SSTI Digest

Minnesota manufacturers are cutting payrolls, bidding low and scrambling to compete with the giant threat of cheap labor and enhanced manufacturing facilities offered in China, according to a recent survey of Greater Minnesota manufacturing companies.

Funded by Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), the state's lead technology-based economic development organization, the survey finds that most of Minnesota's outstate manufacturing companies are facing increased competition, specifically from Chinese manufacturers. Half of all respondents said that Chinese competition is hurting their business, and others suggested manufacturers have yet to see the benefits of trade with China touted by many free marketers. Of those who said Chinese manufacturing had hurt their business:

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty recently unveiled a plan to help make Minnesota a leader in biosciences. Governor Pawlenty says the state's history, expertise and economic infrastructure make it better prepared than most other states to capitalize on the bioscience industry.

Presenting his ideas to the Minnesota Biotechnology Industry Organization (MNBIO) last week, Governor Pawlenty said bioscience advances represent the next frontier and that they will "revolutionize big parts of (the state's) economy within the next two decades."

The governor's proposal includes the following:

Despite an economic slowdown, the Twin Cities is more competitive than it was a year ago, according to a study released by the Great North Alliance, a regional civic leadership organization. Conducted annually, the Great North Opportunity Forecast uses regional productivity and innovation to predict future competitiveness and opportunity.

The 2002-03 forecast measures 58 key indicators of the regional economy of the Twin Cities and divides the indicators into four areas — current performance, development capacity, innovation capacity and resource flow. Innovation capacity, for example, includes 18 indicators measuring inspiration, invention, and entrepreneurial development. In each area, the Twin Cities' performance is compared against 11 similar sized high-growth regions around the U.S., including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Orange County (CA), Phoenix, Raleigh, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

Manufacturing jobs in rural Minnesota numbered almost 120,000 in 2000, a 25 percent increase since 1990, according to a recent study by the Center for Rural Policy and Development and Minnesota Technology Inc., two agencies dedicated to helping industry in Greater Minnesota. Meanwhile, manufacturing jobs in the state's metro area increased only 1.7 percent during the same period, the study shows.

The study was the third part of the 2002 Rural Minnesota Internet Study, an annual collection of surveys designed to monitor computer, Internet and broadband use. Part III examines the telecommunications needs of the state's rural manufacturing firms. A survey of 300 of these firms revealed factors contributing to why some use the technology and others do not.

Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), the state's leading tech-based economic development corporation, currently is searching for a dynamic individual with top-notch skills to help bring federal technology transfer activities to Minnesota companies. The successful candidate will develop partnerships with federal labs, identify opportunities for tech transfer activities, and assist companies with the development of proposals, agreements and licenses, and implement solutions to enhance their ability to compete and grow.

Successful applicants will hold a Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Manufacturing/Engineering, Science or related field (advanced degree is preferred). Experience in new technology development and commercialization, and product development; experience with DOD, DOE, NASA, NIST or other federal labs is required.

Minnesota's technology sector remains a diverse, well developed and stable anchor to the state's economy, according to a new report released by Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), Minnesota's tech-based economic development organization.

Using quantitative and qualitative measurements, Our Competitive Nature: Minnesota's Technology Economy characterizes almost 2,500 companies (with more than five employees) as technology intensive, including 1,300 advanced manufacturers, 850 information technology companies, and 300 life sciences companies. These sectors account for 164,500 jobs, the report states.

In Perfectly Competitive Innovation, a March 2002 research department staff report for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine address whether current copyright, licensing and patent laws which grant monopolist rights to inventors beneficial or harmful to the innovation process. The authors suggest the latter in certain markets. 



Most modern analysis of innovation, the authors contend, is based on models assuming monopolistic competition as a prerequisite for understanding innovation and growth. Instead, Boldrin and Levine conceive a model that confers the "right of first sale" practice that was granted to entrepreneurs historically [defined loosely as before the mid-19th century]. They also argue that, contrary to prevalent opinion, idea generation and the creative effort should be viewed as sunk costs instead of as fixed costs. Models based on competitive markets can address sunk costs. 

A group of community leaders bent on revitalizing the Duluth, Minn., economy and ensuring economic opportunities for the city recently moved one step closer toward accomplishing its goals. 



The Bridge Syndicate, a non-profit with more than 300 members, recently made public its plan for economic growth, issuing A Positive Vision for Duluth's Economy. 



In the plan, the group's economic development task force of 20 young business owners and professionals focus on three main principles:

Since its founding in 1991, the nonprofit Minnesota Technology Inc. (MTI) has been Minnesota lead technology-based economic development organization. Its mission, to help existing small and medium-sized companies apply, develop and commercialize technology, is achieved through three objectives: 

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.

Over the next three years, Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI) will invest $3 million to support the development of existing and emerging technology-focused industry clusters. The new program is designed to increase collaboration between groups of tech business and the state’s nonprofit research, federal lab, and academic research communities. By focusing on the near-term technology needs of Minnesota businesses, MTI expects the program will lead to increased technology commercialization and high tech employment by the cluster businesses.



MTI anticipates making three to five investments each year, with awards

reaching $300,000 to $500,000 for qualified cluster proposals. Cluster projects must involve a minimum of four companies and at least one outside research resource, such as a local academic partner, federal lab or private, nonprofit R&D facility.



More information on the new program can be found at http://www.minnesotatechnology.org/