Convincing politicians to make a multi-year investment in a state's economic future is challenging, particularly when commitments made in one budget cycle or administration can be forgotten or ignored so easily in the next legislative session. The FY 2003-04 funding struggle for Michigan's $50 million-per-year-for-20-years life science initiative provides ample evidence: $50 million dropped to $45 million and eroded to $32.5 million because of budget problems.

NorTech – an organization whose mission is to ensure economic growth and leadership in Northeast Ohio by promoting entrepreneurially based globally competitive technology development and commercialization – seeks to hire an Associate Director who will be responsible for all activities associated with one or more initiatives and ongoing high level support for the initiatives.

William Seelbach has been named Interim President of the Ohio Aerospace Institute.

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell recently unveiled an economic stimulus program that will invest nearly $2 billion in bonds and loan guarantees. The stimulus program is intended to leverage at least $5 billion in private investment in economic development projects, creating jobs in Pennsylvania's small and mid-size cities and towns.

Key provisions of Plan for a New Pennsylvania include:

Dallas

To give environmental technology entrepreneurs the chance to have their business plans analyzed by experts and win money for it, the National Environmental Technology (NET) Incubator in Wilberforce, Ohio, is hosting the first annual National Business Plan Competition.

With more than 110 great titles to aid the policy, practice and study of tech-based economic development, the SSTI Publication Catalog, Resources for Building Tech-based Economies officially is online.

While visions of sugarplums will be dancing in the heads of most Americans, SSTI's staff will be boxing up its files and moving to new offices on Dec. 20-21.

Due to the move and because SSTI will be closed during the week of December 24-28, the next issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest and the funding supplement will be published January 4, 2002.

State and local strategies to assist start-up business formation often focus on three elements to help nascent firms: securing much-needed funding or capital (either private or public), lowering the overall cost of doing business, or gaining the skill set or access to intellectual resources to succeed.

The Pittsburgh Technology Council's State of the Industry Report shows the region's technology sector, while continuing its growth, has become a significant driver of southwestern Pennsylvania's overall economy. 

Congratulations to Steve Zylstra, his staff and the 1,500-plus members of the Pittsburgh Technology Council as they celebrate the organization's 20th anniversary.

The University of Toledo and its partners are seeking a director for the Toledo Science and Technology Corridor. The Corridor is an initiative to enhance the region's innovation-based economy through investments that promote linkages and collaboration among academic institutions, business industries and government entities.

Chris Capelli, currently director of the technology transfer office at University of Pittsburgh, is leaving to become vice president for technology transfer at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The University of Cincinnati has appointed Anne Chasser to serve as associate vice president for technology transfer and commercialization in the school's Office of Research.

Richard Lunak is the new CEO of Innovation Works and Ron Bianchini has been named chairman of the organization.

Is Pennsylvania getting enough bang -- or the right bang -- from its investments in promoting a tech-based economy? The state has been one of the nation's leading public investors in technology-based economic development (TBED) for more than 20 years. Programs have evolved and been added over the years as factors affecting innovation and private sector growth changed. The result is now Pennsylvania's researchers and entrepreneurs have a complex portfolio of public-private resources available to them.

Editor's Note: Last week's issue of the Digest included a Recent Research item, Are Leading Firms Team Players? that drew an animated reaction from a reader whose opinion SSTI holds in great respect because of his contributions to improving the understanding and delivery of technology-based economic development initiatives. As a result, Dr.

So far this year, SSTI's Funding Supplement has made its subscribers aware of more than 1,400 different opportunities to secure funding. If you aren't a subscriber, your client companies, academic researchers, and state and local TBED efforts are at a significant disadvantage!

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

The field of tech-based economic development has changed dramatically since the creation of SSTI in 1996 and continues to change almost daily. With these changes in mind, SSTI is releasing a new mission statement that better defines the organization's current direction.



SSTI's new mission is to lead, support, and strengthen efforts to improve state and regional economies through science, technology, and innovation.

Steve Gage announced he will retire as president of MAGNET, the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, effective July 13. Fatima Weathers will serve as acting president for the manufacturing advocate in Northeast Ohio, beginning July 16.