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.

New Mexico Firms Would Receive $30M in Venture Funding

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.

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.

Former New Mexico Gov. Garrey Carruthers (1987-1990) has been named vice provost for economic development at New Mexico State University.

The Association of University Research Parks has recognized Sandia National Laboratories for the 2003 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award. Over the past five years, Sandia has participated in 183 new cooperative research and development agreements with industry partners to jointly develop technology that is incorporated into commercial products.

Randy Burge has announced his resignation as director of the New Mexico Department of Economic Development's Office of Science and Technology. Mike Orshan will serve as acting director beginning Sept. 29.

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.

Deborah Fleischaker has been appointed deputy secretary for the New Mexico Department of Economic Development.

Kathy Collins has been appointed as the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network (WEN) regional director in Madison. Previously, Collins worked as the technology and financial development manager in the Commerce Division of Business Development.

Ron Cox has been appointed as the assistant dean for economic development in the engineering college at Iowa State University. He retains his current position as director of CIRAS, the Center for Industrial Research and Service.

Gov. Gary Herbert unveiled last month an $11.3 billion spending plan for FY11 that maintains level funding for higher education and slightly reduces funding for the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR). The governor's FY11 budget plan addresses a $693 million shortfall, which is spread across FY10-11 and anticipates $34 million in state revenue growth during the next year.  Read more ...

The third installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs’ series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Delaware, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin. The first and second installments are available in the Jan 13 Digest and Jan. 20 Digest, respectively.

The following overview is a synopsis of select recent announcements from research parks across the nation, including groundbreakings and development plans to support vibrant regional economies based on science, technology and innovation. 

The Piedmont Triad Research Park laid off Bill Dean, director of the park, and Nancy Johnson, marketing director. Park officials said that the park's project manager and executive assistant also were laid off.

In support of Gov. Bill Richardson's proposal to develop a workforce trained for 21st century jobs, the New Mexico State Legislature passed two bills this session allocating funds and creating training programs for green jobs. Lawmakers also supported a technology transfer initiative and several measures aimed at growing the state's solar industry.

In the midst of a national economic recession contributing to a record number of job losses in traditional industries, forward thinking states are exploring ideas and committing funds to help grow and diversify their economies and strengthen their renewable energy portfolios.

The role of a technology incubator or accelerator for supporting nascent firms generally is regarded with the utmost importance by the tech-based economic development community. Tech incubators provide essential resources for startup companies to develop and commercialize new technologies, leading to the creation of high-quality jobs.

The fifth installment of the Tech Talkin' Govs series includes highlights from state of the state, budget and inaugural addresses from governors in Alabama, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Utah.

Utah's 2009 legislative session ended earlier this month with a significant boost in funding to the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) for recruiting science and technology researchers at the University of Utah and Utah State University.

The University of Utah (U of U) announced last month two significant investments in TBED supported by USTAR, the state-funded initiative to grow Utah's knowledge economy.

Hamid Ghandehari and Marc Porter, two prominent scientists in the field of nanotechnology, recently were hired by the University of Utah as part of the state's new Utah Science Technology and Research initiative. Ghandehari comes from the University of Maryland, while Porter comes from Arizona State University.