South Carolina Governor Proposes $2M for Broadband
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford announced that his budget for fiscal year 2007-08 will include a request for $2 million to bring high-speed Internet access to rural parts of the state. This allocation from the state’s Capital Reserve Fund would be used to create a Rural Broadband fund to increase broadband penetration in underserved communities and is designed to boost economic development by providing Internet access to students, businesses and entrepreneurs.
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Gov. John Huntsman, Jr. named Jack Brittain, dean of the University of Utah Business School, vice president in charge of the new Office of Technology Ventures. Brittain, dubbed the "innovation czar," will continue to lead the business school in addition to his new position.
SC, UT Chambers Want Bigger TBED Efforts
Business community advocacy for public investments in technology-based economic development (TBED) may make the difference between legislators appropriating programs $1 million or $100 million.
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David Harmer, executive director of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), announced his retirement. Chris Roybal, senior advisor to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. for economic development, will take on many of Harmer's responsibilities.
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It is an unfortunate and annoying consequence of politics that sometimes, with the change of gubernatorial administrations even within parties, excellent people with enviable records of delivering results for tech-based economic development programs lose their positions. SSTI has learned that Rod Linton and Michael Keene were among 33 "at-will" economic development staff at the Utah DCED fired en masse last Thursday. Gov. Huntsman, who began his term of office on Jan.
Correction for the Jan. 23 Issue
In last week's Tech Talkin' Govs II article, we inadvertently listed Mark Warner as the Governor of South Carolina. Gov. Warner leads the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mark Sanford is Governor of South Carolina. SSTI regrets the error.
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Joe James, director of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, has resigned his position with the S.C. Department of Commerce.
People
SSTI congratulates Tom Persons, president and CEO of the South Carolina Technology Alliance, for receiving the Individual Achievement Award from the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
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Thomas Persons Sr., president and CEO of the South Carolina Technology Alliance, was appointed to the newly created South Carolina Venture Capital Authority.
SC Council Formed to Reshape the State's Economy
A new economic development council formed in South Carolina has been charged with two objectives: help reshape the state’s economy and raise its per-capita income. Members of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, a group of business, academia, government and economic development leaders, were announced earlier this month.
South Carolina Commits $500M for TBED Package
The South Carolina Technology Alliance calls it the most significant victory for South Carolina's research universities and tech entrepreneurs in the last 50 years. An idle exaggeration? Probably not.
Utah Universities Could Own Stock in Inventions under Constitutional Amendment
Legislators in Utah have passed a constitutional amendment that, with approval by voters, would allow the state's universities to take ownership in private businesses in exchange for intellectual property. The proposed amendment cleared the Utah State Legislature with relative ease, despite some concerns it will thwart the incentive of researchers wanting to commercialize their results.
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Utah State University named J. Michael Brooks as director of its Innovation Campus. He will also serve as associate vice president for research and economic development, beginning Sept. 20.
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South Carolina Research Authority president Larry Druffel has announced he will retire next year.
People
Jeff Edwards recently was named interim president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Utah (EDCU). Edwards replaces Christopher Roybal, who will serve as the senior adviser for economic development for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., starting next year.
South Carolina Releases S&T Strategic Plan
The South Carolina Technology Advisory Council (SCTAC) has released a technology strategy for the state. Creating South Carolina's Future Through Technology: Strategies for Developing a Knowledge-Based Economy grew from a 1995 strategic plan for economic development, Approaching 2000: An Economic Development Vision for South Carolina.
South Carolina S&T Plan Unveiled
The South Carolina Technology Alliance has released South Carolina Technology Initiative 2000, a science and technology strategic plan outlining six specific recommendations for strengthening the state’s position in a knowledge-based economy.
Utah Sees Impact from Centers of Excellence
Spawning 132 new companies over thirteen years is just one of the impressive statistics cited in the latest annual report for the Utah Centers of Excellence Program (COEP). The 1998-1999 report highlights the program’s accomplishments and economic impact since its inception in 1986. Each year, COEP staff document the program’s contributions to the Utah economy through statistical data and anecdotal success stories.
State Legislative Round Up
With the start of the new year, a number of state legislatures are reconvening. Quite a few states have significant research, science, and technology issues on their legislative calendar, including the following:
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Thad LeVar was appointed deputy director of the Utah Department of Commerce. LeVar replaces Jason Perry, who was named director of the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED). Richard Bradford, the former director of GOED, retired from state government after 13 years of service.
Tech Talkin’ Govs 2020: Innovation, education and budgets weigh on governors in latest round of addresses
Education, infrastructure and budgets are all on the minds of the governors in this latest review of state of the state addresses. With more than half the governors having completed their outlooks by the end of January, this week we review the speeches through the end of month and find repeated attention to education, energy and budgeting issues, with a statewide lottery being introduced in Alaska, new energy legislation in Illinois, and South Carolina also proposed a funding increase for state universities that do not raise in-state tuition rates.
States dealt blow with pandemic
In general, the effect of the pandemic on states’ budgets due to the wave of business, retail, and commerce shutdowns, as well as other reduced economic activity across the nation, is not entirely known, or too early to forecast; however, a number of states are beginning to experience the initial impacts of a substantial downturn. With several states having already enacted their 2020-21 budgets, special sessions are expected later this year to deal with declining revenues. Others ended sessions early without a new fiscal year spending plan in place.
Tech Talkin’ Govs 2020: DE, HI, ME, MA, NE, NM, SD, WI trying to build economies
The economy, workforce and climate change continue to surface in governors' state of the state addresses. While today’s strong economy allows most governors to reflect on how the states have grown, preparing for the next downturn continues to be a point of concern.
Manufacturing wage growth supporting Appalachian economy
Earnings for Appalachian manufacturing workers grew 3.4 percent from 2012 through 2017 to an average of $63,583. The growth is in the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Industrial Make-up of the Appalachian Region, 2002-2017, which reviews employment and wages by sector across the region. Appalachian workers overall saw earnings increase by 3.7 percent over the five years.
States’ fiscal picture improves with growing economy
The ability of states to deliver the services promised to its residents relies on their fiscal soundness. With most states beginning their fiscal year in July, SSTI has reviewed the current fiscal standing for each state and here presents a snapshot of our findings.
The ability of states to deliver the services promised to its residents relies on their fiscal soundness. With most states beginning their fiscal year in July, SSTI has reviewed the current fiscal standing for each state and here presents a snapshot of our findings.
Most states ended their fiscal year with a surplus and continue to recover from the Great Recession, with a growing economy and job gains. However, they face continuing demands on their budgets, with expanded Medicaid payments and the growing opioid crisis confronting nearly every state. Such decisions affect the state’s ability to fund innovation efforts, from the amount of support available for higher education and STEM programs, to funding for entrepreneurship, and forging public private partnerships to strengthen innovation programming that the private sector cannot fully support.
Our analysis found that some states that rely on the energy sector to fund their spending priorities continue to struggle, while others are already factoring in anticipated revenues as a result of new Supreme Court rulings involving gaming and online sales tax collections.