SSTI Digest

Several key proposals championed by Gov. Kathleen Seblius to prepare the state for an innovation-based economy were adopted by the legislature in the approved fiscal year 2009 budget signed into law by the governor earlier this month.   In February, Gov. Sebelius signed an executive order forming the Kansas Innovation Consortium announced during her State of the State Address (see the Jan. 23, 2008 issue of the Digest). The initiative brings together key industry clusters within the state, including animal, plant and life sciences, health, manufacturing, agriculture, logistics and energy, and is charged with attracting new investments in R&D and ensuring the state has a prepared workforce. Lawmakers did not, however, include the governor’s recommendation of $150,000 in the FY09 budget for related start-up costs.  

Lori Broyles was appointed coordinator of the Women's Business Center in Oklahoma City.

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.

Kansas University has appointed Steve Warren as its first full-time vice provost for research and graduate studies.

The agricultural states that lie east of the Rocky Mountains are at the center of an escalating decline in population, far exceeding that of other regions of the country. Of particular concern is the effect of population loss among young, educated workers on the states’ economies, resulting in a brain drain that could leave the region lagging the rest of the nation for many years to come.   A number of areas cry “brain drain” whenever they see statistics for where graduates go after finishing college. Often, those arguments are made without looking at the more useful measure of net migration, the result of considering in-migration as well as out-migration.  

It only seems natural that SSTI celebrate the premiere professional development event for the nation's tech-based economic development community in 2009 in a state that, for 20 years, has pioneered innovative approaches to transform regional economies -­ Kansas. SSTI's 13th annual conference and pre-conference workshops will be held at the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel on Oct. 20-22, 2009. Overland Park provides the perfect backdrop for SSTI's 13th annual conference for many reasons. Kansas has a vibrant technology and bioscience community that boasts innovative programs, such as KTEC, KTEC PIPELEINE, Kansas Bioscience Authority, and Heartland BioVentures. KTEC is in the midst of celebrating 20 years as the state’s leading technology economic development organization and has positive relationships with both the state’s universities and private sector. KTEC brings $13 million in technology entrepreneurship to the region, in addition to the $40 million in funding from the Kansas Bioscience Authority.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius delivered her State of the State Address last week proposing new initiatives and continued funding for several TBED programs emphasizing education and innovation as key to the state’s future economy. Gov. Sebelius announced a proposal to create the Kansas Innovation Consortium, comprised of leaders from business, higher education, and state and local officials charged with advising the governor on research and education priorities for the state to achieve an innovation-based economy. The consortium also would develop specific strategies for investing in innovation and entrepreneurship and develop metrics to measure innovation and determine if the strategy is successful. The governor is requesting $150,000 from the Economic Development Initiatives Fund (EDIF) for start-up costs associated with the new group.

Clay Blair resigned as chairman of Kansas Bioscience Authority.

The Kansas City region is obtaining funding for high-tech research in the life sciences, but entrepreneurship is stifled because of fragmented efforts to improve the innovation environment and the region’s lack of an overall strategy for its various stakeholders. This finding and others were identified in Completing the Puzzle: Creating a High-Tech and Life Sciences Economy in Kansas City, a recent report prepared for the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program. The report offers suggestions on how a “second-tier” region like Kansas City can build upon its existing industrial capacity to emerge as a viable location for knowledge-based industries.  

The Kansas Bioscience Authority named Thomas Thornton as its first president and CEO.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has appointed former Kansas Gov. John Carlin to the Kansas Bioscience Authority.

Joni Cobb is the first president of KTEC Pipeline, Kansas's new technology entrepreneurship fellowship program.