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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.
Minnesota Cluster-Entrepreneurship Conference Presentations Available
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.
Angel & Venture Capital News
Boise Gains First Angel Investor Network
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With Randall Olson's resignation, Pat Dillon has become the executive director for Minnesota Project Innovation.
Lean Budget Doesn't Stop Idaho's TBED Agenda
Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne dedicated a portion of Monday's State of the State and Budget Address to describing how tight the 2005 fiscal environment would be for his state. The temporary sales tax will lapse, costing the state $170 million in foregone revenue. The one-time $83 million in federal bailout funds are depleted. State employees will get a 27th biweekly paycheck this calendar year, resulting in an additional budgetary burden of approximately $20 million.
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The Acting Director for the Idaho Department of Commerce is Roger Madsen. Madsen also is serving as director of the state Department of Labor.
People
The University of Minnesota Duluth Center for Economic Development has named Elaine Hansen as its new permanent director.
People
The Idaho Economic Development Association has named Jan Rogers as new president.
Minnesota Governor Announces Clean Energy Initiatives
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:
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John Kotek, formerly with Argonne National Laboratory-West, has been named deputy manager of the Department of Energy's Idaho Operations Office. The office oversees the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
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Mike Leavitt of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory has been appointed the Co-chair of the Federal Laboratories Consortium State and Local Government Committee.
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Sandy Layman was named commissioner of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Agency (IRRRA) earlier this month. IRRRA promotes economic development in Northeastern Minnesota.
Minnesota Manufacturers Facing Stiff Chinese Competition, MTI Survey Says
Minnesota manufacturers are cutting payrolls, bidding low and scrambling to compete with the giant threat of cheap labor and enhanced manufacturing facilities offered in China, according to a recent survey of Greater Minnesota manufacturing companies.
Minnesota Governor Outlines Biosciences Activities
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty recently unveiled a plan to help make Minnesota a leader in biosciences. Governor Pawlenty says the state's history, expertise and economic infrastructure make it better prepared than most other states to capitalize on the bioscience industry.
Twin Cities' Competitiveness Assessed by Great North Alliance
Despite an economic slowdown, the Twin Cities is more competitive than it was a year ago, according to a study released by the Great North Alliance, a regional civic leadership organization. Conducted annually, the Great North Opportunity Forecast uses regional productivity and innovation to predict future competitiveness and opportunity.
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Idaho Falls businessman LaMoyne Hyde was appointed by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to serve as Director of the Idaho Department of Commerce.
Minnesota Governor Establishes Biodiesel Task Force
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty recently announced the formation of a Biodiesel Task Force to accelerate development of the state's biodiesel industry. The nine-member group will advise the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) on methods to increase production and use of biodiesel in Minnesota.
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Elizabeth Sellars is the new manager of Idaho Operations for the Department of Energy.
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Laurence Gebhardt has been selected to serve as the first director of Idaho's TechConnect East.
Telecommunications Needs of Greater Minnesota Companies Examined
Manufacturing jobs in rural Minnesota numbered almost 120,000 in 2000, a 25 percent increase since 1990, according to a recent study by the Center for Rural Policy and Development and Minnesota Technology Inc., two agencies dedicated to helping industry in Greater Minnesota.
People
Gary Mahn, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce, has announced he will resign from the position at the end of the year.
MTI Says Tech an Anchor for Minnesota's Economy
Minnesota's technology sector remains a diverse, well developed and stable anchor to the state's economy, according to a new report released by Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), Minnesota's tech-based economic development organization.
Idaho Partnership Creates Regional S&T Office
Governor Dirk Kempthorne has announced the creation of TechConnect East, a regional science and technology office to be located at the Idaho State University Incubation Center in Pocatello, Idaho.
Can the Innovation Process Survive A Competitive Market?
In Perfectly Competitive Innovation, a March 2002 research department staff report for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine address whether current copyright, licensing and patent laws which grant monopolist rights to inventors beneficial or harmful to the innovation process. The authors suggest the latter in certain markets.
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John Glerum, former president and CEO of Ore-Ida Foods, has been named science and technology coordinator for the Idaho Department of Commerce. Glerum also will serve as director of the new Technology and Entrepreneurial Center, to be built on the campus of Boise State University West.