While the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has the recipe for a creative economy - people in creative occupations, industries with a creative workforce, and an environment that supports creativity - it falls short of the national average in more than 75 percent of all creative occupational categories, a new study by the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture (MPAC) finds.

For more information on the positions below, visit SSTI's online Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

Former Massachusetts State Senator Peter Larkin is the senior vice president and chief operating officer for the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.

Publisher's Note Since 1999, SSTI has reviewed each of the governor's State of the States and inaugural and budget addresses for references involving tech-based economic development. Since 2001, we've provided relevant excerpts as part of the SSTI Weekly Digest. This year's coverage begins with this issue, and as you'll see, it's clear that innovation and workforce are playing a major role in this year's speeches.

The challenge for industry, academic leaders and policymakers in Massachusetts over the next few years is to translate the competitive strengths of the state's economy into new companies and new jobs, the ninth annual Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy indicates.

Donna Kent is the new president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council.

The Southern Arizona Tech Council announced it will merge its programs into the recently created Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc., an integration expected to be mostly completed by June 30, 2006.

President and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, Todd Bankofier, is resigning his position on Aug. 26 to become vice president and general manager for Ensynch Inc., a Tempe-based information technology services and solutions consulting company.

Elyse Golob is the new director of the University of Arizona Office of Economic and Policy Analysis. Beginning July 1, Leslie Tolbert will be the university's vice president for research, graduate studies and economic development, replacing Richard Powell upon his June 30 retirement.

Arizona's investment and technology communities are the anticipated winners from the state legislature's recent passage of a tax credit encouraging angel capital investments in start-up Arizona tech firms.

As expected, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney rejected last week Senate Bill 2039, the bill supporting stem cell research. Exercising a power not enjoyed by all governors, Gov. Romney sent the measure back to the legislature with four amendments for consideration, rather than vetoing the measure.

Using patent filing and quality as a measure of innovation, “a dollar of venture capital appears to be about three times more potent in stimulating patenting than a dollar of traditional corporate R&D,” according to a July 2000 paper by Samuel Korton (Boston University) and Josh Lerner (Harvard University).

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.

SSTI annually scans the inaugural, budget and state of the state addresses given by the nation's governors to see how TBED priorities fare as the state leaders present their legislative priorities for the year. If the addresses are right, more than a handful of states will be "the" leader for alternative or renewable energy within a variety of time spans. Highlights of speeches available at press time include:



Arizona