City, Chamber Partner for Birmingham Future as Tech Mecca
If the corporate leaders, educators, scientists, and technology entrepreneurs who make up the Birmingham Area Technology Task Force have their way, Birmingham, Alabama in the 21st century will be a mecca for technology-based businesses and jobs.
Conference Sponsor Profile: The Manufacturing Extension Partnership
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a nationwide network of not-for-profit Centers in over 400 locations nationwide, whose sole purpose is to provide the more than 361,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers in the country the help they need to succeed in a global economy.
MEP to Help Small Manufacturers with Year 2000 Issues
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and its nationwide network of centers are stepping up efforts to help smaller manufacturers avoid being bitten by the "millennium bug." The Stamford, Conn.-based GartnerGroup, a leading authority on information technology issues, has reported that as of 1997, 88 percent of all companies with fewer than 2,000 employees had not yet started Year 2000 remediation projects.
TEDCO Study Challenges Maryland to Maximize R&D Assets
The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) has issued a new study showing Maryland continues to underperform in some key areas of innovation while leading competitor states in other areas.
People
Neil Shpritz, executive director of the BWI Business Partnership in Maryland, is retiring in October.
Review of MEP Underway
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has begun a review of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) that will examine the program's mission and execution. MEP requested the independent analysis.
TBED Comings and Goings
G. Michael Alder has been named executive director of the Biotechnology Association of Alabama.
TBED Comings and Goings
Joseph James has announced his resignation as head of the Prince George's Economic Development Corporation (Maryland).
New ATP Awards Announced
The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has announced 40 awards potentially totaling $101.6 million in ATP funding matched by an industry cost-share of $92 million if carried through to completion. These awards were selected from proposals submitted to 2002 competition.
Maryland Biotech Origins Outlined in TEDCO, DBED Study
Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Townsend recently announced the release of Founders of Maryland Bioscience and Medical Instrument Companies, a report on the career pathways taken by founders of biotechnology companies in Maryland.
State & Local Tech-based ED News
Buffalo
The Buffalo News reports InfoNiagara, a technology council serving 230 IT companies, has signed a reciprocal membership with the Amherst Chamber of Commerce to increase the benefits offered to both organizations' members. The chamber's 2,300 members gain access to InfoNiagara's training and professional development programs, according to the paper, while the tech council is able to offer its members a variety of insurance programs the chamber has in place.
People
Gary Neil Drummond has been elected chairmain of the board for the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.
People
Aaron Greenfield will serve as the new director of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp. in Maryland.
Manufacturing Pivotal to Economic Growth, NIST Report Says
Because knowledge-based services can be supplied anywhere across the world due to increased international investment in IT infrastructure, future U.S. competitiveness hinges on diversification and broadening of the technology-based manufacturing sector, according to NIST Senior Economist George Tassey.
People
President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.
People
Gov. Don Siegelman has named Anne Payne to director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Payne has been serving as ADECA's assistant director since last August.
ATP Shines in Latest Two Independent Reports
Editor's note: Few federal programs that fund research have undergone as much independent review and outside scrutiny as the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) within the National Institute of Standards and Technology and come out with high marks nearly every time. Yet two more independent papers described briefly below find that ATP funds make a positive difference for spurring innovation and commercializing technology.
Encouraging Youth Entrepreneurship
Whether the reason is to spur more innovation among students, fight the brain drain of graduates or simply help to build tech-based economies, many states, communities and universities are targeting a portion of their efforts toward encouraging tech-based entrepreneurship among their young residents and college students.
People
John Harrison is Governor Bob Riley's pick to serve as director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Harrison was the Mayor of Luverne, Alabama for the past 14 years.
People
David Iannucci is the new head of the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development.
New Govs Usher in New S&T Personnel
SSTI continues a series begun in last week's Digest, highlighting key economic development and science & technology positions being filled by some of the nation's 24 new governors. Many of these individuals are expected to help set the state's tech-based economic development agenda and determine budget cuts, reorganization plans or program eliminations.
Bioscience Initiative Pushes for Jobs in Baltimore
Placing a high priority on the biosciences as a measure for long-term economic development, the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board (BWIB) has released a strategic plan that aims to ensure growth, in part, by securing a highly motivated and well trained workforce for the city's bioscience sector.
Maryland Governor-elect Forms Commission to Promote Tech Business
Gov.-elect Robert Ehrlich has officially put forth his first economic development initiative for Maryland, according to recent press reports. His initiative, the creation of the Commission on Development of High Technology Business, is designed to encourage more technology business in the state.