In a webinar last week, staff from BioSTL and SSTI shared their organizations’ use of Salesforce for grant management and reporting. It facilitated a lively discussion among the more than 100 attendees about technical and practical challenges and solutions for the platform. The presentation and recording are now available here.

Graduate student enrollment and postdoctoral appointments have shifted in fields of study over the past decades, with many fields exploding in graduate enrollment and postdoctoral appointments. Computer and information sciences graduate students jumped from just 4% of all science enrollments in 1975 to nearly a quarter of the total by 2021, while engineering postdocs in biological, biomedical, and biosystems engineering jumped 5,671%– increasing from 3% in 1975 to 19% of all engineering postdocs by 2021.

Last week, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer presented her Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget recommendations to a joint session of the House and

Editor’s note: SSTI is committed to helping its members create economies that are equitable and inclusive. The following article is part of a series highlighting how different organizations ensure all people within their communities can benefit from today’s economy and lessons learned in their work.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, governors from Connecticut, Maryland, and Wyoming discussed their state’s past economic and educational achievements and laid out their vision for this year as the states return to revenue and funding normalcy after years of federal pandemic aid ends. Connecticut’s governor announced that UConn and Yale are collaborating on quantum computing research, and he called for the funding of a biotech hub in New Haven.

The White House announced on February 9 that the administration expects to invest over $5 billion in semiconductor-related research, development, and workforce needs. The $5 billion will flow through the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), a public-private entity created to handle the funds. Friday’s announcement established the NSTC as a public-private consortium of the Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, and Energy, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and Natcast.

The number of graduate students in science, engineering, and health has grown from approximately 328,000 to 760,000 from 1975 to 2021, a 132% increase, according to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS).

This month, 65 Fellows will begin their two-and-a-half-year field placements with host organizations nationwide as part of the Economic Recovery Corps (ERC) funded by the Economic Development Administration. Fellows will spearhead projects that, according to according to an International Economic Development Council (IEDC) press release, "advance new ways of doing economic development to build more resilient, inclusive, and equitable economies." The 65 selected projects are located across 44 states and territories.

The National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship voted today to accept proposed recommendations for a national competitiveness strategy. One recommendation is establishing a National Innovation Council to coordinate entrepreneurship-related federal government activities nationwide.

Editor’s note: SSTI is committed to helping its members create economies that are equitable and inclusive. The following article is part of a series highlighting how different organizations ensure all people within their communities can benefit from today’s economy and lessons learned in their work.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, the common themes from Oklahoma and Tennessee were focused on economic and educational opportunities through tax cuts and education reforms.

Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED) released what they are describing as the Commonwealth’s first comprehensive Statewide Economic Development Strategy in nearly 20 Years.

Federally funded basic research conducted at American universities grew steadily from about $10 billion in 1991 to just under $50 billion in 2020 (in constant 2022 dollars). And since the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, universities have played an increasing role in the patenting and commercialization of their discoveries. Patents to US universities increased from 440 in 1981 to 8706 in 2020. U.S. universities licensed or optioned more than 10,000 patented inventions to the private sector in 2020.

The recent pandemic and the government's response may have catapulted community colleges toward deeper participation in economic development. “Community colleges have been interested and involved in economic development for decades,” said Thomas Brock, director of the Community College Research Center at Columbia University. "That's part of their core mission. But what is different now is that there's a lot more federal money on the table through the CHIPS Act and the (Bipartisan) Infrastructure (Law).

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), created by the Maryland General Assembly in 1998 to facilitate the transfer and commercialization of technology from research universities and federal labs and to help create and grow technology-based businesses, has created nearly $2.7 billion in statewide economic activity as of 2023.

Total postsecondary enrollment is down 5% from fall 2019 to fall 2023 due to a 6% drop in undergraduate students. While undergraduates are down, graduate students have surpassed pre-pandemic enrollment numbers by 4%. Enrollments in undergraduate and graduate certificates are up significantly from pre-pandemic values (16% and 21%), while enrollment in associate degrees are down more than any other undergraduate credential (-14%).

The National Science Board released the biennial Science and Engineering Indicators report on Wednesday. This report compiles data about the composition of the U.S. research enterprise and its trajectory relative to that of other nations. It covers data collected through 2021.

By a bipartisan vote on Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works approved legislation that would reauthorize the Economic Development Administration for the first time since 2004.

The real gross domestic product (GDP) of private industries has steadily increased nationwide from 2018-2022, with an average percentage increase of 2% each year, or 9% total, despite a drop from 2019-2020 due to the pandemic. However, the same cannot be said across all private industries; of the 14 broad industries captured by U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data,[1] eight have grown while six decreased over the five-year period from 2018-2022.

The White House published its FY 2025 budget this week. As Congress will ultimately produce its preferred budget, the president’s release like those of previous Administrations serves as more of a messaging document outlining a vision and priorities. For tech-based economic development (TBED), the message is that Congress has provided ample tools but needs to continue to fund them.

From the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the Department of the Treasury, the White House budget, and Congress, various stakeholders across the federal government have proposed multiple regulations in the past several weeks that would affect the venture capital industry in general and, in some cases, venture development organizations. We offer a brief roundup of these issues.

House passes bill to facilitate private investment

Editor’s note (April 4, 2024): This article has been updated to reflect relevant programs included in the second of two FY 2024 omnibus appropriations bills.

The Office of Advanced Manufacturing at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, intends to announce an open competition for a new Manufacturing USA institute.

Many federal funding programs have the potential to support technology-based economic development (TBED) initiatives, even when technology and innovation aren’t their explicit focus. This is the case with the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). SSTI recently sat down with Christy Johnson, ARC program analyst, to learn how three of ARC’s funding opportunities can support TBED activities in the Appalachian region.

Earlier this week, the White House announced a series of actions being undertaken by federal agencies to focus on women’s health.  Both NIH and ARPA-H announced new funding opportunities centered around women’s health, while the White House and other agencies took action without indicating any funding associated with that funding