In a move to increase Hawaii's technology standing, Governor Ben Cayetano signed legislation last week that will create several new initiatives. Most significant for S&T policy is the planned consolidation of the state's technology-related programs under a new special advisor for technology development. The specific state agencies affected by the legislation were not identified in the Technology Omnibus bill.

A number of bills to strengthen Hawaii's science and technology standing were passed during the final days of the legislative session.

Last Friday, Governor Tommy Thompson signed into law Senate Bill 429, establishing the Wisconsin Technology and Entrepreneurs Council (WITEC).

article prepared by Kay Etzler, SBIR Specialist for the North Carolina Small Business Technology Development Center

In his recent State of the State address, Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson called for the establishment of a new High Tech Corporation to assist in the development of companies for the New Economy. Toward that end, a bill has been introduced in both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature to establish the corporation.

On July 16, both houses of Wisconsin’s state Legislature passed a state budget including numerous incentives for technological development. The budget covers state spending for a two-year period that began July 1. Gov. Scott McCallum has until August 30 to approve the budget; several of the tech-related items were in the Governor's first state of the state and executive budget addresses.

College tuition rates and a state's success at retaining its high school graduates for college attendance — both of which can be affected by state policy makers and university administrators — are strong predictors of a state's success in keeping its own recent college science and engineering graduates and in attracting graduates from other states, according to a study from the Southern Technology Council (STC).

After months of analyzing data and hundreds of interviews, organizers of western North Carolina's Future Forward economic development strategy only await the study's approval by local governments. Future Forward is aimed at improving economic development conditions for 12 counties in the Western Piedmont and Mountains of North Carolina located in the 10th and 11th Congressional Districts — Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Iredell, Lincoln, Rutherford, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and McDowell counties.

After 30 years as leader of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, Robert Brennan is leaving to become a consultant to the new Office of Corporate Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Phillip Z. Sobocinski has accepted a new position as Assistant Director of the new Office of Corporate Relations in the Office of the Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The new initiative will be led by Charles Hoslet.

Biotechnology has enormous potential for North Carolina's future, but the state's economic development strategy must be broader than any single industry and must include growth-from-within strategies, concludes a report published by the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University.

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley was recently joined by Congressional, university, and local and business representatives last week in announcing a 180-acre expansion of Piedmont Triad Research Park in downtown Winston-Salem. The biotech park will include a new research campus for Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Golden LEAF, the statewide foundation established in 1999 to use one-half of the state's tobacco settlement for the long-term economic advancement of North Carolina, has announced an $85.4 million economic stimulus package it believes will significantly improve North Carolina's economy and make the state a leader in the biosciences industry. Foundation officials anticipate the public investment stimulating at least $350 million in new private and federal funding biotech activity in the state.