A recently published InfoChart from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) presents an annotated walk through federal R&D obligations from FY 1951 through 2024, explaining key events influencing key moments in the surges and downswings along the nation’s path to supporting discovery, research, development and innovation. The data is presented in constant 2017 dollars. 

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) could see its first reauthorization since 2004, depending on how the post-election congressional work period progresses. Leaders of the Senate committee that oversees the annual defense bill have agreed to include a proposal to reauthorize EDA’s public works and economic adjustment programs in their negotiations with the House as part of the national defense authorization bill.

October 30, 3:00 p.m. EDT | Free

In today's competitive landscape, technology-based economic development (TBED) organizations need to effectively communicate their achievements and impact to secure crucial funding and support. This webinar will delve into how TBED organizations can strategically use impact reports as a powerful tool to capture the attention of media, funders, and other key stakeholders.

A recent Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City working paper explores the relationship between inter-state mobility, earnings gains, and initial wealth of young college graduates over time, highlighting the impact of debt. The paper Should I Stay or Should I Go? Inter-state Mobility and Earnings Gains of Young College Graduates by Andrew Glover and José Mustre-del-Río proposes a model to explain the decline in mobility.

Eleven states and two territories, including Puerto Rico, are holding gubernatorial elections this November, with voters in eight of those states (Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Washington, and West Virginia) choosing a new governor to replace either a term-limited incumbent or governors who chose not to seek re-election. In Montana, Utah, and Vermont governors are seeking re-election.

Connect. Discover. Refresh with your peers in Arizona this December. Our newly released agenda will guide you to immersing yourself at SSTI's 2024 Annual Conference. We will explore nearly the full scope of tech-based economic development in session formats that facilitate conversation, new ideas, and new collaboration opportunities.

State support for higher education in the United States over the last four decades can best be characterized as having fluctuations and shifts in priorities. Using fiscal year (FY) 1980 as a starting point, while overall state support for higher education has grown, it has done so with volatility driven in part by decreased revenue as a result of recessions, and it has frequently taken years for state support to recover to pre-recession levels. In four states, state support on a constant 1983-dollar basis is still less than was spent in 1980.

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper, Immigrant Entrepreneurship: New Estimates and a Research Agenda provides fresh insights into the growth and characteristics of immigrant-founded firms across the United States. The study also outlines directions for future research in this field.

Key findings from the authors’ statistical analysis include:

Why are people registering for SSTI's 2024 conference at a record pace?

It might be the timing of SSTI's conference—one month after a tumultuous election season. It could be our focus of the four plenary sessions being what regional innovation and tech-based economic development needs to look like in the future when you consider other great unknowns like what impact artificial intelligence will have on local economies. 

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) recently announced $3,889,964 in funding for the Appalachian Investors Alliance (AIA),  a seed fund network that includes several SSTI members.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) Stage Two winners. Each received between $50,000 and $150,000 in prize awards to advance their work supporting small businesses and startups in STEM and research and development (R&D) across priority areas like national and economic security, domestic manufacturing and production, and sustainability and biotechnology.

SSTI recently hosted an informational session with EDA representatives about the 2024 Build to Scale program. The $50 million program is accepting applications until October 28. The recording and slides are now available here for those who missed it or want to review.

On Aug. 1, Massachusetts lawmakers ended their 19-month formal session.

The positive impacts of addressing any single priority for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission could be of only marginal benefit without simultaneous efforts along other key priorities, warns the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). DOT Report to Congress: Decarbonizing U.S.

Note: This brief quasi-book review/book synopsis is the first item in an experimental new section of SSTI’s newsletter, potentially joining other regular sections such as Useful Stats, Fed/Leg News, State News, Member Updates, and Recent Research. Its periodic continuation after the contributions we present over the summer will depend on feedback from our members and Digest readers. Comments may be shared with skinner @ ssti.org

This year’s legislative sessions saw a handful of governors and lawmakers proposing noteworthy reforms or other changes to their states’ institutions of higher education—from system overhauls to the expansion of tuition-free community college programs—all in efforts to align their state’s education investments with current and future workforce needs, as well as address future costs under tightening budgets.

Restructuring higher education systems

Following its announcement of implementation awards to 12 Tech Hubs regions, the U.S. Economic Development Administration made Consortium Accelerator Awards of $500,000 to each of the additional 19 Tech Hubs designated regions.

In a recent State of the Science address, National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt called attention to what she sees as an alarming trend: the federal contribution to basic research is stagnating while industry funding is rising. The federal share of U.S. spending on basic research, she said, was down from about 60% in 2011 to 40% in 2021.

The Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program, a program authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act, targets areas where the share of prime-age (25-54 years) employment is significantly lower than the national average.

As business R&D expenditures continue to increase nationwide, disparities between states deepen, an SSTI analysis of new Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) survey data reveals.

As a part of the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI)’s Technical Assistance (TA) Program, the Treasury Department has announced 14 Small Business Opportunity Program (SBOP) awards to 12 states and two Tribal governments, each ranging from $1.6 to $10 million, totaling $75 million. SSBCI’s TA program is divided into two major programs: the TA Grant program and SBOP.

Innovation spreads, but how far can it reach? A new study finds that firms operating in multiple tech clusters act as conduits, transmitting knowledge and boosting productivity across distant locations. However, certain types of firms are better at it—and benefit more readily—than others. This insight, from a recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper, “Innovation Spillovers across U.S.

Even though women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, their involvement in critical occupations going forward does not reflect that. For instance, in 2021, they only constituted 35% of environmental engineers, 17% of civil engineers, and 9% of mechanical engineers, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau analyzed by the Society of Women Engineers.

Despite recent attacks on affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion, the TBED community continues to work toward broadening participation in innovation driven growth.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has made multiple announcements about the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) in recent weeks, including new program approvals, providing an update on uses of funds through the first two years of the program, and highlighting venture capital success stories, and releasing a database of participating lenders. In addition to covering these updates below, SSTI is collecting Treasury’s resources in revised SSBCI tracking pages.