The headlines of many tech and business publications scream of massive Internet incubator layoffs, closures, and restructuring. The rapid rise and fall of these organizations has left some local tech-based economic development practitioners wondering if encouraging the growth of incubator facilities is a worthwhile strategy to pursue.

Pennsylvania has been a leader in tech-based economic development for more than two decades. With more than $208 million for tech-based economic development initiatives, the 2001-02 Budget Request submitted by Governor Tom Ridge this week shows why the state remains at the forefront of the field.

An increasingly recognized and critical component of building a tech-based economy is the integration of university or college research and training capabilities into the local economic development strategy. While considerable attention is paid to the regional impact of large research institutions, not every community is home to an MIT, University of Texas, or Stanford.

Colorado leaders want to encourage more college students to go into science and teaching and two recent proposals, coming from Governor Bill Owens and the state's Commission on Higher Education, are designed to do just that.

Continuing to rest on past academic excellence and research achievement would be costly to Greater Philadelphia, according to a new report prepared by the Pennsylvania Economy League. The region's "knowledge industry" must compete with other regions and states to succeed in the New Economy.

Americans say they take pride in our nation's leadership role in science and technology and believe the U.S. needs to continue investing in scientific research and development (R&D) in order to remain at the forefront of discovery and innovation, according to a Gallup survey conducted on behalf of the Bayer Corporation in partnership with the National Science Foundation.

The next U.S. supercomputing system operating at speeds well beyond a trillion calculations per second will reside at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) through an expected $45-million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Last week, the National Science Board (NSB), NSF's governing body, authorized the three-year award following a national competition.

In the state that created the Ben Franklin Centers in the early 1980s - models for several states’ first forays into S&T - Governor Tom Ridge has proposed a wide range of new initiatives to promote R&D investment, technology development, and commercialization within Pennsylvania.

Dr. Phillips Bradford the Executive Director of the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute has resigned his position. Lenie Roos-Gabridge has been appointed Interim Chief Operating Officer. Bradford’s resignation is the latest in an unprecedented turnover of state technology-based economic development officials. In the last year alone, the leaders of 14 states’ technology efforts have left their positions.

After nearly two years of discussion between the state legislature and the Governor’s office, Pennsylvania has enacted a plan for its $11 billion share of the national tobacco settlement. The final plan includes $160 million in one-time outlays for research and commercialization of life science technologies and a formula ensuring research gets nearly one-fifth of the total money received over the 25-year span of the settlement agreement.



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Jim Pickens will be the permanent director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development. Mr. Pickens has served as interim director since February 2.