The first two installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2005 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

Indiana

"We cannot be satisfied with simply passing stem cell research legislation."

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

BioCrossroads, the Central Indiana life sciences network, announced Chuck Schalliol is the organization's new chief executive officer and president.

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:

Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan has named David Dorff as the state's first director for the new Office of Small Business Advocacy.

Elizabeth Gatewood has been named director of Wake Forest University's new Office of Entrepreneurship and Liberal Arts. At Indiana University, Gatewood was the Jack M. Chair of Entrepreneurship and the director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

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.

Dave Eater has announced his departure from the New Jersey Science and Technology Commission.

Don Gentry, vice provost for engagement at Purdue University, has announced his retirement.

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 Indiana General Assembly recently passed legislation that would make permanent a 10 percent research and development (R&D) tax credit, if signed by Gov. Joe Kernan.

Cynthia Helphingstine is the new vice president for business development for Inproteo (formerly the Indiana Proteomics Consortium).

Sherrie Priesche, the science and technology advisor to New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, has been appointed as the new executive director for the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology.

A $100 million initiative announced last week by the Lilly Endowment Inc. will help Indiana's colleges and universities attract and retain more faculty and students. The Lilly Endowment, a private philanthropic foundation based in Indianapolis, supports community, educational and religious causes.

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.

Location-based tax incentives to encourage the clustering of technology companies in distressed areas or around research universities has grown in popularity since Michigan's smart zones were created several years ago.

Effective Jan. 1, Donald Kuratko will be executive director for Indiana University's Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Kuratko is currently runs Ball State University's entrepreneurship program.