Ah, the difference positive revenue figures make for some states' tech-based economic development (TBED) portfolios! In mid-December, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner introduced an amended 2004-2006 biennial budget that is the most favorable yet during the Warner term for programs to promote economic growth through strategic investments in science and technology.

E. Dana Dickens announced he will step down from the Suffolk City Council (Va.) to become president of the Hampton Roads Partnership, a group promoting economic development in the region.

The line was drawn in the sand a year ago. Some felt Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), the Commonwealth's lead organization for science and technology, had been set up for failure in a partisan fight for limited public revenues. Like the rest of Virginia's economic development portfolio, CIT took a big hit in the budget cycle as Virginia dealt with a multibillion-dollar deficit in fiscal year 2003.

In an economy driven increasingly by computer literacy and connectivity, leading the nation in the percentage of households not connected to the Internet is a distinction many in the South are working to eliminate. One South, Digitally Divided, the second annual TelecomSouth conference of the Southern Technology Council (STC), and its accompanying report Creating the CyberSouth are efforts in that direction.

The National Science Foundation’s Division of Educational System Reform is funding cooperative agreements with 13 urban school districts: Birmingham, Chattanooga, Chicago, Fresno, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, Newport News, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia to improve K-12 mathematics and technology education. The awards are aimed at districts that already have improvement programs in place.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recommended awards for 24 projects in communities around the country to help translate knowledge gained from basic research into new products, businesses and services, as well as to provide workforce education and training opportunities focused on innovation. Totaling more than $14 million, each averaging about $600,000 over two or three years, the first-ever Partnerships For Innovation (PFI) awards cover projects in 20 states and Puerto Rico.

This week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the establishment of four new Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) and two new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs).

The first $90 million has been awarded through NSF’s new program Information Technology Research (ITR) initiative. The goal of the program is to build US leadership in information technology (IT) through support of fundamental research and innovative applications of IT. The ITR program is designed to strengthen the nation’s IT knowledge base as well as the IT workforce.

One of the more interesting uses of funds from the national tobacco settlement with the states, Virginia officials announced a $12 million economic development and broadband technology infrastructure initiative to serve more than 25 towns, cities and counties of rural Virginia.

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.

The National Science Board recently named Mary Good to be the recipient of the 2004 Vannevar Bush Award for "her life-long contributions to science, engineering and technology, and for leadership throughout her multi-faceted career."

Best practices and a how to guide written by real practitioners of angel financing are just two of the new resources available through the Angel Capital Association (ACA). The following papers for understanding and growing a local seed capital activity within a region are available through the association's website:

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.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced last month a partnership with the Loudoun County, Va., school district to donate $1 million per year to establish a biotech magnet program for area high school students.

Southern states may have a justifiable reason to be proud of their progress in technology and innovation, but their leaders should be concerned with the lack of investment in venture capital and industrial research and development (R&D), suggests a report released last month by Southern Growth Policies Board and the Southern Technology Council (STC).

Eugene Huang will replace Virginia Secretary of Technology George Newstrom, who is resigning after two years in the position.

The need for programs to encourage science, math and technology education (SMET) among most minority groups becomes evident when one consider the nation’s need for a high skilled workforce, the growing portion of the total population divided among minority groups, and the low percentage most minorities represent of science and engineering professionals.

The vast majority of the nation's four million science and engineering (S&E) occupations are held by individuals with a bachelor's degree education or higher; however, a surprising 22 percent - 1.036 million - are not, according to a National Science Foundation (NSF) InfoBrief released last week.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has updated its online center of state science and engineering (S&E) profiles to include data from 2001-2003. The site provides convenient access to a PDF or downloadable Microsoft Excel Worksheet of 31 indicators for each state. A spreadsheet with summary statistics for the entire U.S. also is available.

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.

Jan Griffen has accepted the position of Director of Contracts for the National Institute of Aerospace. Griffen was formerly the director of federal programs for the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology.