TBED People
Nicole Witherbee has joined the Maine Center of Economic Policy as a federal budget analyst and communications coordinator.
Maine Issues Guide for the Creative Economy
Maine Gov. Mark Baldacci has unveiled a new handbook intended to help communities to capitalize upon their cultural resources to spur economic growth. Maine's Creative Economy Community Handbook: Maine State Government Resources for Communities offers advice for community leaders interested in building a creative and dynamic workforce. The guidelines it gives for designing a strategic plan could benefit communities across the country interested in similar initiatives.
Maine Continues $41M Laptop Program
It caught the attention of quite a few people when it was first proposed in early 2001, but Maine's investment in 2002 to provide every seventh and eighth grader with a new laptop - approximately 32,000 students and 4,000 teachers - continues to provide a useful example of the size and type of commitment and risk that elected leaders have to be willing to make to transform the outlook for a state or regional economy. It took strong leadership and determination from then-Gov.
SSTI Job Corner
The six position opportunities described below were posted on the SSTI Job Corner over the last week. For more information, including complete details on responsibilities, qualifications and application deadlines (when available), visit http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.
Job Corner: Maine Department Seeks Director for Office of Innovation
The Maine Department of Economic and Community Development is seeking a qualified, energetic, collaborative person to serve as director of its Office of Innovation. The Office of Innovation seeks to advance Maine's economic well-being and to expand employment opportunities by encouraging and coordinating the state's R&D activities and fostering collaboration among its higher educational and nonprofit research institutions and the business community.
People
Dr. Janet Yancey-Wrona left her post as director of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development's Office of Innovation to join a new University of New England biotech start-up.
Maine to Increase R&D Activity to $1B by 2010
A plan to increase Maine's R&D activity to $1 billion by 2010 was revealed last week by the Department of Economic and Community Development's (DECD) Office of Innovation and the Maine Science and Technology Council (MSTAC). The level of R&D activity in Maine currently stands at $430 million.
SSTI Offers Its Thanks for Successful Conference in Atlanta
There were recurring themes underlying the design and development of SSTI's 9th Annual Conference, Investing in a Brighter Future: Building Tech-based Economies, held Oct. 19-21 in Atlanta, Georgia: inevitability, irrelevance and inspiration.
People
Anne Wein is the new executive director of Southeast BIO, a nonprofit organization concentrating on the growth of the life sciences industry.
Final Registration Opportunity before SSTI's Annual Conference
Conference Only seven days remain until the opening of SSTI's 9th Annual Conference in Atlanta. More than 330 of the nation's top thinkers and practitioners for the TBED community will convene at the InterContinental Hotel seeking guidance from their peers.
Innovation Summit Will Launch Southern Innovation Initiative
On Monday, Oct. 31, the Southern Growth Policies Board, the Southern Technology Council, Georgia Institute of Technology, the Council on Competitiveness and the Georgia Research Alliance will host a one-day Southern Technology Innovation Summit at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta.
Digest, Funding Supplement Break until Nov. 7
Due to SSTI's annual conference being held in Atlanta next week, the next issues of the Digest and Funding Supplement are slated for Nov. 7, 2005.
Great Speakers, Great Topics, Great Discussions
Drawing expertise from 53 speakers and panelists from 19 states, SSTI's 9th annual conference - to be held Oct. 19-21 in Atlanta - promises to provide its attendees unparalleled opportunity to learn about the latest and best thinking to encourage state and regional growth through tech-based economic development. Want proof?
SSTI Conference Update:Room Block Oversubscribed for SSTI's 9th Annual Conference
Not too surprising. Put the premier professional development opportunity for the tech-based economic development community in a great city and you'll draw hundreds of participants from at least 45 states and several other countries. Offer conference attendees five-star accommodations at prices well below market and we've ended up with the largest room block yet for an SSTI annual conference.
SSTI Conference Update:Maximizing Impact Workshop Sold Out!
Limited Seating Remaining in Three Preconference Sessions
SSTI Job Corner
For more information on the positions below, visit SSTI's online Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.
Save $100: Early Registration and Hotel Room Block End Tuesday
The early bird registration and hotel room block for Investing in a Brighter Future: Building Tech-based Economies, SSTI's Ninth Annual Conference, ends on Tuesday, September 20. To register for the conference, which is October 20 and 21, you can visit the conference website at http://www.ssti.org/conference05.htm and select the registration form.
Two Items to Do by Sept. 20
Whether you use Outlook, Palm, Day-Timer, Filofax, or Post-Its to keep track of the items on your "To Do" list, make sure these two items on your lists to be wrapped up by next Tuesday, Sept. 20:
People
Georgia Tech announced that Dr. Jeffrey Skolnick will join its faculty this spring as the Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology.
Initiatives Aim to Close Digital Divide Among Low-Income Households
Two initiatives aimed at closing the digital divide, particularly among low-income Americans, were announced earlier this month.
The Scuttlebutt on SSTI's Annual Conferences
Many of the readers are new to the Digest since last year's conference, so we're getting questions about how SSTI's upcoming 9th annual conference, to be held in Atlanta on Oct. 19-21, differs from other events.
The easiest way to answer that is to let the conference speak for itself — through the comments we received from past participants:
SSTI's 9th Annual Conference: Avoiding the End-of-Summer Blues
Your kids may not be bored of summer yet, but if you're an avid bird watcher, you know the season has already changed to fall as Yellow Warblers and several species of shorebirds begin their migrations south by July 4.
People
Terry Blum, dean of Georgia Tech's College of Management, will resign her position on June 30, 2006.
2005 SSTI Conference Offers Two IEDC/CEcD Credits with Tech Square Workshop
SSTI's annual conference is already considered by many to be the nation's premier educational and networking experience for the tech-based economic development community. However, the ninth annual conference to be held October 20-21, 2005 - keeping with years past - gives certified economic development professionals even more reason to attend.