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Janice Bourque, president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, plans to step down once a replacement has been found.

Maine Gov. Mark Baldacci has unveiled a new handbook intended to help communities to capitalize upon their cultural resources to spur economic growth. Maine's Creative Economy Community Handbook: Maine State Government Resources for Communities offers advice for community leaders interested in building a creative and dynamic workforce. The guidelines it gives for designing a strategic plan could benefit communities across the country interested in similar initiatives.

As the authors of the recent Swedish report, The Internationalization of Corporate R&D, pointed out, industrial R&D may increasingly be found concentrated around public and private research institutions with strong research capabilities related to the specific corporation's interests.

Proponents for a higher skilled workforce may be concerned with troubling new statistics regarding high school graduation rates. A new report from the EPE (Editorial Projects in Education) Research Center and Education Week shows that more than 30 percent of the nations ninth-graders fail to go on to graduate from public high schools.

Dr. Russell Bessette has been appointed to the Federal Homeland Security Science and Technology Committee. Dr. Bessette currently is the executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Dr. Russell Bessette has been appointed to the Federal Homeland Security Science and Technology Committee. Dr. Bessette currently is the executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Tony Brown, director of the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund at the U.S. Treasury Department, announced his resignation effective Feb. 27, to become chief executive officer of the Uptown Consortium in Cincinnati.

The Wisconsin Department of Commerce named Pamela Christenson as the first director for the new Bureau of Entrepreneurship.

Sherry Farwell has been named as the new head of the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Dr. Farwell currently serves as dean of graduate education and research at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

Teri Ooms is the first director of the new Joint Urban Studies Center in Wilkes Barre, Penn.

BioFlorida named Diana Robinson as its new president.

Brian Vogt has been appointed director of Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

Those arguing that the U.S. is slipping as the world's leader for innovation have another data point to add to their arsenal. The U.S. continues to dominate international patent filings, but America's lead over other countries shrunk 12 percent last year, according to data released this week by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Nearly $300 Million Tagged for TBED
It took moving into a special session and negotiating a late deal between lawmakers and Gov. Brad Henry last week for the Oklahoma legislature to pass several bills related to the state's budget for fiscal year 2007, which begins this weekend.

Making the single largest TBED related investment in its history, the Arizona legislature approved and Gov. Janet Napolitano signed the state's FY 2006-07 budget, which includes $35 million for the new Arizona 21st Century Competitive Initiative Fund. HB 2477 is the successor in concept to the Innovation Arizona fund proposed by Gov.

Summer is road construction season for much of the country. A necessary inconvenience for maintaining our transportation system because connectivity is a fundamental requirement for commerce. For two parties to exchange goods, services or knowledge, they have to be able to find each other. The location and capacity of transportation infrastructures - sea ports, railways and interstate highways - very much determines the opportunity for and extent of economic growth.

A new National Science Foundation (NSF) report shows graduate enrollment in S&E increased by 4.2 percent from 2002, reaching a record high of 474,203 students in fall 2003. Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in S&E: Fall 2003 presents the distribution of graduate students in science and engineering (S&E) by academic fields, demographics, institution and state. Data contained in the report represent estimates of S&E enrollment from 12,261 graduate departments at 591 institutions in the U.S. and outlying areas.

SSTI, a growing nonprofit organization serving the nation's tech-based economic development (TBED) community, seeks a policy analyst to research and prepare reports, articles and papers on TBED and assist with SSTI events. Excellent research abilities, strong writing and verbal skills and solid understanding of government are required. Candidates must have ability to work independently or as part of a committed team and be dedicated to creating a quality product.

This week's Funding Supplement will be sent on Thursday, June 29. With the Fourth of July holiday, neither the SSTI Weekly Digest or Funding Supplement will be published next week.

The fifth installment to Walkin' the Tech Talkin' Gov Walk (see the April 17, May 8, June 5 and June 12 issues of the Digest) covers the outcome of the 2006 Massachusetts legislative sess

Four short years ago, 37 states were in fiscal crisis, many making several rounds of deep spending cuts to cope with the most dramatic reduction in revenues in 20 years. In all, more than $15 billion were shaved from state budgets. Twenty-one states experienced negative revenue growth in FY 2003, forcing even deeper cuts. The fiscal winter of '02-'03 slowed many states' strategies for supporting growth in their knowledge-based economies.

A $1.46 million grant from the Economic Development Administration to the Sirti Foundation is making possible a $3 million loan fund to technology companies within a 10-county region of Eastern Washington. The program provides another example of the non-traditional use of EDA funds to support tech-based economic development strategies. In addition, the deal structure may serve as a model to help other public agencies encourage TBED activities typically outside the scope or possibility of many public entities.

Despite industry claims to the contrary, the recovery of the U.S. information technology (IT) sector has not created enough new jobs for IT workers, according to a new report from the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers. Information Technology Labor Markets: Rebounding, but Slowly reveals that the recent increase in IT spending has not led to a full recovery in the labor market.

The federal government distributed $26.7 billion to universities in the U.S. in fiscal year 2003 - a 9.4 percent increase from the FY 2002 total of $24.4 billion, a recently released National Science Foundation report reveals. Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions: Fiscal Year 2003 details federal science & engineering (S&E) activities to the nation's institutions of higher education.

Southern Growth Policies Board, in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has designed a survey to identify the needs of small and medium-sized manufacturers in the area of information technology. The 20-question survey takes only a few minutes to complete and the results will be used to develop new programs to help small and medium-sized manufacturers.