Outlining his Colorado Promise three years ago as a newly-elected governor, Gov. Bill Ritter envisioned an economy that supports high-wage jobs and offers an environment for businesses to expand and thrive. Educational programs would be synched with industry needs to produce a skilled workforce, workers would be trained in the high-demand fields relevant to each of the state's diverse regions, and enough businesses would be operating to employ them.

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.

Mark Lytle has been named the University System of Georgia's new vice chancellor for economic development.

Frederick Cartwright has been appointed the executive director of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.

Typically, marketing efforts for cities and states encompass the promotion of a variety of desirable qualities to attract businesses and creative talent. Lately, it seems the title of Chief Innovation Officer has picked up steam in localities and across states as leaders seek to brand their region as “the” place for innovation. Take Colorado, for example, where last week Gov.

Georgia Tech has launched a crowdfunding resource for university-based students and faculty. Originally announced in the spring, Georgia Tech joins several other universities that are using crowdfunding to finance commercialization and the development of startups based on university research. The field has become common and relevant enough that an online community has started tracking this growth.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin announced that Jonna Kirschner, executive director of the Oklahoma Commerce Department, will serve on a transition team to establish a new workers’ compensation system. Vaughn Clark , the Commerce Department’s director of community development, was named as interim executive director.

Innosphere and the Colorado Enterprise Fund are joining forces to launch the Colorado Catalyst Fund, a $20 million community development venture capital fund. The model for the fund was drawn from existing community development venture funds established predominately on the East and West Coast, and will be the first of its kind in the state. The fund will be managed by the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, which has formed or advised more than 40 of the 70 existing funds across the country.

Two universities, the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM) and the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), are expanding or restructuring their economic development operations to improve commercialization of technology stemming from faculty research and the coordination and business development in their communities.

Chris Coburn, the founding executive director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, is leaving at the end of May to join Boston-based Partners Healthcare, the largest healthcare system in Massachusetts.

Mary Jo White has been confirmed by the Senate as the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As the 2013 legislative session draws to a close for several states, lawmakers approved measures to create new opportunities for economic growth or expand investments in programs demonstrating positive outcomes. Lawmakers in Georgia increased funding for established university-based research initiatives and set up a state-run venture capital fund to invest in innovative companies. In Virginia, a new cybersecurity accelerator will help propel technology and companies in an emerging sector.

This week, Colorado legislators approved the launch of an advanced industries acceleration program that would provide grants for proof-of-concept, early stage capital and retention, and infrastructure. HB 13-1001 would create the program, which would make $150,000 to $500,000 awards to support commercialization in key industries.

New nonprofit initiatives have been re-defined in Seattle and Atlanta to support their cities' startup communities. Startup Seattle and Startup Atlanta will work to serve, support, and link the regional innovation systems and startup ventures in their respective cities. Both entities previously were developed by and for the local entrepreneurial communities to support new companies but are restructuring as independent organizations.

As many state legislative sessions wind down, a clearer picture of the current direction of state innovation policies is emerging. This week’s SSTI Weekly Digest presents a few of the major trends in technology-based economic development initiatives approved by state legislatures during their most recent sessions. While this review is not meant to be comprehensive, it should illuminate the shifts states are making to refine their investments in the high-tech economy by providing smarter, more targeted support.

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.

Since 2011, three states (Kansas, Georgia and North Carolina) have enacted securities exemptions that allow their state's entrepreneurs and small businesses to raise up to $1 million dollars via the sale of securities to residents of the state — Washington lawmakers introduced similar legis

Rice University's Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship has been named the top university business incubator in the world by the University Business Incubator (UBI) Index based in Sweden. The group reviewed 550 university business incubators and studied 150 incubators to determine the top incubators in the world based on their value for the ecosystem, their value for clients, and their attraction rate and past performance. Other U.S.

While public debate rages over the role of surveillance in our society, one particularly infamous government surveillance technology, drones, is being prepared for private sector deployment in the U.S. Drone-related technologies are predicted to revolutionize commerce in the U.S., with industry projections valuing their initial deployment as an $82 billion boost to the national economy.