SSTI Digest

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.   Colorado’s first aerospace business incubator will provide services, less the office space, for companies involved in space technology and resource development. The 8th Continent Project at the Colorado School of Mines announced a $150…

The General Assembly approved the fiscal year 2009 budget last week, providing $21 million for the Life Sciences Research Trust Fund. Established in 2003, the fund was created to support life science research, commercialization, and technology transfer using a portion of the state’s tobacco settlement funds. The FY09 appropriation will be administered by the Life Sciences Research Board, which is responsible for awarding grants and contracts for research.   Last year, the General Assembly approved a one-time appropriation of $13.4 million for the fund dedicated to research focusing on animal and health nutrition, renewable energy and plant sciences (see the May 21, 2007 issue of the Digest).   The FY09 budget includes $1 million for eMINTS – a statewide instructional model for teachers – in support of the Missouri Mathematics, Engineering, Technology and Science (METS) Initiative. The goal of the METS program is to support schools in creating school-wide reform for improved instruction and student achievement in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Gov. Matt Blunt recommended $5 million for…

Bob Calcaterra announced he is resigning as president of the Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise, effective this spring, to help form a venture capital fund.

Bo Fishback is the new vice president of entrepreneurship for the Kauffman Foundation.

RiverVest Venture Partners, a life science venture capital firm headquartered in St. Louis, announced it will be opening an office at the BioEnterprise facility in Cleveland. The office will be managed by Karen Spilizewski, who is joining RiverVest on a part-time basis as a vice president on Jan. 1.

By nature, angel investing is a risky endeavor. Angels are often involved with unproven seed- and early-stage companies and are frequently the first outside investors to become involved in a new venture. Despite these risks, a report released by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Angel Capital Education Foundation argues that angel investors working through investor groups often achieve attractive returns. Although only about half of all angel deals result in a profitable return, angels who maintain a portfolio of investments and have the resources to devote to extensive due diligence and company oversight frequently see returns that are competitive with other types of equity investment.   The authors of the report, Robert Wiltbank of Willamette University and Warren Boeker of the University of Washington, conducted a survey of 539 active angel investors to find out more about their background and the results they had seen from their investments. Since there are no legal reporting requirements for angels, the sample was limited to investors who are associated with angel groups.   On average, these investors…

Although Missouri frequently ranks in the top 20 states for federal research grants and academic R&D, the state consistently ranks much lower in the creation of new high-tech companies. A recent report by Dr. Mark Parry of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Bloch School of Business suggests that early-stage high-tech entrepreneurs and companies have been unable to secure sufficient capital to launch successful ventures. Part of this capital deficit has been due to a lack of state investment in capital formation and access programs, he contends. While neighboring states spent an average of $2.79 per resident in 2006 on capital formation initiatives and similar states such as Arizona, Ohio and Minnesota spent $2.94, Missouri spent only $0.10. Parry argues that this lack of spending has contributed to the state's persistent difficulty in translating its intellectual capital into new companies.   One problem identified by the report is that although the amount of early-stage capital under management in Missouri has increased over the past six years, the amount invested in Missouri companies has declined. Angel and venture investors are not…

Dr. Paul Kedrosky has joined the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation as a senior fellow.

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The Missouri Small Business Technology Development Center, which focuses on strengthening the technological competitiveness of Missouri's businesses, is seeking someone for the position of technology commercialization specialist/counselor. This person will serve as a statewide specialist to provide leadership, expertise and training to university faculty and staff and private sector clients, as well as guidance for commercialization of products and development of companies. A master's degree in engineering, business, science or a related area with appropriate coursework, along with five or more years of relevant experience, is required. South Dakota State University (SDSU), the state's land-grant institution with more than 11,000 students, invites applications and nominations for the position of technology transfer coordinator in SDSU's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. The technology transfer coordinator is responsible for overseeing university activities of faculty, staff and students for technology…

Thom Ruhe is leaving JumpStart Inc., a venture organization in Cleveland, to become director of online initiatives at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Two bills passed by the Missouri General Assembly last week include more than $32 million to support new initiatives to promote TBED activities in the state. Programs to support bio-agricultural research, technology commercialization and business growth won the lion's share of the new appropriations. Funding for Missouri's Life Sciences Research Trust Fund, which was stalled during last year's legislative session, finally made it through the legislature, with last week's passage of the 2008 budget bill. The Trust Fund was created in 2003 to support life science research, commercialization and technology transfer. HB 688 allocated 25 percent of the state's tobacco settlement funds beginning in fiscal year 2007 to the Life Sciences Research Board, which administers the fund. However, concern over funds being used for embryonic stem cell research led the General Assembly to divert the $37.5 million appropriation last session. In November, voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that prohibits state or local governments from preventing embryonic stem cell research (see the  Nov. 13, 2006 issue of the Digest). …

Jan Lesher was named director of the Arizona Department of Commerce, replacing outgoing Gilbert Jimenez.