Legislators passed the fiscal year 2008-09 budget last week, increasing spending by 4.9 percent over last year and investing in New York’s Upstate economy despite projected shortfalls for several years to come.
 

The General Assembly approved the fiscal year 2009 budget last week, providing $21 million for the Life Sciences Research Trust Fund. Established in 2003, the fund was created to support life science research, commercialization, and technology transfer using a portion of the state’s tobacco settlement funds. The FY09 appropriation will be administered by the Life Sciences Research Board, which is responsible for awarding grants and contracts for research.
 

Dr. Michel Bitritto was named director of the new business incubator being run by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.

Dr. Peter Reczek was appointed executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology.

Don Siegel, president of the Technology Transfer Society, will be dean of the School of Business at the University of Albany, SUNY, beginning in fall 2008.

Earlier this month, the governors of Oregon and New York both outlined changes to the structure of their states’ lead economic development organizations.
 
Before Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed Executive Order 08-11 to reorganize the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD), it consisted of three components:

Offering customized workspace such as wet laboratories and specialized research equipment is one of the many benefits provided by technology-focused incubators. Access to university research, business mentoring and administrative support services often accompany the reduced rent facilities with the goal of growing technology companies into successful, self-sustaining enterprises. Following are select announcements of recently launched incubators and partnerships from across the nation. 
 

Although the U.S. broadband infrastructure has expanded rapidly over the past decade, 45 percent of rural areas still lack access to high-speed Internet services. A recent issue brief from the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices provides a number of strategies that have proven effective in expanding broadband access, particularly in underserved rural areas.
 

The Aerospace, Manufacturing and Information Technology (AMIT) Cluster of Southern Arizona has consolidated its operations with the Arizona Technology Council.

New York City officials recently announced the launch of a $2 million seed fund to boost entrepreneurship and the local venture capital market. NYC Seed will provide up to $200,000 for seed-stage New York-based businesses and will offer mentoring and other support for client companies.

Pat Snider, the first CEO for BioGenerator in St. Louis, announced her departure from the two-year-old organization by the end of the year.

A community essentially has two options for strategies to diversify its economic base: traditional economic development or technology-based economic development (TBED). The traditional approach of recruiting or inducing companies to relocate to their community from elsewhere creates an atmosphere of competition, rivalry and one-upmanship among cities and regions as they bid to buy firms' location decisions. Often, it is also difficult for small and mid-sized communities to compete on these terms.

The third installment of the Tech Talkin' Govs series includes highlights from state of the state, budget and inaugural addresses from governors in Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico.

With the number of startups on the rise, several states and cities are reaching out to entrepreneurs to connect them with the assistance and capital they need to survive.

Indiana

Recent announcements of new and emerging technology incubators range from Google's selection of Cape Town, South Africa to launch a pilot incubator supporting technology entrepreneurs that it hopes to replicate globally to Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley's plan to create a statewide business incubator focusing on workforce training. Select announcements from across the globe are highlighted below.

A budget agreement reached last week between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders adopts the economic development reforms set forth by the governor to establish a regional strategy for job creation. The approved budget allocates about $200 million in existing capital funds and tax credits to support 10 regional economic development councils and merges the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR), the state's tech-based economic development initiative, into the Department of Economic Development.

Proposals that promise job creation and economic growth have taken center stage in several state legislatures. Lawmakers who recognize the importance of R&D, tech commercialization, access to risk capital, and investment in higher education are fighting for passage of TBED-focused bills in the final months of their states' 2011 legislative sessions.