South Carolina Governor Proposes $2M for Broadband
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford announced that his budget for fiscal year 2007-08 will include a request for $2 million to bring high-speed Internet access to rural parts of the state. This allocation from the state’s Capital Reserve Fund would be used to create a Rural Broadband fund to increase broadband penetration in underserved communities and is designed to boost economic development by providing Internet access to students, businesses and entrepreneurs.
SC, UT Chambers Want Bigger TBED Efforts
Business community advocacy for public investments in technology-based economic development (TBED) may make the difference between legislators appropriating programs $1 million or $100 million.
Tech Talkin' Govs 2005, Part One
Most of the nation's governors use the winter months to publicly lay out their agendas, visions and budget requests for the coming year. The text of State of the State Addresses, Budget Messages and, to a lesser extent, Inaugural Addresses, often reveals each governor's legislative priorities and new initiatives to be pursued over the coming months.
Correction for the Jan. 23 Issue
In last week's Tech Talkin' Govs II article, we inadvertently listed Mark Warner as the Governor of South Carolina. Gov. Warner leads the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mark Sanford is Governor of South Carolina. SSTI regrets the error.
People
Connecticut Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell was sworn in as the state’s 87th governor on July 1, taking over from former Gov. John Rowland, who resigned amid a federal corruption investigation and a threatened impeachment for allegedly accepting gifts from employees and state contractors. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin Sullivan was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor. Rell is a Republican, while Sullivan is a Democrat.
People
Jim Petell is the first director of technology transfer and commercialization for the University of North Dakota.
People
Joe James, director of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, has resigned his position with the S.C. Department of Commerce.
People
SSTI congratulates Tom Persons, president and CEO of the South Carolina Technology Alliance, for receiving the Individual Achievement Award from the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
People
Thomas Persons Sr., president and CEO of the South Carolina Technology Alliance, was appointed to the newly created South Carolina Venture Capital Authority.
SC Council Formed to Reshape the State's Economy
A new economic development council formed in South Carolina has been charged with two objectives: help reshape the state’s economy and raise its per-capita income. Members of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, a group of business, academia, government and economic development leaders, were announced earlier this month.
South Carolina Commits $500M for TBED Package
The South Carolina Technology Alliance calls it the most significant victory for South Carolina's research universities and tech entrepreneurs in the last 50 years. An idle exaggeration? Probably not.
North Dakota TBED Efforts Receive $1.2M from EDA
Securing the multi-year funding needed to properly ramp up technology-based economic development (TBED) initiatives can be difficult in states with annual budget cycles and tight revenue streams. Fortunately, there is one federal agency that provides financial assistance increasingly toward local and regional projects matching the interests of the nation's TBED community.
People
South Carolina Research Authority president Larry Druffel has announced he will retire next year.
People
Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell named Marie O'Brien to oversee the Connecticut Development Authority.
North Dakota Gov. Includes $50M for Centers of Excellence in Budget Request
In an effort to increase the economic impact of the state's university-based research, Gov. John Hoeven has included $50 million in his 2005-07 budget request to create Centers of Excellence on each of the North Dakota 's college campuses.
Report Could Have Implications for Connecticut Job Growth, Education
Gov. Jodi Rell recently announced the results of a study of the strengths and weaknesses of Connecticut’s infrastructure for innovation, technology transfer and development of new businesses. A report prepared for the Connecticut Technology Transfer and Commercialization Advisory Board of the governor's Competitiveness Council presents the results.
People & TBED Organizations
Edward Bowman Jr. was selected as chairman of Connecticut Innovations. Bowman replaces Elaine Pullen, who resigned to focus on her consulting business.
South Carolina Releases S&T Strategic Plan
The South Carolina Technology Advisory Council (SCTAC) has released a technology strategy for the state. Creating South Carolina's Future Through Technology: Strategies for Developing a Knowledge-Based Economy grew from a 1995 strategic plan for economic development, Approaching 2000: An Economic Development Vision for South Carolina.
Recent Research: Dimensions of an Individual Global Mindset
Successful companies are forced to change business strategies as market realities shift. It happens all of the time. Browse the business section of your local bookstore and you'll see dozens of titles preaching the need for companies to adopt, adapt and innovate. The continuing restructuring of the U.S. durable manufacturing sector, as alluded to in the Useful Stats piece below, is a vivid example of the importance of abandoning old mindsets for industry: change or die.
Connecticut Releases State Technology Study
The Role of Technology in the Connecticut Economy, a new report produced by the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC), provides a comprehensive analysis of the role of technology in the state's economy. Overall, the report reveals both a strong technology contribution to the Connecticut economy, as well as the state's dependence on technology for achieving its economic potential.
People
After seven months on the job, Connecticut Innovations President and CEO Chandler Howard is leaving to pursue an opportunity to establish a community bank in New Haven.
North Dakota Starts Phase I of Statewide Broadband Network
In an effort to provide quality, high-speed telecommunications services throughout the state, North Dakota has committed $3 million for the first phase of a broadband telecommunications network that is expected to cost the state $20 million when completed. When the first phase is finished later this year, 218 locations in 64 communities will be connected.
2000 Connecticut Legislature Focuses on Technology
The 2000 session of the Connecticut legislature proved to be an active and favorable one for the state’s technology community and Connecticut Innovations, Inc. The Connecticut Technology Council summarized the session this way, “For the first time in recent memory, the debate at the Capitol was not over whether legislation affecting tech companies would pass, but which legislation affecting tech companies would pass.”
South Carolina S&T Plan Unveiled
The South Carolina Technology Alliance has released South Carolina Technology Initiative 2000, a science and technology strategic plan outlining six specific recommendations for strengthening the state’s position in a knowledge-based economy.
PRESIDENT’S BUDGET DRAWS MIXED REVIEWS FROM CONGRESS
Senators Bill Frist (R-TN) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Co-chairs of the Science & Technology Caucus, issued a joint statement reacting to the Clinton Administration’s FY 2000 budget request for R&D. Calling the President’s request a "mixed blessing," the senators praised the commitment to civilian R&D, while disagreeing with proposed cuts for defense research of nearly six percent.