SSTI Digest

• Tony Armstrong, Indiana University executive director for engagement, has been chosen as the Indiana University Research and Technology Corporations new president and CEO.
• Jeff Costantine will retire this fiscal year as president of the Nashville Technology Council. The board of directors has begun the search for a new president.
• Joseph G. Danek stepped down as executive director of the EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation. He will continue work at the foundation as its senior advisor and will also remain senior vice president of the Implementation Group, a Washington consulting firm. James B. Hoehn, a senior associate at the foundation, became its executive director. 

National Governors Association
Twelve states recently received grants of $50,000 from the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices to support clean energy initiatives and to overcome obstacles preventing the adoption of clean energy technologies in their region. The awards were made through NGA’s Clean Energy State Grant Program, a part of the association’s Securing a Clean Energy Future Initiative. Several companies and foundations, including American Electric Power, Dominion Resources, The Ford Motor Company and The Rockefeller Fund, have provided financial support for the grants, which are intended to fund state projects that support research, analysis, training or outreach to advance clean energy implementation.
Highlights from the list of awardees include:

Offering customized workspace such as wet laboratories and specialized research equipment is one of the many benefits provided by technology-focused incubators. Access to university research, business mentoring and administrative support services often accompany the reduced rent facilities with the goal of growing technology companies into successful, self-sustaining enterprises. Following are select announcements of recently launched incubators and partnerships from across the nation. 
 
GateWay Community College recently received a recommendation from the Phoenix Parks, Education, Bioscience and Sustainability subcommittee of the Phoenix City Council to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the college to build a bioscience incubator laboratory with wet lab space, the Arizona Republic reports. The wet lab would be a minimum of 5,000 sq. ft. and located near the Phoenix Biomedical Campus.
 

Early-stage Colorado bioscience companies and researchers in clean and alternative energy working to commercialize new technologies are among the victors of Colorado’s legislative session that ended last week.
 
To encourage bioscience research and speed technology commercialization, Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law HB 1001, establishing the Colorado Bioscience Research Grant Program. The grant program will provide $26.5 million over five years to research institutions and private companies, beginning with $5.5 million this year. Unveiled by the governor last fall, the program is the first portion of the administration’s business development package to be approved by legislators (see the Oct. 3, 2007 issue of the Digest).
 

John Austin is the newly appointed executive director of the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan.

Tom Cech announced he will return to the University of Colorado at Boulder next year to pursue laboratory research and teaching after eight years as president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Sarah Djamshidi was selected as executive director of the Chesapeake Innovation Center.

John Hardin was named the acting executive director for the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology.

Wayne Hicks announced he is stepping down as the president and CEO of the Cincinnati Business Incubator to focus on other interests, including his work as executive director of the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation.

Publisher's Note: SSTI notes with much sadness the March 5 passing of Indiana State Sen. David Ford, following a battle with pancreatic cancer. David was a good friend not only of SSTI's, but also of the tech-based economic development community across the nation. In addition to being a tireless and cheerful advocate for investing in science and technology, he was also a gentleman in the true sense of the word, and we miss him greatly.

David Abbott, executive director of the George Gund Foundation, was elected the new chairman of the Northeast Ohio-based Fund for Our Economic Future. Abbott replaces Robert Briggs of the GAR Foundation, who had served as chairman since the Fund was formed in 2004.

Birgitte Ahring has joined Washington State University as the director of the Center for Bioproducts and Bioenergy and as the Battelle Distinguished Professor, based at WSU Tri-Cities.

The second installment of the Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes highlights from state-of-the-state, budget and inaugural addresses from Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia.

Arizona
Gov. Janet Napolitano, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 14, 2008
“Higher standards for students mean we must sustain a higher-quality corps of math and science teachers by expanding teacher loan forgiveness, scholarships, and incentives. Last year, you took a big step in this direction by providing initial funding for these incentives, and by funding more math and science teachers; I ask you to do the same this year. …

In support of his New Energy Economy Initiative, Gov. Bill Ritter introduced last week a statewide action plan to expand renewable energy opportunities and reduce the impact of climate change.

 

Two key components of the plan include R&D for coal, natural gas and renewable energy and fostering an educated workforce. Under the plan, the state will partner with research institutions and industry to expand R&D in these areas and develop clean-coal technologies. No additional funding is requested in the governor’s fiscal year 2008-09 budget proposal for these initiatives; however, the key departments involved in the action plan have committed to using existing funds to implement the action items.

 

Ryne Johnson was named the new director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Chico State University.