SSTI is pleased to welcome Reese Neader to our team as a research associate. Reese is the former policy director for the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network and is a political science graduate from Denison University.

Renée Winsky has been appointed the executive director of the Chesapeake Innovation Center.

Mark Kvamme has resigned from JobsOhio effective Nov. 1. He is succeeded as president and CIO by John Minor, formerly the managing director at JobsOhio.

Performance-based funding for higher education has emerged as a top policy recommendation for addressing concerns ranging from accountability and affordability to helping keep states economically competitive. In states that already have performance-based funding in place, such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, efforts to revise and expand the programs are underway.

Leslie Guice officially was approved by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors to become the 14th president of Louisiana Tech University. Guice will take office July 1, 2013.

Camille Saltman has joined MD Revolution as president. Saltman was previously president of CONNECT and continues to be a member of CONNECT's board of directors.

A new online flexible degree program backed by Gov. Scott Walker and the University of Wisconsin (UW) System aims to significantly raise the number of college graduates by allowing adults with some college experience to work at their own pace, earn credit for what they already know, and pay reduced rates through partnerships with employers. In order to appeal to the nearly 700,000 Wisconsin adults with some postsecondary education credit, the UW Flexible Degree provides a more personalized, self-paced college experience and a shortened time to degree completion.

Betsy Biemann, who has served as president of the Maine Technology Institute since 2005 has resigned. Joe Migliaccio, manager of MTI's Business Innovation Program, is serving as interim president.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has been named the next president of Purdue University. Daniels will become the 12th president in Purdue's 143-year history in January at the end of his second term as governor.

Governors in the Southern states were presented with findings from a new report on the growing gap in middle-skill jobs and urged to adopt a three-part policy framework for reversing the trend during the Southern Governors' Association annual meeting last week in Asheville, NC. The report found that middle-skill jobs account for 51 percent of the region's jobs today, but only about 43 percent of the region's workers are currently trained at this level.

The Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC) announced Innovation in Milwaukee (MiKE) — a new $500,000 initiative designed to align southeastern Wisconsin's global and advanced manufacturers with the region's design, technology and innovation companies. MiKE will be built around three core elements:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is the latest governor to call a special session focused on economic development proposals he says will create jobs (see the Sept. 7, 2011 issue of the Digest). Gov. Walker issued the executive order last week, calling it a "Back to Work Wisconsin" special session.

In Technology Transfer in Southeast Wisconsin, a new report from the Public Policy Forum, researchers call for a "full-fledged collaborative infrastructure" that is adept at transferring technologies developed at the region's research institutions to entrepreneurs that will use them to create businesses and jobs in the region.

The national recession that began at the end of 2007 is "very likely over," according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Recovery, however, may be a long way off. Because states were affected differently by the economic downturn in both timing and impact, recovery for state and local economies is likely to occur at different times. Moody's Economy.com predicts, according to an MSNBC article, that job growth will return first in five states: Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

Each year, Southern Growth Policies Board honors Southern initiatives that are improving economic opportunities and quality of life in the region. The 2010 Innovator Awards will be chosen from creative initiatives in the region that aim to help communities recover from the recession. Innovator Awards are presented annually to one organization in each of Southern Growth's 13 member states, and winners are recognized at Southern Growth's Annual Conference. The deadline for nominations is Nov 6.

James Weyhenmeyer has been named the vice president for Research and Economic Development at Georgia State University.

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), on of the largest public pension funds in the country, plans to invest $80 million in a new "Catalyst Portfolio", intended to create profitable returns from venture investments and to attract the attention of coastal venture firms. SWIB intends to use to funds to invest in one or more venture funds, likely through a firm on the East or West coast. That investment would allow the board to act as a matchmaker between large investors in other states and Wisconsin's investor community.

Facing massive government deficits and stagnant regional economies, many states are exploring new options for their economic development activities. Three states recently have taken steps towards eliminating their primary economic development agencies, and replacing them with public-private partnerships, intended to reduce state spending and improve the responsiveness of state efforts.

Southerners voiced that focusing on innovation and technology-based business operations, supporting entrepreneurship, identifying community asset, developing skilled workforce and increasing community involvement in economic development strategies are vital for the South to recover from the current economic downtown according to a recent report — The Road to Recovery is Named Main Street — from the Southern Growth Policies Board. The report was assembled using comments of over 2,300 citizens from communities across the south.

Established to focus solely on job creation and replace the state's Department of Commerce, Wisconsin's new public-private partnership would receive nearly $200 million over the next two years for operating expenses and to administer economic development programs. Lawmakers also will consider measures to improve existing tax programs focused on enhancing angel investments and eliminating capital gains taxes during the upcoming legislative session. Gov.

Two recent reports from Wisconsin economic development organizations suggest different paths for the state's economic initiatives. A white paper from the Wisconsin Technology Council (WTC) lays out a plan to increase access to capital for Wisconsin entrepreneurs, create new workforce development strategies, improve the state's infrastructure and business climate, and implement technology development and transfer strategies. Another report calls for greater coordination and streamlining of Wisconsin's existing programs through the creation of two new entities with a statewide reach.

Want to participate in a new concept in innovation clusters? The Southern Advanced Materials in Transportation Alliance (SAMTA) is a regional innovation cluster that promotes the research, commercialization, and production of new and specialized materials important to the automotive and aerospace industries. Although traditional clusters are based on geographic concentration, SAMTA will use telecommunications networks to minimize geographic distance and facilitate the industry network. The Economic Development Administration has provided seed funding for this project.

Neal Wade will resign his position as director of the Alabama Development Office in November and has been named senior vice president of economic development for St. Joe, one of Florida's largest real estate development companies.

Both candidates for Wisconsin governor want to reorganize and refocus the state's agency for job creation. Tom Barrett (D) has proposed moving the Department of Commerce's economic development staff into a new Office of Job Creation headed by a director who would report directly to the governor. Scott Walker (R) would hire an experienced economic development professional to head up a newly consolidated agency that replaces the department.

Steve Biggers, deputy director, Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology has retired after 31 years of service to the state. He has served at OCAST for the last 19 years.

Included below are recent development plans and groundbreaking news for research parks announced by officials in Connecticut, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.