The City of Spokane and a group of local organizations have penned a strategic plan designed to help the city and the Inland Northwest achieve an Innovation Economy.

Until now, the opportunities have been fairly limited for tech-based economic developers to learn from the lessons of fellow practitioners running successful entrepreneurship programs.

We recognize that SSTI's annual conference quickly has become the premier professional development event annually for the tech-based economic development field. It's quite an honor, but it is also quite an obligation. Our conference participants have come to expect a level of unsurpassed quality. At least, that's what they tell us in the evaluations.

A Visa analysis of innovation and creativity among the nation’s top 50 metro areas has Seattle ranked first in combined scoring, followed by Austin, Nashville, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. Visa’s Innovation Index measures entrepreneurialism, community support and creativity on a per capita basis throughout the major Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Laurie Lachance recently was named the next president of the Maine Development Foundation, Maine's economic development policy organization. Lachance is a former economist for the Maine State Planning Office.

Advanced research grants and equity financing are just two items slated for funding in Maine Gov. John Baldacci's $120 million revenue bond package, unveiled last week. The tech-based economic development (TBED) items would receive a combined $7 million in funding. The largest portion of the governor's package, $65 million, is dedicated to land conservation and parks. Other elements address housing, health and environmental issues.

Ken Olsen will become the new executive director of the Palouse Economic Development Council in Washington State.

Measuring the strength of a state or region’s economy, particularly the elements related to tech-based economic development, is a tricky but vital tool for developing and updating TBED policies. Several challenges present themselves when deciding what information to present on the elements of the innovation system and assessing the region’s health and performance relative to appropriate surrogates.

 

Maine Governor John Baldacci has nominated one of his senior policy advisors, Jack Cashman, to become Commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. Cashman formerly served as a Democratic state representative from Old Town.

Spokane Economic Development Council president Mark Turner has announced his resignation.

The Washington Technology Center (WTC) has created a new program that will make obtaining access to early-stage seed capital easier for companies outside the Puget Sound. WTC is Washington's statewide science and technology organization.

On Tuesday, voters in Maine approved Governor John Baldacci's request to issue $60 million in bonds to finance several research infrastructure, economic development and housing related projects. Packaged and marketed as the Jobs Bond, the measure won easily with 60 percent of the vote in this special election. The tech-based economic development portion of the bond will be allocated as follows:

Around the country, the current funding climate is forcing some technology groups to explore new relationships with each other, including consolidation. In other cases, it just makes good sense. For example, two of Maine's environmental and energy technology organizations are joining forces with the goal of advancing job growth, R&D and new product commercialization within their overlapping industries.

Governor John Baldacci used his February 5 budget address to outline a proposal to float a $70 million economic development bond, the majority of which would be dedicated to research and development projects. Citing the successful results of several R&D bond packages approved by voters over the past five years – with last summer's $35 million bond being the most recent – Gov.

The State of Maine's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Committee is seeking a Statewide EPSCoR Director to provide leadership and vision for the State's EPSCoR Committee, called the Research Capacity Committee (RCC), and the state's research enterprise. Working directly with the RCC, the Director participates in the development and implementation of the state's EPSCoR strategy. The Director also reports to the Chair of the RCC.

Certified economic development professionals have an extra reason to attend Building Tech-based Economies: From Policy to Practice, the nation's premier educational and networking experience for the TBED community. The 2003 SSTI Annual Conference will be recognized by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) as a professional development event that counts toward the recertification of Certified Economic Developers (CEcD).

State and local governments are starting to develop entrepreneurship programs, but the past decade's progress could be threatened by the looming fiscal crisis facing the states, according to a new study released by the National Commission on Entrepreneurship (NCOE) and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC).

Maine Governor John Baldacci got nearly everything he wanted in a bond proposal to encourage technology-based economic development (TBED). The Maine legislature shaved $10 million from the Governor's original request before passing the bond on to Maine voters for consideration at a special referendum June 10. The bond proposal includes:

Washington Governor Gary Locke signed legislation last week that will give a tax break for research and development (R&D) firms. HB 1462 – passing unanimously, 96-0, in the State House and by a majority, 41-4, in the State Senate – prohibits Washington's local governments from taxing the intellectual property of these companies.

The past week has marked the beginning of two public initiatives in Washington State to increase the availability of financing for technology firms.

Dr. Leonard Peters is the new director of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Washington State still ranks first nationally in the creation of new companies, according to the third annual Index of Innovation and Technology released by the Washington Technology Center (WTC), a state-funded organization that fosters technology employment growth. The Index also shows the number of patents earned by Washington inventors increased by 11 percent from 2000 to 2001.

The Washington Technology Center (WTC), the state's science and technology organization that stimulates growth in the state, is seeking someone to become Federal Program Development Manager. WTC helps Washington companies develop commercially viable technology through statewide programs and services.

Patrick Jones, executive director of the Biotechnology Association of the Spokane Region, has been named executive director of Eastern Washington University's new Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis.

Meriby Sweet has been appointed technology business counselor by the Maine Technology Institute and the Maine Small Business Development Centers.