Startup Colorado recently announced the launch of a new $200,000 fund to support events that strengthen the entrepreneurial communities across Colorado. The organization will issue grants to Colorado organizations planning events, seminars and contests that bring together startup communities, particularly those in the Denver-Boulder region, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, according to the Denver Business Journal.

The second installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. Our first installment was in the Jan. 9 Digest.

Initiatives aimed at commercializing research were among the most common technology-based economic development approaches in 2012 for states seeking faster returns and job growth during a slow recovery. In the new legislative session that began last week in Colorado, lawmakers introduced a bill to increase access to capital for new startup companies in advanced industries aimed at accelerating the tech commercialization process.

In Connecticut, Governor Daniel P. Malloy has proposed a Bioscience Innovation Act, which would create a 10-year $200 million fund to invest in the state's bioscience sector. The proposed fund would be administered by Connecticut Innovations, a quasi-public venture development organization. Governor Malloy's announcement was presented at the headquarters of Jackson Lab, a research and development institute that is being developed with assistance from the state of Connecticut.

The fifth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Connecticut, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Utah. Our first four installments were in the Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Jan. 23 and Jan. 30 issues of the Digest.

Revolutionizing STEM facilities, hiring new faculty, increasing undergraduate enrollment and even planning new dorms to house the anticipated influx of new students are part of Gov. Dan Malloy's proposed $1.5 billion expansion and investment in the University of Connecticut (UConn).

Pramod Khargonekar has been selected to serve as the National Science Foundation's assistant director for the Directorate of Engineering.

Dan Blake will join the Wisconsin Technology Council as the director of its Wisconsin Angel Network in mid-March. Blake succeeds Zach Brandon, who recently became president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.

Investing money from the state's pension fund, Colorado will partner with local CEOs and technology companies to create a $150 million VC fund to help get local tech startups off the ground, according to multiple news sources. The fund, expected to launch by summer, would be run by a consortium of business leaders who would contribute around $10 million each, while the state would be the largest LP, contributing money from pension funds, according to an article in TechCrunch. Colorado's fund would focus purely on tech and span all stages of funding, the article states.

Caren Franzini, the CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, stepped down after leading the agency for 21 years. Michele Brown, Gov. Chris Christie's appointments counsel, will take over as CEO.

In comparison to most of its peer states, Colorado's workforce excels in educational attainment and entrepreneurship, according to the first Colorado Innovation Index. The index, published by the Colorado Innovation Network, evaluates Colorado's economy in relation to seven benchmark states, including Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Utah. Only Massachusetts had a higher percentage of Bachelor's degree holders in its workforce, and only Massachusetts and New York had a higher percentage of graduate degree holders.

The Department of Commerce announced the winners of the Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) Challenge, the Economic Development Administration-led competition seeking to help cities and regions develop a comprehensive economic development strategy. Greensboro, North Carolina, Hartford, Connecticut, and Las Vegas, Nevada each were awarded $1 million to assist in the refinement and implementation of their respective plans.

Lawmakers added another five years to the life of a bioscience program established in 2008 to encourage bioscience research and speed technology commercialization (see the May 14, 2008 issue of the Digest). Gov. John Hickenlooper this week signed into law HB 1283 extending the state's Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant program through July 2018.

Included below are recent development plans and groundbreaking news for research parks announced by officials in Connecticut, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

Much of the recent economic recovery plans coming from governors across the country have focused on growing and nurturing existing businesses through a regional approach to economic development. The idea is that by identifying and defining the unique needs of a region, policymakers and practitioners can then provide the necessary tools and resources to grow industries likely to succeed within a given region, thus improving the overall economic landscape of the state. This approach is happening both in states and at the local level.

Lawmakers passed two major jobs bills during the 2011 legislative session; one modifying several economic development programs and supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, and the other providing incentives to attract large companies to the state. A proposal dubbed Bioscience Connecticut, centered on renovating and expanding the University of Connecticut Health Center, also won legislative approval.

The University of Connecticut seeks a vice president for economic development to provide strategic leadership and direction in building and capitalizing on facilities, expertise and technology available at UConn and in improving state economic prospects in high-value industries. This is a new position reporting directly to the president.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper unveiled the Colorado Blueprint: A Bottom-up Approach to Economic Development, "a document that responds to outlines the steps that will be taken by the Hickenlooper Administration over the next few years to support and promote economic development across Colorado. "The plan consists of six focus areas and 24 action items to spur the state's economic development. The six areas are:

• Making Colorado more business friendly;
• Recruiting and retaining businesses;

With the end of federal stimulus funding for higher education on the horizon, states are considering proposals to retool current funding formulas for colleges and universities and looking to alternative funding sources to sustain their programs and services in the coming years. Ahead of the 2011 legislative session, groups commissioned by governors in Colorado and Virginia recommended a voter-approved tax and more stable funding streams from the state, respectively.

TBED People
Walter Bumphus has been named the next president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges. Bumphus currently serves as a professor in the Community College Leadership Program and chair of the Educational Administration Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Bumphus will begin his tenure with AACC in January.

Connecticut has certified its first fund manager under the state's revised Insurance Reinvestment Tax Credit program, which has now expanded beyond its focus on insurance-related companies to support early stage and high-tech firms. Advantage Capital Partners has raised $72 million to invest under the revamped program. Fund managers may invest in any Connecticut-based business. One quarter of the investments must support green technology firms, and three percent must go toward pre-seed stage projects.