Often credited with contributing significant revenue to states' economies, research parks also house facilities for workforce training and provide resources for tech-based industries, which is especially important as the nation's employment begins to pick up steam. In West Virginia, officials are building a $15 million advanced technology-training center at the state-owned research and technology park, and in Utah, officials recently broke ground on a building that will house engineers and analysts working on the nation's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program.

Minnesota needs additional support for science and technology commercialization, manufacturing and entrepreneurship in order to remain competitive, according to a new strategic plan released by the Minnesota Science and Technology Authority. The plan recommends an initial appropriation of $10 million annually, ramping up over ten years, to invest in the state's R&D capacity, talent development and capital and business development.

Alabama then-Governor-elect Robert Bentley on January 3 named former House Speaker Seth Hammett as director of the Alabama Development Office, replacing Interim Director Linda Swann. He also appointed the president of the Birmingham-based Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, Bill Taylor, to lead efforts to grow and retain existing Alabama industries, while at the same time recruiting new businesses to the state.

The sixth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey and North Carolina. The first five installments are available in the Jan. 5, Jan. 12, Jan. 19, Jan.

Argonne is a Department of Energy national laboratory located in Lemont, IL, a southwest suburb of Chicago, with over 1,500 scientist and engineers performing world-class research aimed at solving the nation's energy, environmental and security challenges. ANL is seeking to fill the three positions listed below:

llinois Gov. Pat Quinn has announced the details of a $10.3 million planned partnership to develop "STEM Learning Exchanges" across the state. Eight organizations will be awarded contracts to work with regional, educational and business networks to aggregate curricular resources, assessment tools, professional development systems, work-based learning opportunities and problem-based learning challenges. Funding for the initiative will be drawn from $2.3 million in federal Race to the Top funds, with another $8 million leveraged from private partnerships.

The Illinois Science & Energy Innovation Foundation, a $72.5 million investment fund approved by the state's General Assembly last year, debuted this week. While 70 percent of the fund will be used to educate consumers about smart grid technology, another $22.5 million, provided by utility companies, will support grants, loans and contracts to groups working on smart grid technologies, according to the Chicago Tribune.

A culmination of twelve months of data measuring the Illinois innovation economy finds improved economic growth in four sectors: dynamism, capital, talent, and business climate. Positive indicators include record growth in university startups and a significant increase in invention disclosures and patents awarded to Illinois universities. Additionally, venture capital funding reached a ten-year high of $1.4 billion in 2012.

Having the tools and resources to develop innovative concepts and products and move discoveries from the lab to the marketplace is an essential component for building tech-based economies. Research parks, a place where innovative ideas are borne, partnerships between university and industry are created, and companies grow and create new jobs, provide a foundation for the kind of economic growth necessary to compete in a global economy. Over the past few months, development plans and groundbreaking announcements from research parks across the nation have been made.

At the close of the 2010 legislative session in Minnesota this week, several initiatives supporting the state's tech-based economic development agenda were enacted into law. To help make the state more competitive, the Minnesota Science and Technology Authority was established to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for growing the state's economy through investments in science, technology and innovation.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn recently signed legislation approving a new tax credit to encourage angel investment and extending the state's R&D tax credit one more year. The Innovation Development and Economy Act (SB 2093) allows eligible angel and early-stage institutional investors to take a 25 percent tax credit on investments in small, technology firms. Up to $2 million may be claimed on an individual investment for a $500,000 tax credit. The program is capped at $10 million and will be effective on Jan 1, 2011.

Tech Talkin' Govs, Part V
The fifth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs' series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Tennessee. The first four installments are available in the Jan. 13, Jan. 20, Jan. 27, and Feb. 10 Digests.

The fifth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs' series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Tennessee. The first four installments are available in the Jan. 13, Jan. 20, Jan. 27, and Feb. 10 Digests.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently unveiled his 2010 supplemental budget recommendations, which includes new tax incentives to boost job creation and spending cuts across state agencies to help eliminate a projected $1.2 billion deficit.

Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled last week the FY11 capital budget outlining the state's progress on the $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now plan enacted last year by the legislature (see the July 29, 2009 Digest). The governor is seeking an expansion of the program, which includes new appropriations for green economy initiatives within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).

A group of inventors, academics and researchers presented an aspirational list of inventors' rights at the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Annual Meeting held last week. The Academic Inventors' Bill of Rights includes protections for researchers and students to prevent onerous university intellectual property policies and lack of transparency from preventing successful commercialization. The full document will be available later this week at:  http://www.ipadvocate.org/

The Minnesota legislature has passed a 25 percent tax credit for individuals and pooled funds that invest in early-stage high-tech businesses as part of a new jobs bill. Up to $17 million in tax credits will be available in FY11, with $12 million a year available in FY12 and afterward. The credits apply to investments in companies with fewer than 25 employees and less than $2 million in private capital.

The fourth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs' series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Illinois, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Rhode Island. The first three installments are available in the Jan. 11, Jan. 18 and Jan. 25 editions of the Digest. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, State of the State Address, Feb. 1, 2012 "Today, I'm announcing a $2.3 million dollar investment in '1871,' a new technology center at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago to foster and launch digital start-ups.

his week Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel released the first draft of a long-term plan for the city's economic growth and job creation. The plan provides ten over-arching strategies to guide Chicago's economic development efforts, the first of which is a focus on advanced manufacturing. The plan also calls on the city to support entrepreneurship and innovation in emerging technology sectors.

While many state programs provide periodic reports on their activities and impacts, a few states provide regular data on their innovation economy as a whole. These reports can be useful in assessing a state's overall approach to TBED and in finding new areas for strategic intervention. Recently, groups in Massachusetts, Maine and Illinois separately released innovation indices that provide quantitative guides to their state's progress in fostering innovation.

Mark Lytle has been named the University System of Georgia's new vice chancellor for economic development.

Frederick Cartwright has been appointed the executive director of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.

Yuka Nagashima, executive director of the High Technology Development Corp. and center director for the Innovate Hawaii program, has resigned from both posts and will leave the state agency in August. Nagashima will be leaving for Denmark to support her husband's research career. Len Higashi, current senior economic development manager, was selected to become the acting executive director.

Over the last week, several states have announced/passed new programs focused on increasing the capital available to spur small business growth and innovation. Officials from New Jersey announced the state's new angel tax credit will take effect July 1. In Arizona and Wisconsin two bills await gubernatorial approval that would rework the Arizona R&D tax credit program and establish a $75 million venture capital fund in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, the Minnesota state legislature did not approve an additional $5 million for its popular Small Business Investment Tax Credit.

During this year’s legislative sessions, several states looked toward creating, providing support for or redesigning programs that help incentivize businesses to hire and mentor student interns. In an effort to spur rural internships, Minnesota lawmakers approved a new tax credit program to support internships for students in greater Minnesota. In North Dakota, lawmakers committed $1.5 million to their Operation Intern program, while Nebraska lawmakers updated their Intern Nebraska grant program to provide students with a high-quality internship experience. Rhode Island Gov.

The co-locating of researchers, donated equipment, and capital are recent examples of key elements provided by private-sector partners to help accelerate technology commercialization. In the past month, leaders from universities and nonprofit organizations across the country have announced new efforts to expand research capacity and bring more products to market by launching innovative centers in collaboration with corporate partners.