SSTI Digest

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced the third major R&D facility as part of its CHIPS for America program. This new facility will be located at the Arizona State University (ASU) Research Park in Tempe, Arizona. It will host the world’s first 300mm front-end semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging research center, allowing researchers and industry leaders to develop cutting-edge materials, devices, and packaging solutions.

After a busy election season that saw gubernatorial elections in 36 states, newly elected and re-elected governors delivered their annual State of the State addresses, kicking off new programs and reviewing the conditions of their states. SSTI reviews the speeches every year and covers news of new developments and initiatives the governors have highlighted as they relate to the innovation economy. New programs are laid out here in the governors own words as excerpts from their State of the State or budget addresses. Not all governors delivered a State of the State, and some that did may not have revealed new innovation-related initiatives and so are not included in our coverage. Common initiatives among the governors that touched on innovation included an emphasis on workforce, education and broadband; water issues for Western governors; and, clean energy.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced nine additional states whose SSBCI plans have been approved: Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Vermont. This is in addition to the five states approved earlier this year: Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan and West Virginia. The state plans for the awards will support underserved businesses, innovation programs, investing for startups and more, detailed below.

Arizona has been approved for $111 million across three different state programs. Two venture capital programs, Arizona Venture Co-Invest and Arizona Multi-Fund Venture, will split $87 million of the total approved funds. The rest of the allocated funds will go towards the Arizona Loan Guarantee Program. The three programs will all aim to support underserved businesses by creating greater access to capital. 

Three states — Indiana, California and Arkansas — have recently participated in international diplomacy, creating strategic connections and developing agreements to address climate change and trade barriers with the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada. These recent agreements may suggest a shift toward innovation-focused diplomacy at the state level with nations across the globe.

An Indiana and the United Kingdom agreement is marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which developed a framework to remove barriers to trade and investment. The MOU aims to allow businesses in the U.K. and Indiana to create jobs, export, invest, and expand. Both entities are specifically interested in promoting green trade and accelerating the development of clean technologies in their regions. The U.K. says it hopes to sign more MOUs this year, and Indiana serves as a strategic first choice with its strengths in advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy.

More than 40 percent of Indiana’s manufacturing companies successfully implemented Industry 4.0 technologies in 2021, more than doubling the number that had reported that a year earlier, according to a recent Conexus Indiana report. The advanced manufacturing and logistics (AML) industries are considered the backbone of Indiana’s economy. Indiana manufacturers account for more than $100 billion of the state’s economy and employ 17 percent of the state’s workforce. The industry is at a crossroads, the report holds — challenged to adopt smart technologies and methods to increase its competitiveness. In 2020, Conexus Indiana and the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Center for Excellence in Manufacturing launched an annual survey to measure Indiana industries’ readiness and early adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. That study provided a baseline for the follow-up study in 2021, which found progress on several fronts. For instance:

With a 20-year history, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) is reporting an economic impact in 2021 four times greater than what they experienced in 2013. A new independent study found that its six core programs have provided “significant value” to the state’s start-up community, supporting over 10,000 jobs and more than $2 billion in statewide economic activity as of 2021. Meanwhile, BioCrossroads, a non-profit based in Indianapolis, has reported growth in its life sciences initiatives over the past 15 years. BioCrossroads conducts market research and promotes business and technological innovation in life sciences across Indiana. Both TEDCO and BioCrossroads have utilized public capital to develop industry within their respective target states.

Indiana and Illinois are two of the most recent states to implement innovation voucher programs, adding another tool to their efforts to increase economic activity among innovators and entrepreneurs.

Innovation vouchers are provided by governments to small businesses and help foster R&D with access to additional funding and resources. Depending on their design, they can incentivize collaboration between firms and public knowledge providers, such as universities and research institutes, and increase accessibility to crucial resources, such as lab space and specialized equipment, that small businesses would otherwise not have access to.

More than half of the nation’s governors have given their State-of-the-State addresses, and in this week’s coverage of the addresses, we complete our review of those that addressed their constituencies through January. As the COVID-19 crisis highlighted the need for greater broadband connectivity and affordability, we again see the state leaders focusing more attention on building out those capabilities. Diversifying state economies also plays a role in Alaska, Hawaii and New Mexico, while opportunities for development through renewables features in addresses from Nevada and New York. In addition to those states, this week’s installment takes a look at innovation-related initiatives set forth in addresses from the governors of Delaware, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, and Utah.

Eleven states are holding gubernatorial elections this year with nine incumbents seeking reelection, two of which are facing off against their lieutenant governor. Only one governor, Steve Bullock in Montana, is term-limited and unable to seek reelection. In Utah, Gov. Gary Herbert is stepping down from the position he has held for 10 years. While many of the races this year will reflect referendums on the current governor’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the candidates have announced their innovation and economic development initiatives. In the final stretch of the gubernatorial race, here are some of the candidates’ innovation-related policies, positions and prior accomplishments.

Delaware

Improved prospects for economic development, as opposed to concerns about government efficiency, can play an important role in building support for local government consolidation efforts. The importance of economic opportunities in government consolidation was a key conclusion within Ball State University’s recently published policy brief, Indiana’s Government Modernization Act & Local Government Consolidation Experiences: Process and Politics. The brief examined seven consolidation efforts that occurred in Indiana between 2008 and 2012 and explored the preexisting conditions of the areas.

While each consolidation attempt had unique variables, Ball State’s report did reveal several common elements. Contrary to previously held beliefs, consolidation processes are not necessarily born out of a crisis climate; some were found to be the product of a consensus between two governments to find new ways of solving their shared problems.

Faced with the sudden, unprecedented fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Ned Lamont last month launched a new resource to provide workers and businesses in Connecticut with career tools, including partnering with Indeed and workforce training providers. Last week, the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill appropriating $55 million for short-term training and support of programs for training of employees and others displaced due to the health crisis. Minnesota is partnering with Coursera to offer free courses to its workers that have lost jobs because of the pandemic.

A report on employment trends from hiring firm Robert Half found that 2020 presents greater challenges for employers looking to expand their workforce as the country’s labor market is near full employment and job openings remain at high levels. When looking specifically at technology hiring, the report reveals that in a survey of IT hiring decision makers, 86 percent reported challenges finding skilled workers. Such conditions have many states seeking new ways to address the skills gap and develop their workforce to attract or keep business. Several recent efforts are detailed below.