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

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:

A pilot program meant to spur entrepreneurship with community involvement is set to begin in Torrington, Wy., in the next two months. A joint venture between the Goshen County School District, Eastern Wyoming College, and Goshen County Economic Development, the project, Planned Approach to Community Entrepreneurship (PACE), is designed to facilitate small businesses and help them achieve higher success rates.

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.

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 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.

A recent study completed for Iowa calls for continued investment in the biosciences - a 10-year, $302 million plan - to grow the industry and to create new job opportunities for the state.

Study Suggests Cultural Changes in Universities Could Be Key to Promoting Greater Tech Transfer

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently unveiled four energy initiatives to promote clean energy R&D and the use of renewable energy technologies in the state. Through a combination of executive orders and legislative proposals, the programs are intended to push Minnesota towards its goals of having 25 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by 2025 and reducing the state’s greenhouse emissions 80 percent by 2050. These new initiatives are:

Funding for energy and TBED initiatives were highlighted in the fiscal year 2007-09 biennial budget at the close of the legislative session in Minnesota late last month. Winning nearly unanimous approval from the legislature was Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s Next Generation Initiative announced during his State-of-the-State Address (see the Jan.

The Rural Policy Research Institute, a consortium of Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, and the University of Nebraska, has published a Directory of State Assisted Venture Capital Programs on-line.

The McKnight Foundation has committed $44.5 million over ten years to support scientific research in neuroscience/memory and brain disorders.

Governor Tom Vilsack has unveiled a plan to enhance Iowa’s science and technology base. In his 2001 budget proposal, the governor has proposed $10 million in state funds to create Centers of Excellence in the life sciences, information solutions, and advanced manufacturing areas.

Minnesota Technology, Inc. seeks candidates to fill the position of Technology Transfer Specialist. The incumbent will help bring Federal Technology Transfer activities to Minnesota companies by developing partnerships with federal labs, identifying opportunities for tech transfer activities in Minnesota companies, and assisting companies with the development of proposals, agreements and licenses. 

Legislation to be reconciled by a conference committee of the Minnesota State Legislature next week includes language creating a $15 million fund to support industry-university research collaborations. The North Star Research Coalition, a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation, would be established by the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota to administer the one-time appropriation. 

Patrick Neary, executive director of Wyoming's Science, Technology & Energy Authority, has also returned to the private sector. Jeff Suddeth is serving as interim director.