Two states had measures on the ballot to address energy conservation and encourage alternative energy production and technology. While Washington's measure passed, California's failed.

 

In late October, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order designed to stimulate the growth and utilization of broadband networks throughout the state of California. Some the major components of this initiative include:

On paper, the Jan. 4 FedEx Rose Bowl, which pits the Universities of Texas and Southern California against each other, will decide college football's national champion.

The Board of Directors of the EAST (Environmental And Spatial Technology) Initiative invites applications for the position of President/Chief Executive Officer. The EAST model, a result of a collaboration between business and education, is intended to provide K-16 students with access to resources not available in the traditional educational setting.

California leads the world in biotech research today and likely will continue to dominate in the years to come according to The Dynamics of California's Biotechnology Industry, a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California. The report concludes that California retains a sharp biotech edge, despite reports of firms leaving the state or establishing plants elsewhere.

A child born in the U.S. today who obtains a master's degree directly after college and high school will have been in the job market for only 1-2 years in 2030. Many people in the tech-based economic development community want that girl or boy to study math, science or engineering. A more basic question, though, is where will that child live as a young adult?

Two organizations with seemingly the same goal in mind recently released statistics on the health of their region's technology sectors. Relying on different methods, the Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC) and the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) both analyze and report the impact of technology clusters on the local economy.

The source of eadership on specific state tech-based economic development activities greatly influences the design and effectiveness of the effort. It remains to be seen then how the recently launched Arkansas Nanotechnology Alliance evolves locally as its direction originates from the nation's capital.

What are the factors of commercial success? As they say in real estate: location, location, location.

So what makes a good location for commercializing innovation? Innovative ideas clearly thrive where R&D spending flows and local patent activity exists. But, do R&D dollars and level of patents also indicate locations for tech transfer?

The perennial or biennial efforts to secure funding from state legislatures to support tech-based economic development (TBED) programs can create significant limitations on the design and execution of programs targeting research or early-stage, seed capital investments. Fixed endowments such as the one created by Wyoming and the Permanent Big Sky Economic Development Fund proposed in Montana (see both stories above) are ideal, but getting the initial payment approved by a legislature can be difficult.

Oleg Kagonovich has been promoted to the position of CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance. He formerly served as Chief Operating Officer.

Two recent reports indicate the amount of venture capital financing increased in 1996, although the two reports differ on the amount of financing and the most active investors. Both surveys agreed that California and Massachusetts were the lead states in attracting venture capital.

Joey Dean was named vice president of economic development for the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce and as executive director of the Metro Little Rock Alliance. Dean succeeds Jay Chesshir, the chamber's newly named president and CEO, in both positions.