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Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans to direct $200 million in existing funds to establish 10 regional economic development councils to allocate funds and provide business assistance programs across the state. At the same time, the governor would consolidate programs supporting high-tech companies currently administered by the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) with the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) — a move he says will eliminate duplicative functions and save the state $1.9 million in the coming year.

The 11th Annual Tech Talkin' Govs series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' State of the State, Budget and Inaugural Addresses across the nation. The first edition includes excerpts from speeches delivered in the following states:

The Obama administration announced the $40 million "Make it in America" Challenge to accelerate the growing trend of reshoring, attract more foreign direct investments (FDI) and create well-paying domestic jobs. The multiagency competition will award up to 15 grants to regions from across the country to develop and implement regional economic development strategies that encourage reshoring, foster increased FDI, incentivize companies to expand U.S. operations and establish industry-focused training programs. U.S.

Two important and timely topics for regional innovation strategies will be the topics explored through a series of hour-long webinars SSTI will be offering in April: 1) improving the partnership between regional innovation programs and the nation's foundation community; and 2) the role the private/nonprofit accelerator model plays in tech-based economic development. Participation in these and selected other SSTI webinars to be announced in the coming weeks will be free thanks to generous funding from the U.S.

Americans need to rethink their view of manufacturing and the role it plays in regional economies across the country, according to a new report issued by a special Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) commission on innovation. The MIT commission found that many U.S. policymakers and citizens still view manufacturing as a small group of traditional, shrinking industries.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) intends to launch a $10 Million Strong Cities, Strong Communities National Resource Network (SC2 Network) — a pilot program to align federal resources and coordinate technical assistance programs to help distressed U.S. communities make more effective local investments. The focus of the SC2 Network will be to strengthen the foundation for economic growth and resiliency in these communities including local technical capacity, comprehensive planning and regional collaboration.

Fostering regional innovation is imperative to strengthening our national economy and crafting public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a key strategy for catalyzing regional economic growth. While states should continue to lead regional innovation efforts, the federal government can play a critical supporting role. The Brookings Institution proposes the establishment of a PPP unit within the White House to coordinate Federal assistance.

The 10 regional councils established earlier this year to stimulate economic development and improve the business climate statewide are tasked with five primary responsibilities, and can compete for funding from a pool of $1 billion to support projects they determine to be a part of their regional strategy. Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently unveiled a blueprint for how the councils will operate with information regarding resource allocation, structure and leadership, and performance measurement.

The Conference Board of Canada earlier this week named David Wolfe, professor of political science and co-director of the Program on Globalization and Regional Innovation Systems (PROGRIS) at the University of Toronto Mississauga's Centre for International Studies, as its fifth Scholar in Residence. Begun in 2005, the board’s prestigious scholar-in-residence program so far has focused on broader national issues such as regulatory reform and an emerging new federalism. Dr.