Kevin Holmes returned to his alma mater, Santa Clara University, to join the Leavey School of Business as executive director of its Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE).

A concentrated effort to support the Sacramento region's many green tech entrepreneurs could lead to Silicon Valley-style success in clean energy technology (CET), says a new report from the McClellan Technology Incubator and the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA).

One of the latest big-ticket investments targeting stem cell research came from Ann Arbor last week as the University of Michigan committed $10.5 million of its internal resources to establish an interdisciplinary center for stem cell research. The announcement is one of dozens from around the country since California voters approved Proposition 71 in 2004, borrowing $3 billion over 10 years for stem cell research.

In the Dec. 19, 2005 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest, an editor's note highlighted the mega-investments several states are making to establish themselves as significant players in key research areas.

ACCRA, a national nonprofit research organization, has named Jeffrey Blodgett of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) as president of the Board of Directors for 2005-06, beginning July 1.

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.

Yesterday proved a big day for supporters of stem cell research as measures advanced in both Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Massachusetts law described in the May 16 issue of the Digest became law immediately after the state Senate voted 35-2 and the House voted 112-42 to override Gov. Mitt Romney's veto.

Recognizing the benefits of a skilled workforce to match the new manufacturing and high-tech jobs of the 21st Century, states are turning to worker training and retraining programs in order to remain economically competitive. During the past month, Tennessee, Nebraska and Connecticut committed a combined total of $37 million for worker training initiatives.

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?

While the topic of embryonic stem cell research has been at the forefront of S&T policy since 2001, attention has shifted to the states in the last six months. Last fall, California voters overwhelmingly approved a $3 billion bond issue to support embryonic stem cell research over the next decade.

The majority of an anonymous gift of $26.5 million to the University of Southern California (USC) will be used to increase the representation of women in the hard sciences and engineering faculty and encourage middle school girls to choose a science pathway in education. Money also will be used to create new faculty positions in the sciences, upgrade laboratories, increase scholarship aid for undergraduates, create new fellowships for graduates and fund child care.

With the goal of developing a common technology agenda among the region’s leaders, the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (larta) has compiled its first regional innovation index benchmarking the area’s strengths and weaknesses in S&T. The Southern California Technology Innovation Index compares the five-county Los Angeles consolidated metropolitan statistical area with the California Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose), Austin, Texas, and Massachusetts.

As mentioned in the last week's SSTI Weekly Digest, access to capital is a challenge for women-owned businesses. Springboard 2000, one nationwide initiative to overcome that obstacle, in less than one year, has assisted women entrepreneurs in science and technology businesses to raise more than $235 million in venture funding. The investments have been raised directly as a result of two forums held this year in Redwood City, California and Dulles, Virginia.

During the past two weeks, the Milken Institute has issued two similar reports documenting the difficulties and successes minority- and women-owned business have accessing capital.

The Minority Business Challenge: Democratizing Capital for Emerging Domestic Markets presents new findings and several specific recommendations to sustain minority businesses growth. The findings include:

State science and technology initiatives have been given higher profile in California as the state's lead economic development department changes its name to the Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency. The new Division of Science, Technology and Innovation, led by Deputy Secretary Joe Raguso, will oversee the state's tech-based economic development efforts.