Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne named Idaho National Lab Director John Grossenbacher as the new chairman of the Governor's Science & Technology Advisory Council.

Within days of taking office in January, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. dismantled the Department of Community and Economic Development and promised to make significant changes to how Utah approaches wealth generation and economic growth.

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.

Elizabeth Sellars is the new manager of Idaho Operations for the Department of Energy.

In these tight state fiscal times, many government functions would view level funding with the previous year as very good news. Since tech-based economic development (TBED) programs are investments toward economic prosperity, conventional wisdom would hold that legislatures would shield these types of investments from deep cuts.

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.

LaMoyne Hyde, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce, also announced he will resign his position by the end of the year.

Bill Shipp, president of Bechtel BWXT Idaho and lab director of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, is retiring effective Oct. 25. Paul Divjak will be his replacement.

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.

The Acting Director for the Idaho Department of Commerce is Roger Madsen. Madsen also is serving as director of the state Department of Labor.

The Idaho Economic Development Association has named Jan Rogers as new president.

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is the nationwide network of federal laboratories that provides the forum to develop strategies and opportunities for linking the laboratory mission technologies and expertise with the marketplace. More than 700 major federal laboratories and centers and their parent departments and agencies are FLC members. 

David Winder, currently executive director of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development, has been appointed to a newly created post as Governor Mike Leavitt's special assistant for post-Olympic projects. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Mr. Winder will serve both positions until a replacement is named for the DCED position.