There are less than 100 of our readers - now approaching a total of 100,000 - that may be able to look into their electronic mailboxes and even eight-year-old paper files to see that this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest is our 400th. What began in March 1996 as a two-page weekly fax to key science and technology leaders in most states has evolved into the one of the most widely read e-news sources for the tech-based economic development community in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) launched last month a $17.2 million national Biotechnology Worker Training Initiative in support of the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative.

“This $17.2 million in training funds will recruit and train workers for jobs in the biotechnology field, which is expected to be one of the fastest growing sectors by 2012,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) recently released reports making recommendations to address the challenges faced by the manufacturing industry. One of the recommendations in the NAPA report suggests creating a strategic plan that articulates the "next generation" of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).

Includes $24M for Biomedical Research, $50M for Wright Centers

Although a significant gap still exists between women-led companies and their male counterparts, in terms of venture funding, some promising news may suggest a change in fortune for the former, a study released today by Growthink Research of Los Angeles and Chicago-based re:invention Inc. shows.

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.

Baiju Shah is the new president of the Cleveland's BioEnterprise Corp., succeeding Matt Jennings.

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.

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.

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

For just over eight years, the SSTI Weekly Digest has come to you every Friday...first it was by fax, then by e-mail.  Starting with this issue, the Digest makes a change and will be distributed each Monday.  We believe this change will help you get your week started right...and will give the SSTI staff something to do on the weekend.

SSTI welcomes Rhiannon Mehring to its staff as a research associate.

The Wright Center for Innovation for Advanced Data Management and Analysis named Charles Walsh as its first president.

Jesse Jones is the new CEO of Ohio's IT Alliance. Jones formerly was chief technology officer of the City of Columbus.

While the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have voiced caution and funded efforts to understand the potential societal and environmental implications of nanotechnology deployment, both agencies announced much larger funding commitments - totaling $213 million - to expedite commercial applications for the explosive field.

Nanotech Solutions for Cancer

More than half since recession "officially" ended

There is little comforting news in a new statistical report for workers in the U.S. information and communication technologies (ICT) sector. Researchers from the University of Illinois-Chicago found the sector lost 403,300 jobs between March 2001 and April 2004.

As part of a new initiative to address pressing ethical, legal and social questions raised by recent advances in genetic and genomic research, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has awarded approximately $20 million in grants to fund interdisciplinary centers within universities around the country over the next five years. NHGRI is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).