Gov. Phil Bredesen’s budget proposal for 2007-2008 includes more than $100 million in new funding for several new education and high-tech development initiatives and a strategy to spur the state’s alternative fuels industry.

 

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has submitted her budget proposal to the state legislature for the fiscal biennium 2007-09, including significant increase in the amount allocated for certain state economic development entities. The High Technology Development Corporation (HTDC), a state agency that develops and supports Hawaii’s science and technology resources, would grow from average annual expenditures of $4.2 million in the 2005-07 biennium cycle to $9.8 million in the next cycle.

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.

 

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.

Eric Cromwell has been appointed to serve as Director of Technology for the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development.

This is the third in a series of articles as SSTI continues its look at the prominence of tech-based economic development in the Inaugural, State of the State and Budget Addresses given by the nation's governors. Highlights from this week's speeches are provided below.

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.

Joe James, director of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, has resigned his position with the S.C. Department of Commerce.

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.

Thomas Persons Sr., president and CEO of the South Carolina Technology Alliance, was appointed to the newly created South Carolina Venture Capital Authority.

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.

Amid criticism from taxpayers, legislators in Hawaii agreed to renew the widely debated bill that extends high-technology tax credit for another five years, without a provision requiring the disclosure of companies that receive the credits, the Honolulu Advertiser recently reported.

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.

Michael Terry, president and CEO of EmergeMemphis, has announced he will resign at the end of the year.

South Carolina Research Authority president Larry Druffel has announced he will retire next year.

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

Referring to his fiscal year 2008-09 budget recommendation as “back to basics,” Gov. Phil Bredesen proposed significant investments in research and workforce initiatives while vowing not to tap into reserves or raise taxes.

 

A complete description of this opportunities and others is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

The Tennessee Technology Development Corporation (TTDC), the lead organization in Tennessee for technology-based economic development, is seeking a president and chief executive officer (CEO). This position is responsible for the overall direction and management of TTDC and its programs, including resource development, finances, contracts, compliance reporting and operational policies. He or she will work with a 22-member board of directors to establish and successfully implement a work plan that fulfills the organization's mission.

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.

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.

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

Earlier this month, Governor Ben Cayetano released The New Millenium Growth Strategy for Hawaii's Economy, an economic development plan to improve the state's performance in a knowledge-based economy. The 90-page report, penned by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, includes several new initiatives for developing and growing technology businesses as well as strengthening existing economic development efforts.

Nola Miyasaki is serving as Acting Executive Director and CEO of the Hawaii High Technology Development Corp