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.

Dr. Russell Bessette has been appointed to the Federal Homeland Security Science and Technology Committee. Dr. Bessette currently is the executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Nearly every region engaged in building a tech-based economy wants more access to seed and venture capital money. It's particularly useful when your largest employer announces it will lay off up to 23 percent of its workforce – as many as 5,000 people in your community and 15,000 across the globe – during the next three years.

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.

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.

Joe James, director of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, has resigned his position with the S.C. Department of Commerce.

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.

Roger Biagi was named to the newly created position of director of government relations at the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research.

Thomas Persons Sr., president and CEO of the South Carolina Technology Alliance, was appointed to the newly created South Carolina Venture Capital Authority.

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.

Washington State remains poised to capture more benefits from its technology-driven economy, according to the Index of Innovation and Technology released last month by the Washington Technology Center (WTC). As the state's lead organization to support science and technology, WTC publishes the Index to provide the state's decision makers with annual benchmarks for setting policy and  public investments to promote technology-based economic development.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke appointed Juli Wilkerson to serve as director of the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, replacing Martha Choe, who is now serving as state coordinator for the Boeing 7E7 project.

Although their courses of action may differ, competing proposals sponsored by the New York State Senate and Assembly would seem to have the same goal — create jobs, support small businesses, and transform the state's manufacturing sector.

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.

Andrea Lohneiss, community development director for Riverhead, N.Y., is leaving to become Suffolk County's commissioner of economic development.

The Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network recently selected Lisa Blakely, a former Bank of America executive, as its CEO.

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.

South Carolina Research Authority president Larry Druffel has announced he will retire next year.

Patrick Tam resigned last month as executive director of the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute.

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.

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.

 

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.