SSTI Digest

For the second year in a row, Florida cities dominate the Milken Institute's top 200 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in the ability to create and sustain jobs. The top performer, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, moved up 31 places from last year and is followed by last year's top scorer, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, and Naples-Marco Island, respectively.

Located near the John F. Kennedy Space Center, the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville area has a diversified economy with many aerospace and defense-related industries, the report states. The area's economy has expanded at a brisk pace over the past two years, with job growth rising to 5.3 percent in 2004.

BioFlorida President Diana Robinson is leaving to join a private venture capital company once her replacement is selected.

With state revenues posting a surplus, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush used his 2006-07 budget proposal to make his largest request yet to support efforts to diversify the state's economy through technology-based economic development (TBED). In total, the budget provides $630 million for several new research-focused initiatives, business recruitment funds, and other economic development programs.

The governor's funding recommendations focus on growing science and technology-based jobs and industries, investments in the space industry, and developing funds to support innovative start-up companies, and include:

John Adams, director of the Laredo Development Foundation, will become the new director of Enterprise Florida.

Darrell Kelley, CEO of Enterprise Florida for the past three years, will retire on Aug. 1.

Many communities around the country have established authorities to oversee the real estate, infrastructure and management issues of their technology parks. Few of those authorities, however, provide direct grants to support industry-university R&D or commercialization projects. This more proactive approach to growing future tenants is the thinking behind a pilot program created last year for the Leon County Research and Development Authority (LCRDA) in Tallahassee.

Last month, the Innovation Park Technology Commercialization Grant Program awarded its first two $15,000 grants to be used for product development, business and commercialization services, or to secure matching funds. Grant recipients also will receive marketing support and strategic planning assistance.

Statewide efforts addressing all of higher education's public purposes are needed to combat the increasing competition and privatization sweeping the nation's public colleges and universities, says a new report from the Futures Project, Correcting Course: How We Can Restore the Ideals of Public Higher Education in a Market-Driven Era.

State policies have come to favor an open market with the potential to create unhealthy competition that strays from the traditional goals of public institutions, such as increased access, better instruction, lower costs and greater efficiency, the authors contend. As higher education becomes more competition-driven, they argue, academic leaders feel compelled to chase revenues and rankings rather than to focus on providing a high quality education.

Michelle Bauer, executive director of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum, announced she will resign from her position in early 2005.

Forum Aims to Support Entrepreneurs in Southern New Jersey

A business support group for newly-formed companies, the Entrepreneurs Forum of Southern New Jersey, is promoting a more entrepreneurial-friendly environment in the Southern New Jersey region by partnering with universities and area businesses. The nonprofit group plans to leverage the resources of Rowan and Rutgers universities, business leaders, and government officials to improve the flow of ideas, services and funding to entrepreneurs. Private companies are providing funding for the forum to deliver free and low-cost services as well as planned seminars, events and networking opportunities to young companies in the region.

Rowan University Wins Approval for Technology Park Loan

A $5 million low-interest loan was approved in June to fund the South Jersey Technology Park at Rowan University. The Delaware River and Bay Authority’s (DRBA) Board of Commissioners approved the loan, which will be owned by the DRBA and leased to the university until the loan is repaid, according to the Courier-Post. The Courier-Post article states Rowan has secured more than $12 million for the first phase of the project, including a $6 million grant from New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority. The park could open as soon as 2006.

When Florida Gov. Jeb Bush surprised the world last October by announcing the state had landed an East Coast campus for the Scripps Research Institute, the draw from the public coffers cost was pegged at $510 million. The state was contributing $310 million and the county's share was up to $200 million for land acquisition and building construction.

Scripps promised to create 545 jobs within the first eight years on its new 100-acre campus. That works out to $935,780 of public investment per job. Pricey, yes, but civic leaders are counting on Scripps to serve as a strong magnet to attract even more high wage, high tech businesses at no or lower cost to the state. Gov. Bush projected an additional 50,000 jobs resulting from the research center's presence in the West Palm Beach area within 15 years.

Studies have shown a strong correlation between high-wage economic growth and university research activity. Examination of nearly every strong regional technology center across the country will reveal at least one research university within its boundaries. As a result, many state and local technology-based economic development (TBED) efforts strive to increase the quantity and quality of university R&D undertaken within their boundaries.

One need look no further than the local cineplex to see an analogy for the rationale of one particular TBED strategy. Hollywood knows adding a well known actor to a movie's lineup guarantees some level of ticket sales at the box office. Similarly, many state and local TBED programs are financially supporting the recruitment and retention of exceptional academic researchers through endowed chairs, faculty positions or eminent scholars.