SSTI Digest

When first proposed in 2000, the concept was radical, controversial and expensive. Simply give a wireless laptop to all seventh and eighth grade students and teachers in the entire state of Maine.

The problem of expense, initially estimated to be $50 million for 35,000 laptops, took on greater significance as the state's revenues began to decline. Former Governor Angus King persisted and, 16 months later, a scaled back $30 million program allowed seventh-graders to use the computers in class and sign them out for use at home. The following year, the program was expanded to include eighth-graders.

As those students, who have now used laptops for two years of instruction, Internet research and homework, move into ninth grade, the State Board of Education has unanimously endorsed a statement urging the state legislature to expand the computer program into the high schools.

A new fund developed by the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) is expected to lead to greater commercialization of technologies in the northeast state. Created through a reserved proportion of MTI’s annual grantable funds, the Accelerated Commercialization Fund (ACF) will allow previously funded MTI companies the chance to achieve significant growth. To qualify for funding, companies must at a minimum demonstrate significant potential for financial and economic development returns.

The financing gap that exists between some companies' research and development (R&D) and sales is the motivating force behind the Maine fund. MTI plans on the investments piggybacking on other investors' terms, generally in the form of equity, and either converting existing debt or providing additional capital to help advance new products toward the market.

Advanced research grants and equity financing are just two items slated for funding in Maine Gov. John Baldacci's $120 million revenue bond package, unveiled last week. The tech-based economic development (TBED) items would receive a combined $7 million in funding. The largest portion of the governor's package, $65 million, is dedicated to land conservation and parks. Other elements address housing, health and environmental issues.

For Maine's business and research community, highlights include:

Maine Governor John Baldacci has nominated one of his senior policy advisors, Jack Cashman, to become Commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. Cashman formerly served as a Democratic state representative from Old Town.

On Tuesday, voters in Maine approved Governor John Baldacci's request to issue $60 million in bonds to finance several research infrastructure, economic development and housing related projects. Packaged and marketed as the Jobs Bond, the measure won easily with 60 percent of the vote in this special election. The tech-based economic development portion of the bond will be allocated as follows:

Maine Governor John Baldacci got nearly everything he wanted in a bond proposal to encourage technology-based economic development (TBED). The Maine legislature shaved $10 million from the Governor's original request before passing the bond on to Maine voters for consideration at a special referendum June 10. The bond proposal includes:

Around the country, the current funding climate is forcing some technology groups to explore new relationships with each other, including consolidation. In other cases, it just makes good sense. For example, two of Maine's environmental and energy technology organizations are joining forces with the goal of advancing job growth, R&D and new product commercialization within their overlapping industries.

The Environmental Business Council of Maine (EBCM) and the Maine Environment & Energy Center (Maine E2 Center) are combining to create the Environmental & Energy Technology Council of Maine (E2 Tech Council). The new organization will service an industry sector that includes more than 200 companies and nonprofit organizations employing approximately 4,000 workers.

Governor John Baldacci used his February 5 budget address to outline a proposal to float a $70 million economic development bond, the majority of which would be dedicated to research and development projects. Citing the successful results of several R&D bond packages approved by voters over the past five years – with last summer's $35 million bond being the most recent – Gov. Baldacci wants the state to take advantage of historically low interest rates and the state's good bond rating to commit an additional $43 million for R&D projects.

The Governor says the funds will support the joint biomedical research efforts of the University of Maine System, Jackson Laboratory, and the other biomedical research organizations around the state. Other funds will continue research in natural resource based industries in the university system.

The State of Maine's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Committee is seeking a Statewide EPSCoR Director to provide leadership and vision for the State's EPSCoR Committee, called the Research Capacity Committee (RCC), and the state's research enterprise. Working directly with the RCC, the Director participates in the development and implementation of the state's EPSCoR strategy. The Director also reports to the Chair of the RCC. For more information, visit http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm or access the full job description at http://www.mstf.org.

State and local governments are starting to develop entrepreneurship programs, but the past decade's progress could be threatened by the looming fiscal crisis facing the states, according to a new study released by the National Commission on Entrepreneurship (NCOE) and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC).

Understanding Entrepreneurship Promotion as an Economic Development Strategy: A Three-State Survey is part of preliminary research dedicated to understanding the growth of entrepreneurial development programs and the effect of these investments on new economic activity.

Meriby Sweet has been appointed technology business counselor by the Maine Technology Institute and the Maine Small Business Development Centers.

A new report assessing Maine's seven targeted technology sectors represents the first systematic attempt to analyze the growth of the state's industry clusters. The report, Assessing Maine's Technology Clusters, was prepared for the Maine Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) by the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School.

The MSTF report begins by defining clusters as more than geographic concentrations of firms in a similar industry. Clusters occur when a network of relationships between companies, suppliers, service providers and supporting institutions provide a competitive advantage to all related firms in the region, the report states.