California voters will be at the forefront of a highly controversial issue this November when they are asked to decide on a $3 billion bond issue to fund stem cell research.

Only a handful of metropolitan areas have the critical mass necessary to ensure sustainability of their local biotech communities, according to America’s Biotech and Life Science Clusters, a new study from the Milken Institute. At the top of the list is San Diego, followed closely by Boston and the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro area. Only another nine are in the running, the report contends.

To survive economically in an innovation-based economy, Fresno needs to foster the creativity of its people and attract others into the population, says a recent report from the Fresno Creative Economy Council. While encouraging creativity to spur innovation and economic growth has captured the attention of cities and regions across the continent, how to accomplish that goal is less clear for many.

Defense 2003 SBIR Phase II Awards

The Department of Defense (DoD) distributed $766.9 million in awards under fiscal year 2003 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program competition. A total of 1,080 awards averaging more than $710,000 were made.

Garza Fernandez, president of the Southern Arizona Industry and Aerospace Alliance, announced her resignation to devote more time to the Technology Development and Research Institute.

Paul Hiller, formerly managing director of the economic development arm of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, is the new president and chief executive officer for the Inland Empire Economic Partnership.

He may be more traditionally associated with gas-guzzling Humvees than anything remotely environmental, but Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger has become a big believer in alternative energy vehicles. The governor's recent call for creating a "Hydrogen Highway" by 2010 is, perhaps, the country's boldest commitment to getting hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on America's roadways anytime soon.

Scott Davis will be the new director for the University of Arizona Office of Economic Development.

Marye Ann Fox, chancellor of North Carolina State University, is moving on to become chancellor of the University of California, San Diego.

California's Treasurer Phil Angelides called earlier this month for the nation's largest and third largest pension funds to invest at least $1.5 billion into environmental technologies and environmentally responsible companies.

Last year, nearly 17 million international passengers passed through Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Many of those passengers were businesspeople who rely on convenient access to international flights to keep their companies in touch with partners, customers, divisions and markets all over the world. International flights out of LAX have played a key role in positioning the Los Angeles region as the largest manufacturing center in the U.S. and as a national high-tech leader.

Earlier this year, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and the Arizona State Legislature committed $100 million over four years to support Science Foundation Arizona, a nonprofit public-private partnership to coordinate the state’s R&D investments in science and technology. The catch? The law required a dollar-to-dollar match of non-government funding of the annual $25 million allotment before the state could release its funding to Science Foundation Arizona.

 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced the recipient universities to conduct security research through five new Centers of Excellence. These centers will develop new technologies to prevent natural and man-made disasters, improve government response to such crises and monitor the nation's shores and borders.

According to the latest stats on venture capital investments, half of all U.S. VC investment during the last quarter of 2006 supported companies in two small areas of the country: Silicon Valley and New England (primarily the Boston metro area). With the exception of only a handful of other large metro areas and, since the origin of the modern venture capital industry some 25 years ago, most other cities have struggled to attract the attention of venture capitalists.

It is the opening day of AUTM’s 2007 annual conference in San Francisco, the largest gathering ever of individuals from around the world interested in university technology transfer.

A gala held last weekend at Google headquarters in California officially kicked off a $50 million fundraising campaign for the X Prize Foundation, which provides funds for the development of new prizes. The prizes are designed to support breakthroughs for specific challenges in medicine, energy production and consumption, education, and transportation.

In signing his state's fiscal year 2003-04 budget on August 2, California Governor Gray Davis shaved General Fund expenditures by $7 billion in an effort to address a $38.2 billion budget shortfall. Among those cuts was funding for the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency (TTCA), the state's principal catalyst for innovation, investment and economic opportunity.

New university-based research efforts in biodesign, nanotechnology, embedded systems and virtual manufacturing show that Arizona has stepped forward to compete in the knowledge economy, according to a recent study by Morrison Institute for Public Policy, a unit of Arizona State University.

TOP Reauthorized and To Grow, Says Senate Commerce Committee

Joint Venture: Silicon Valley has named Russell Hancock as its new president and CEO.

An advocate for small businesses in Washington known as “Mr. Small Business,” Milton Stewart died of pneumonia on Nov. 5 in Phoenix.

What policies, investments and programs would be most effective for communities trying to attract, retain or build a local pharmaceutical industry? Research parks? Tax incentives? Biotech seed capital funds?

If you haven't purchased your 2005 wall calendar or updated your computer-based planner yet, you will need to soon, to schedule travel and update budget requests. At the top of many lists will be SSTI's 9th annual conference, Oct. 19-21, 2005 in Atlanta, but how do you conveniently find out about the many other high quality events happening throughout the year?

The Oct. 25 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest previewed ballot issues in six states that would have implications for their respective state efforts to grow a knowledge-based economy. The unofficial results at press time for each are provided below:

While the presidential election has been dominating the news, voters across the country will be acting on an array of tech-based economic development issues on Election Day next week. The largest is an initiative in California that would provide up to $3 billion for embryonic stem cell research. If approved by California voters, Proposition 71 would have the potential of significantly changing the landscape of where stem cell research is carried out and have significant economic development implications.