The long-time executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, Jay Brandinger, recently announced his decision to resign as Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. Consequently, the Commission is seeking an Executive Director.

More than $800 million for science, engineering, research, and commercialization activities

Earlier this month Governor Jeanne Shaheen released New Hampshire in the New Economy: A Vision for Expanded Prosperity, the first-ever comprehensive economic development plan for the State of New Hampshire. The plan calls for New Hampshire state government to focus its activities toward encouraging innovation, strengthening education and workforce development, retaining and protecting the quality of life, and extending economic opportunity to every citizen in every part of the state.

Governor Christie Whitman has announced New Jersey Jobs for a New Economy, a multi-million dollar package of technology-related initiatives to make New Jersey more competitive in the creation of high technology jobs. 

Among the plan's proposals are the following technology-related investments: 

Rice University invites applications for a Baker Institute Fellow (postdoctoral researcher) to lead a new and potentially long-term project sponsored by the Baker Institute of Public Policy, the Computer and Information Technology Institute, and the Fondren Library.

The University of Texas at El Paso hired Tony Woo as the assistant vice provost for research and technology transfer.

On October 1, Texas will begin offering a tax credit for business research and development expenditures. The new law, Texas Senate Bill 441, provides Texas corporations with a franchise tax credit equal to five percent of eligible R&D expenses for up to 50 percent of a company’s total franchise tax liability. Unused portions may be carried forward for up to 20 years.

Texas' Science and Technology Council recently released a science and technology strategic plan. The Council's vision is to make Texas the nation's leader in science and technology in the 21st century. The plan's premise is that technology is the economic force driving much of the state's current wealth and job creation. The report develops a series of recommendations with the intent of developing the research capacity and human resources Texas will need to ensure economic prosperity in the next century.

With the sustained depth of the recession, the IT crash, the rapid growth in unemployment and the speculative office construction craze of the late 1990s, one would expect office vacancies to climb and property lease rates to edge down in many cities. Following this thought further might suggest, with cheaper office space available, the need for publicly supported low-rent technology incubator space would decrease.

The Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance is losing its executive director as Clare Emerson has announced she is relocating to oversee AEA's Texas office.

As many states are striving to increase their academic research capacity in areas that will strengthen long-term economic competitiveness, the governor of the Lone Star State is pursuing an alternate course that closely resembles traditional business recruitment and retention models.

For Texas, the appropriate role for the state to serve in fostering economic development continues to evolve. With the passage of Senate Bill 275 earlier this month, the third organization in seven years will take the lead to encourage economic growth — this time with a strong focus on clusters and technology-based economic development.

The Fourth of July might just be a paid holiday for New Jersey's tech-based economic development agency after all. Since Governor James McGreevey released his FY 2004 budget request six months ago, the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology has been living under a June 30 death sentence. Facing a deficit forecast in excess of $4 billion, the governor had called for the elimination of the $15 million program.

The Arlington Technology Incubator (Texas) has selected Geoffrey Grant to serve as the new director beginning July 1.

The New Hampshire High Technology Council has announced Paul Houle is the new president and chief executive officer and Mary Collins will serve as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Carolyn Stark is the new director of the Austin Technology Council, filling the position vacated by Paul Toprac.

George Bald is returning to serve as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development. Bald served in the position from 1998-2004.

NJCST Out, Cancer Research In

During the past two years, efforts have been launched in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to boost its capacity for building a technology-based economy. The efforts have been directed toward increasing public-private cooperation, especially across organizations and jurisdictions that traditionally have thought of themselves as competitors, and conducting a critical review of the area's strengths and weaknesses.

Sean O'Kane, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, is resigning from the position at the end of his two-year term in March to return to the private sector.

Two separate news stories covering different New Jersey's technology-based economic development initiatives may give one of the first peeks at Governor James McGreevey's plans for science & technology in the Garden State.