FSU hopes new hires will enhance reputation

The competition for the superstars of the research world is heating up, as more and more universities create programs to attract research faculty to their campuses. One of the most ambitious in the country is Florida State University's Pathways to Excellence program. FSU intends to hire 200 tenured or tenured-track professors within a five-year period, with the intention of transforming the quality of its Ph.D. programs.

 

Following the 1998 Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement, states across the country set out to dedicate significant amounts of funding from their share of the settlement to support research and other TBED programs.

The Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis at Florida State University has completed a New Economy index for Tallahassee, showing how the Florida capital compares with 66 MSAs and, in a second analysis, a comparison of 20 Florida MSAs. Tallahassee ranks 11th among all MSAs assessed, a finding the authors suggest confirms "the city's economy has a number of very strong advantages."

Florida's High Tech Corridor and LaGrange, Georgia, have been named two of the world's top seven "intelligent" communities in a recent report by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a project of the New York-based telecommunication group World Teleport Association.

Enterprise Florida has named Darrell Kelley as its new president and chief executive officer effective August 5. Kelley currently is the president of the defense-related technology incubator, MILCOM Technologies.

Senate Bill 1844, signed by Governor Jeb Bush this week, provides $30 million to create Centers of Excellence and includes several other key elements of the Florida Technology Development Initiative, proposed by Governor Bush in his State of the State speech this year.

Florida Incubators Form Alliance to Expand Services

A recent study by the Council for Education Policy, Research and Improvement finds that State University System Centers and Institutes (C&Is) in Florida are cost-effective and creative settings for scientific discovery, technological innovation, policy development, teaching and instruction and public outreach activities.

The Florida Venture Forum named Robin Kovaleski as the first executive director for the organization.

The availability and use of equity capital for early-stage investments varies greatly across the country. Seen as an integral component of most tech-based economic development, access to venture capital (VC) is on the agendas of several states — but several different approaches are used to address the problem. Recent announcements in four states illustrate the point:

Rod Casto was recently appointed to the position of Associate Vice President for Economic Development in the University of South Florida's Office of Research. Mark Laurenzo also has been named the new Deputy Director of the Division of Patents and Licensing in the USF office.

The director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development has announced his retirement. Jim Pickens will remain in the position until his replacement is named, according to local news reports.

The director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Al Wenstrand, is leaving to become executive director of the Florida's Great Northwest, an economic development agency serving the Florida Panhandle.

Larry Walther has replaced Jim Pickens as director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development. Pickens retired earlier this month.

With state revenues posting a surplus, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush used his 2006-07 budget proposal to make his largest request yet to support efforts to diversify the state's economy through technology-based economic development (TBED). In total, the budget provides $630 million for several new research-focused initiatives, business recruitment funds, and other economic development programs.

With a $310 million commitment passed by the state legislature and as much as $200 million in additional support from the county government, the California-based Scripps Research Institute has agreed to locate its first branch or satellite office in northwest Palm Beach County, Fla. In return for the financial support, Scripps is to work toward employing as many as 545 workers on the site by 2011.

Arkansas Tech Council in Formative Stages

Otto Loewer is leaving his position as dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas to become the founding director of the university's new Economic Development Institute.

Many efforts to encourage young Americans to pursue careers in science, engineering and manufacturing took advantage of students having the summer off from regular classes. Programs range from one-week science camps to season-long internships and cooperative workstudies. To help other communities begin planning for the end of the 2003 school year, SSTI highlights a few examples from this past summer in this article.

Ray Gilley, president of Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, has been appointed chairman of Workforce Florida.

BioFlorida President Diana Robinson is leaving to join a private venture capital company once her replacement is selected.

Tom Wallace has stepped down as president of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum.

Camden, Arkansas

The June 19, 2001 issue of The Bond Buyer reported that Camden, with a population just over 13,000, approved a one-cent sales tax to raise $6 million over four years to support downtown business revitalization efforts. Plans include construction of a business incubator and development of a 500-acre business park.



Missouri

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