SSTI Digest

A recent research study suggests that diverse identity representation of website spokespeople increases the likelihood of attracting a higher proportion of prospective entrepreneurs.

Rosanna Garcia and Daniel Baack, researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the University of Denver respectively, explore whether the demographic of spokespeople featured on websites had an impact on the entrepreneurial intention of individuals of various identities. Their article, Entrepreneurial Intent Is Not Black or White: An Intersectional Perspective, sampled 562 students across five American universities to gain insight into this issue. The goal of the study was to isolate and cross-examine individual and compounded impacts of race and gender in both the website spokesperson and student respondent in order to identify ways to encourage more diverse entrepreneurial involvement in university settings.

The EDA University Center Economic Development Program Competition recently announced $2.5 million in grants awarded to 25 colleges and universities in the Chicago and Philadelphia EDA regions to leverage assets, promote innovation and strengthen regional economies. The goal of these awards is “to boost innovation, create good-paying jobs and ensure American competitiveness in the global economy” while funding research as well as innovation economy development services.

Higher levels of business creation can be linked to the presence of innovation in a state through entrepreneurial activity and transitioning to new industries, and this edition of Useful Stats examines data from the Census Bureau’s recently updated Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) on net establishment formation and the job creation stemming from those establishments in 2019. While figures vary widely among the states, most saw growth in both net establishment creation and net job creation in 2019; this data is prior to the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. This analysis also provides additional context by examining the long-term state trends in these metrics from 1978 to 2019.

Increased adoption of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles has been empirically linked to improved financial performance, but venture capital (VC) has fallen behind other sectors in embracing such measures. With more than $100 trillion in assets under management (AUM) already being managed according to the ESG framework globally, a recent article by Johannes Lenhard and Susan Winterberg provides some guidance on how VC can improve in adopting ESG principles, while also giving some pointers to limited partners (LPs) in VC funds, regulators, and company founders — the groups that have been the drivers of what little ESG adoption VC has experienced.

The supremacy of the U.S. research enterprise has been eroding, particularly challenged by China and other Asian countries, and a new draft report from the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) at the Department of Energy (DOE) concludes that U.S. leadership in basic energy sciences will continue to diminish without intervention. Specifically, the report finds that to stay internationally competitive in basic energy sciences the U.S. must: increase total funding for R&D, spanning from basic and fundamental research to experimental development; focus multi-disciplinary research on several key areas of energy sciences; increase the nation’s ability to attract and retain the world’s top scientists and engineers; and, facilitate interactions among basic, applied, and industrial researchers to accelerate the translation of research into socially beneficial technologies.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced a combined total of $5.4 million in awards to innovation-focused entrepreneur support organizations with programs to support entrepreneurs researching and developing STEM-related innovations. The 2021 competition included two prize tracks with 84 winners for the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) and eight winners for the new SBIR Catalyst competition, which aims to spur investment in underrepresented communities within the innovation economy.  

The accelerators and incubators who won GAFC awards support a broad range of industries including clean energy, supply chain resilience and infrastructure, and will each receive a $50,000 prize. The winners of the SBIR Catalyst competition are connectors across programs that fund innovation clusters, hubs, and other technology-based economic development initiatives. SBIR Catalyst winners will each receive a $150,000 prize.  SSTI recognizes the following members that were among the prize winners (and a complete list of winners is available here):

The Biden administration announced the 30 members of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) this week. The panel, which is co-chaired by the president’s science advisor and external experts, exists to make science, technology and innovation recommendations to the White House. The administration calls this the most diverse PCAST in its history, which dates back to 1957, including the first women co-chairs. Included among the advisors are two former secretaries under President Barack Obama: Penny Pritzker (Commerce) and Ashton Carter (Defense). The full list of PCAST advisors is available in the White House’s announcement.

The Community Development Financial Institution Fund (CDFI Fund) of the U.S. Department of Treasury recently awarded more than $24.1 million in Technical Assistance Awards to 191 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). These awards were distributed through the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program). The 191 CDFI awardees represented 39 states — as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation revealed the awardees from its second round of the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program this week. The office awarded $5 million to each of five organizations to lead partnerships that will strengthen defense manufacturing and related supply chains. The five awards are listed below and available on the office’s website:

• Commonwealth Virginia Office of Veterans and Defense Affairs for Maritime Industries Talent Development
• North Carolina State University - Industry Expansion Solutions for Smart Textiles and Wearables
• Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station for Defense Workforce and Supply Chain Development
• University of Tennessee at Knoxville for Advanced Machine Tooling
• Wichita State University, National Institute for Aviation Research for Prototyping

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) recently announced its largest POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) grant package to date, investing nearly $46.4 million into 57 projects across 184 counties. The award aims to leverage entrepreneurship, workforce development, and infrastructure to bolster re-employment opportunities, create jobs in existing or new industries, and attract new sources of investment. To date, ARC has awarded over $287 million and supported 362 projects, benefitting 353 coal-impacted communities.

Funding for the awards is made available through the POWER Initiative, which aims to help communities and regions that have been affected by job losses in coal mining, coal power plant operations, and coal-related supply chain industries due to the changing economics of America’s energy production.

The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and its partners announced that they will provide at least $1.8 billion in funding and financing to 23 more cities across nine countries to implement integrated development approaches to improve efficiency, inclusivity and resilience against climate change. 

The health and livelihoods of more than 58 million people will be improved through the new investment, collectively called UrbanShift. Participating cities are in the nine countries of Argentina, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.  The program is funded by the Global Environment Facility and additional financing and technical support is being provided by the World Resources Institute, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, C40 Cities, Local Governments for Sustainability, and the United Nations Development Programme.

The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund of the U.S. Department of Treasury awarded 100 community development entities (CDEs) $5 billion in New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) earlier this month. The purpose of this tax credit program is to stimulate investment and create jobs in low-income urban and rural communities that would benefit from economic revitalization — especially amid the financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.