprise – independent of both the university and state government – to bridge the gap between academic basic research and the commercialization of new technologies.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft last week signed legislation creating the Ohio Aerospace and Defense Council to examine state and federal laws, rules, and policies that affect the two industries and associated federal installations in Ohio. Ohio is home to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the state’s largest single-site employer, and the NASA Glen Research Center in Cleveland. Six objectives are to be addressed by the council:

The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania has issued a Request for Proposals to develop an asset-mapping study of the nanotechnology sector in the four-state Philadelphia Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area. A key objective of the engagement is to facilitate comparison of the region’s Nanotechnology sector with other regions and benchmark performance in this sector to enable longitudinal comparisons in the future. Another primary objective is to provide data and analysis critical to informing policy decisions for the Nanotechnology Institute. The study would secondarily provide information that could be used to promote Greater Philadelphia’s role as an early leader in Nanotechnology. Proposals are due August 15, 2001.