Private Funding Gives Washington Life Sciences Discovery Fund Early Boost
With the first round of state funding not expected until April 2008, private foundations have stepped in to provide a jumpstart for the Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF). Last week, six Washington-based research teams were awarded more than $4.5 million in private funding to support projects that improve health care quality and capitalize on economic development opportunities within the state.
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.
People
Michael Relyea was named deputy executive director of the New York State Office of Science and Technology Academic Research.
People
Kim Zentz, CEO of the Spokane Transit Authority, announced she will take a one-year position as interim executive director of the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute.
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.
People
The Center for Economic Growth has selected F. Michael Tucker as its new president and CEO. Tucker replaces Kelly Lovell, who left the position in December to become president and CEO of International Business Development Group.
New York Announces Rural Cluster Development Initiative
Implementing successful technology-based development initiatives in rural areas is an ongoing challenge for many parts of the country. Earlier this month, New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer signed legislation establishing a new program to stimulate employment and income growth by promoting cluster-based strategies in rural regions of the state. Sponsored by Sen. George H.
People & TBED Organizations
Jerome Mahone is the new director of Venture Creations, a business incubator at Rochester Institute of Technology.
ASME Seeks Project Manager
ASME is seeking a Project Manager responsible for the research, planning, launch and growth of strategic initiatives in the areas of industry relations/corporate services and young engineers. The individual will play a key role in the project management of strategic initiatives to help meet the priority objectives of the ASME Board of Governors.
People
South Carolina Research Authority president Larry Druffel has announced he will retire next year.
New York CATs to Keep State Competitive after Decennial Re-compete
One of the recurring issues in many states for financing centers as part of their tech-based economic development portfolio is whether or not the organizations resulting from the multi-year, multimillion grants should become financially self sufficient at the end of the grant term.
People
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.
People
Patrick Tam resigned last month as executive director of the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute.
Seattle Tops Visa’s List of Most Innovative Cities
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.
People
The Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network recently selected Lisa Blakely, a former Bank of America executive, as its CEO.
People
Merideth Andreucci has succeeded Michael Wilton as president of the USA Niagara Development Corp. Wilton was nominated by Governor George Pataki to serve as President of the New York State Higher Education Services Corp.
People
Gary Schneider is the new chairman of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce (S.C.).
Blatant SSTI Conference Plug
Blatant SSTI Conference Plug
People
Jeff Morris has been named Director of the Northwest Energy Technology Collaborative.
Sneak Peek at SSTI's Annual Conference: Capitalizing on the Academic Research Enterprise
Balancing the role of universities and colleges in economic development can be tricky, as Dr. Bok points out in his new book (see article above), but its important role in building stronger tech-based economies cannot be overstated. SSTI’s 7th annual conference, to be held in Seattle on October 21-22, presents the best opportunity of the year for developing a great understanding of the most effective ways for local and state economies to benefit from the academic research enterprise.
Pre-conference Workshops Focus on Burning Issues
Two of the most critical issues in today's tech-based economic development (TBED) involve money — funding for companies and funding for TBED programs.
Spokane Authors Strategic Plan for Innovation Economy
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.
Sneak Peak into SSTI's Annual Conference: Tips, Tricks and Techniques to Support Technology Entrepreneurship
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.
SSTI Annual Conference Agenda Set
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.