The first two installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2005 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

Indiana

As promised in her 2004 State of the State Address, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner released a New Economy Initiative last week that includes several new elements to encourage economic growth in Delaware. The $34 million package is expected to generate at least $16 million more in federal and private match. Many of the elements of the plan were recommended by the governor's Strategic Economic Council.

With Randall Olson's resignation, Pat Dillon has become the executive director for Minnesota Project Innovation.

BioCrossroads, the Central Indiana life sciences network, announced Chuck Schalliol is the organization's new chief executive officer and president.

Tech-based economic development remains high on the agendas of the most of the governors who gave State of the State or Budget Addresses this week. Selected excerpts are provided below:

Minnesota Technology Inc. (MTI), the leading technology-based economic development organization in the state of Minnesota, is seeking a Deputy Director to serve as the right hand to the CEO. This critical position will be responsible for the following:

Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan has named David Dorff as the state's first director for the new Office of Small Business Advocacy.

The first two installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2006 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

Delaware

Elizabeth Gatewood has been named director of Wake Forest University's new Office of Entrepreneurship and Liberal Arts. At Indiana University, Gatewood was the Jack M. Chair of Entrepreneurship and the director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Cleveland Fed: "Innovation, Growth, and Economic Policy in an Environment of Change,"

At a time when manufacturing jobs are relenting to the pressures of an expanded service sector, foreign competition and productivity growth, the idea of economic prosperity has a renewed urgency with innovation as the greatest strength and flexibility the greatest asset, argues a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently selected Texas A&M University and the University of Minnesota to lead the second and third Homeland Security Centers of Excellence (HS-Centers). The department anticipates providing Texas A&M University, the University of Minnesota and their partners with a total of $33 million over the course of the next three years to address security in two key agricultural sectors -- foreign animal diseases and food security.

Don Gentry, vice provost for engagement at Purdue University, has announced his retirement.

Innovations in public and private institutions could be the key to aligning governance with opportunity, according to the Center for the Study of Rural America's latest annual report.

The Indiana General Assembly recently passed legislation that would make permanent a 10 percent research and development (R&D) tax credit, if signed by Gov. Joe Kernan.

Cynthia Helphingstine is the new vice president for business development for Inproteo (formerly the Indiana Proteomics Consortium).

A $100 million initiative announced last week by the Lilly Endowment Inc. will help Indiana's colleges and universities attract and retain more faculty and students. The Lilly Endowment, a private philanthropic foundation based in Indianapolis, supports community, educational and religious causes.

The need for tax cuts, reduced and simplified regulations, a well-trained workforce, lower employee health care costs, and a state-sponsored industry advocate are among the top concerns shared by a core group of Minnesota manufacturers.

Peter Bianco has been named executive director of University Enterprise Laboratories, a nonprofit entity created by the University of Minnesota that provides incubator laboratory space for bioscience start-up companies.

The presentations from last week's conference, Knowledge Clusters and Entrepreneurship in Regional Economic Development, now available online, provide a good introduction to many of the topics and issues to be discussed at SSTI's annual conference, Building Tech-based Economies: Preparing for Tomorrow's Challenges, in Philadelphia, Oct. 13-15.

Effective Jan. 1, Donald Kuratko will be executive director for Indiana University's Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Kuratko is currently runs Ball State University's entrepreneurship program.

The Purdue Research Foundation has appointed Robert J. Wichlinski as executive director of the new Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana and Kathy DeGuilio-Fox as the center’s business development manager.

July has been a tech-friendly month for Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. On July 14, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) named her "BIO Governor of the Year," recognizing her contributions toward growing the state's biotechnology industry, one of the strongest concentrations in the country. Further attesting to her grasp of biotech issues, Gov. Minner also serves as a co-chair of the National Governors Association Biotechnology Partnership.

The Board of Directors of BioCrossroads, Indiana's life sciences initiative, announced David Johnson would succeed Charles Schalliol as CEO.