In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, the common themes from Alaska, Michigan, and Maine were issues of oppor

NSF has announced 10 projects as the first cohort of Regional Innovation Engines. The 10 project teams span 18 states. Each of the 10 teams will receive $15 million for the first two years of the awards and could receive $160 million over the full ten years dependent on availability of funding and successful performance.

The 10 inaugural NSF Engines are:

The NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) is accepting EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposals that will advance the state of the art in assessing place-based innovation's societal and economic impacts. This funding opportunity aims to address gaps in publicly available data and associated knowledge to adequately and appropriately benchmark activities in place-based innovation grounded in integrating research and development, translation, and workforce development.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, the common themes from Hawaii, Massachusetts and North Dakota were addressing the cost of housing. Hawaii and Massachusetts governors discussed addressing climate change, and North Dakota’s governor called for the creation of a new office focused on rural communities. The following highlights have been excerpted from State of the States or budget addresses given between January 17, 2023 and January 23, 2024. Additional addresses and states will be covered in future Digest issues.

SSTI’s 2024 Annual Conference dates & location set: Dec 10-12 in Arizona!

Coming off one of its most successful events ever, SSTI is happy to announce the nation’s largest annual gathering of leading practitioners and policymakers working toward regional innovation and growth through technology-based economic development will be held at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in the Gila River Indian Community in metro Phoenix on December 9-12, 2024.

The United States' 42 federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) received a record $26 billion in federal government funding in fiscal year 2022 — a nearly 6% increase compared to the previous year. FFRDCs expended $26.5 billion on R&D in FY 2022, marking the ninth consecutive year of nominal growth. On average, FFRDCs have increased R&D expenditures by 1.3% per annum since 2012.

A group of technology-related organizations, including SSTI, is asking Congress to support the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program with additional, substantial appropriations in FY 2024.

SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation has launched an Investment Capital Advisory Committee (ICAC) to serve as an independent source of advice and recommendations to SBA on institutional investment market trends, innovation, and policy impacting small businesses’ ability to access patient investment capital.

The Internal Revenue Service recently published new interim guidance for companies to use when amortizing research or experimental expenditures — a new requirement for tax year 2022 created in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

SSTI’s 2023 Annual Conference was Sept. 6-8 in Atlanta, and nearly 400 practitioners and policymakers working on tech-based economic development attended to discuss their latest activities, challenges, and successes in strengthening their regional innovation economies. Conference highlights include U.S. Economic Development Administration director Alejandra Y.

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) has released a new pilot map with data on over 3,300 awards nationwide managed by TIP starting from fiscal year 2023.

The Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) and National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines (Engines) programs require regions to advance a critical technology area that already has traction in their region.

NSF has released data on nearly 300 letters of intent (LOIs) submitted to the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program by lead organization applicants. The data is meant to enable applicant teams to connect and potentially collaborate before the preliminary proposal deadline on Aug.

The five-year-old NSF Convergence Accelerator, which has funded nationwide research projects to address major societal challenges, is adding 10 “anchors” to focus on regional challenges. The regional anchor organizations will engage in the same solution development for underserved, underrepresented organizations and communities as the current national program. However, as part of the regional expansion, NSF aims to reach more local communities to help solve challenges that are especially meaningful to a particular region.

A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a new artificial intelligence-focused Manufacturing USA institute is now available on Grants.gov. The U.S.

In 1862, during the Civil War, Congress passed the Land-Grant Agricultural and Mechanical College Act of 1862 (a.k.a. the Morrill Act of 1862). This legislation extended educational opportunities for many White working-class Americans. But it did little to extend education to Black people. The Morrill Act of 1890 passed 28 years later created new land grant institutions to address the issue of Black peoples’ access to higher education. But racial inequities between the two land-grant systems have persisted into the present day.

A report from ITIF warns that China is catching up with the U.S. in private R&D funding. If this trend continues, China could surpass the U.S.

With a GDP of over $23 trillion in 2021, the United States has the world's largest economy, according to the latest available data from the World Bank. Yet, the U.S. falls behind such countries as Israel and Korea when it comes to how much is spent on research and development (R&D) in proportion to GDP. For example, Israel and Korea spend 5.56% and 4.93% of their GDP on R&D compared to the U.S.’ 3.46%.

SSTI has released a new data tool that defines investment activity, one indicator of the vibrancy of a region’s innovation economy, in each of 18 technology areas.

The National Science Foundation announced 16 finalists for the first-ever NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) competition, spanning a range of key technology areas and societal and economic challenges highlighted in the "CHIPS and Science Act." The NSF Engines will link up with local and regional partners to expand innovation nationwide and create collaborative and inclusive technology-driven innovation ecosystems.

The lead organizations for the 16 teams are:

Arizona State University

Current Innovation, NFP (IL)

FUZEHUB, Inc. (NY)

Led by increases in retail trade and professional, scientific, and technical services, the number of annual business applications nationwide has increased 119%, or nearly three million, from 2005 to 2023. However, the share of applications classified as high-propensity, or those more likely to result in businesses with a payroll, has decreased in all but the health care and social assistance sector, leading to a 26-percent point drop (58% to 32%) over the same period.

In a recent ruling, a U.S. Federal Court of Appeals panel upheld the preliminary injunction against the Fearless Fund, preventing the organization from resuming operations of its Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards winners with a cash prize and access to mentorship and business support services. Following on the heels of the U.S.

Three pieces of federal legislation enacted in 2021 and 2022—the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act), and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—collectively authorize nearly $1.5 trillion to reshape America’s industrial landscape. But will this money help the 107 Black-owned and 151 Hispanic-owned companies in the manufacturing supply chains that the legislation is designed to support? 

The U.S.