MEP Career Opportunity
The New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program is recruiting a technology transfer and commercialization project manager with a proven track record in related disciplines from the private and/or public sector.
Business First Stop Will Assist Appalachian Entrepreneurs in Three-State Region
A new resource for tech-based businesses in rural Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, and West Virginia was launched last week. The Appalachian Regional Entrepreneurship Initiative (AREI) is expanding its efforts to support growth of a technology-based entrepreneurial economy in Appalachia Ohio and neighboring states through a new website, http://www.bizfirststop.com
South Dakota Creates Technology Council; Proposes Scholarships
In December, Governor Bill Janklow created the South Dakota Math, Science and Technology Council to encourage more interest in math, science, and technology at all levels of education. The council's duties include: identifying major opportunities for coordinating math, science, technology and research efforts; promoting coordination of public and private initiatives in those areas; pursuing federal and private funding; and, identifying ways to create jobs in South Dakota in those areas.
People
Kentucky Governor Paul Patton has appointed Bill Brundage to the serve as the state's first Commissioner for the New Economy. Dr. Brundage will oversee the new Kentucky Innovations Commission, which is attached to the Governor's Office and tasked to oversee the state's $55 million New Economy initiative.
Dual Enrollment Has Little Effect on Postsecondary Matriculation in Kentucky, Study Finds
Increasingly states are making it easier for high school students to participate in college courses while still attending high school. The goal of dual enrollment is to encourage more students to attend college, giving them a leg up on a degree. A new report by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education suggests the efforts are not working in Kentucky.
People & Organizations
South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds selected Richard Benda as the new Secretary for the Department of Tourism and State Development.
People & Organizations
The South Dakota Biotech Industry Association, a new resource for biotech companies in the state, has formed.
People
Maria Estela de Rios has been named chairwoman of the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership Board of Directors. She is executive vice president of Orion International Technologies, which is based in Albuquerque.
People
Roberto Salazar is leaving his post as the Director of the New Mexico Office of Science and Technology at the end of March to assume the position of State Director of the USDA's Rural Development Agency for New Mexico.
Kentucky Innovation Act Calls for $53 Million S&T Investment
Kentucky Governor Paul Patton and House Speaker Jody Richardson have announced a new technology bill to help Kentucky develop an innovation-driven economy. House Bill 572, the Kentucky Innovation Act, is a result of the Science and Technology Strategy designed by the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation in August, 1999 (see September 3, 1999 SSTI Weekly Digest (http://www.ssti.org/Digest/1999/090399.htm).
South Dakota Sees Progress as Clock Ticks on 2010 Initiative
While many states will lay out strategic plans with quantifiable goals to measure success, South Dakota in 2003 was one of the first SSTI noticed to use a specific target for its gross state product (GSP) as one of the measures. According to the latest annual review, South Dakota officials feel they are making significant strides in its goal of adding $10 billion to its GSP by 2010.
Impact of 1999 State Election Results on S&T
In this off-year election, there were only a few races that are significant to the S&T community.
Democrat Paul Patton, incumbent Governor of Kentucky, easily won re-election over three contenders. Patton becomes the first Kentucky Governor to be elected to a second term since 1800.
Kentucky Completes S&T Strategic Plan
The Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. (KSTC) has released Kentucky's Science and Technology Strategy, a plan outlining ten specific recommendations in four strategic areas to guide the Commonwealth's future R&D investments. If implemented, the recommendations are expected to have significant impact in just a few years.
Bingaman Introduces Bill to Create MEP-like Program for E-Commerce
To help small businesses participate fully in the expected e-commerce revolution, Senator Bingaman (D-NM) has introduced legislation to create a national e-commerce extension program. Senators Rockefeller (D-WVa), Snowe (R-ME) and Mikulski (D-MD) are co-sponsors of the bill, S. 1494.
New Mexico Legislature Approves Technology Tax Credit Legislation
In the last days of a special legislative session, the New Mexico Legislature unanimously passed two technology tax credit bills. Entitled the “Technology Jobs Tax Credit Act” and the “Laboratory Partnership with Small Business Tax Credit Act,” these measures are intended to assist New Mexico’s technology-based businesses with the development of increased research investments and laboratory partnerships, especially in rural areas.
Conference Profile: Sandia National Laboratories
As a national security laboratory operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by the Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, Sandia’s science and technology competencies are leveraged to support several missions that are synergistic to its primary mission — to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile in the absence of underground testing, indefinitely.
NETT Issues Economic Strategy for Northern Kentucky
The New Economy Transition Team (NETT) of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has issued a 73-page plan that, if implemented successfully, could position Northern Kentucky as a center for life sciences and information technology, advanced manufacturing and financial services.
People
Durand Smith, the director of the New Mexico Department of Economic Development's Science and Technology Division, has returned to the private sector. Marsha Oldakowski is serving as acting director of the division.
People and Organizational News
Larry Willard, president of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents, is leaving the position to become chairman of the New Mexico Economic Development Corp.
New Mexico Establishes Statewide Research Collaborative
With a combined annual research budget totaling $4.8 billion, New Mexico's 12 largest research facilities signed a Memorandum of Agreement on May 30 to help turn intellectual property into jobs for New Mexicans. Members of the newly formed New Mexico Technology Research Corridor (TRC) include:
People
Bill Richardson, Governor-elect of New Mexico, has named Rick Homans as secretary of the state's Economic Development Department.
South Dakota Governor Awards $500K for Center to Help Technology Businesses
A $500,000 state grant approved Thursday by South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow will help create a center in Sioux Falls for fledgling technology businesses.
Tech Talkin' Govs III
New and re-elected Governors gave inaugural addresses in Alabama, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas during the past 10 days. Additionally, State of the State addresses were made in Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. Building tech-based economies remains a high priority for many Governors, as evidenced in the following:
Nevada
connectkentucky Plan Prepares State for Tech-driven Economy
Sixty-nine percent of Kentucky businesses use computer technology to handle some of their business functions, but only 36 percent use the Internet and little more than 20 percent have a website, according to a report released by Governor Paul Patton's Office for the New Economy. Kentucky Prepares for the Networked World, which details computer, Internet and website use among the state's businesses, shows more than 50 percent see "no need" to use the Internet.