A change in policy at the Mayo Clinic has “single-handedly sprouted a startup ecosystem in Rochester, as med-tech startups, accelerators, co-working spaces and a venture capital ecosystem have flourished in the area over the last half decade” according to new research by Maddy Kennedy of the The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

Declining enrollments, higher costs and limited state funding continue to challenge higher education institutions, and possible mergers continue to surface as an option to meeting those challenges. In Pennsylvania, a new study sponsored by the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee identifies options to help ensure the sustainability of the State System of Higher Education, and mergers factor into those considerations.

Earlier this month, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) published its 2017 estimates on state-level real gross domestic product (GDP). Per-capita gross product is a useful metric because it can show a state’s relative performance against its peers and over time. SSTI has prepared a spreadsheet showing 10 years of real per capita gross product by state, as well as an interactive map showing changes over the 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year periods. As more data becomes available, a future Digest issue will cover this topic at the metropolitan level. 

Both the House and Senate are beginning the appropriations process for FY 2019 this month, and early indicators suggest that EDA’s Regional Innovation Strategies program could see an increase over its $21 million for FY 2018.

While the increasing gaps between the coasts and the heartland continues to capture the media’s attention, a collection of recent research suggests that inequality within regions may be the greatest factor hampering economic growth. Five recent articles tell a nuanced story of how economic and racial inequities may impede regional economic development efforts. The research presented here from a variety of outlets examines the role of inequality in the overall economy of regions.

One of this year’s most important books on economic development tells a story that those involved in the field need to know and might not necessarily want to hear. In Coping with Adversity: Regional Economic Resilience and Public Policy, authors Harold Wolman, Howard Wial, Travis St. Clair, and Ned Hill seek to understand why some metropolitan areas are resilient in the face of economic hardship, while others are not. This commentary will summarize the authors’ findings and provide insight into what their findings might mean for the broader economic development community.

One of our partner organizations, the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), recently opened their registration for their annual conference, NACCE 2018 The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Revolution. The conference features keynotes from engaging entrepreneurs that have innovated in areas ranging from 1980’s rock and roll memorabilia to one of the co-developers of Amazon’s Alexa. Panels and breakout sessions featuring NACCE members from across the U.S.

The majority (75 percent) of all high school students were enrolled in a STEM course during the 2015-16 school year, according to the newest Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). For the first time, the CRDC includes new categories of data on STEM course taking, showing that some higher level math and science courses are offered at fewer high schools.

In 2017, 122 companies filed Regulation A+ (Reg A+) offerings and raised over $236.5 million collectively, building upon the early promise shown when the rules went into effect two years ago. Reg A+ is a less complicated and shorter process for a company going public than the traditional initial public offering (IPO) process.

Money the federal government invests in the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program is generating a substantial economic and financial return and powering an additional 219,000 jobs, according to a new study by the W.E. Upjohn Institute. The study of FY 2017 data showed a 14.5:1 financial return for the $128 million invested by the federal government.

After more than a decade of supporting regional economic development efforts, philanthropic communities in Southeastern Michigan and Northeastern Ohio are changing course to focus on economic inclusion and broader prosperity efforts. In the wake of the Great Recession, the Cleveland region’s Fund for Our Economic Future (The Fund) and Metro Detroit’s New Economy Initiative (NEI) became notable examples of philanthropic partnerships that emphasize economic diversification through innovation, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. Both initiatives recently unveiled plans for their next phases.

While nearly all (98 percent) of U.S. public school districts offered career and technical education (CTE) programs in the 2016-17 school year, such programs differed between rural and city districts and faced barriers to participation from both the districts and students. Rural districts are much less likely to have work-based learning activities as a part of their CTE programming, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics.

As hearings for the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) begin this week, a report by the “Section 809 Panel” is likely to influence the bill’s acquisition provisions. The panel, authorized by the FY 2016 NDAA, has emphasized efforts the Department of Defense can implement to work better with innovative small businesses, including simplified contracting and strengthening SBIR.

The new four-year strategic plan for NASA provides a foundation to return to the moon “for long-term exploration and use” as well as creating a base for “eventual crewed missions to Mars and potentially beyond.”

In 2017, 25.7 percent of all angel capital group deals went to a founding team with at least one female founder, up from 17.0 percent in 2016, according to the Angel Resource Institute’s (ARI) HALO Report: 2017. The report also found a sizeable increase in the number of deals made for companies that included at least one minority female founder – 5.5 percent in 2017 (1.0 percent in 2016).

Last year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) considered multiple strategies to address the implicit bias toward researchers with ‘proven track records’ during its existing grant making process.

The growth and intensity of higher education R&D (HERD) expenditures varies considerably across metropolitan areas, a recent SSTI analysis of National Science Foundation data finds. New York ($4.3 billion), Boston ($3.2 billion), and Baltimore ($2.9 billion) had the highest overall levels of HERD expenditures in 2016. In that same year, Ithaca, New York (19.1 percent), State College, Pennsylvania (9.5 percent), and College Station, Texas (9.4 percent) had the highest levels of HERD intensity – measured as the share of HERD expenditures to gross metropolitan product.

Mentoring programs may be celebrated across the nation as January marks National Mentoring Month, a movement started in 2002 to raise awareness of mentoring in all its forms. But more could be done to make programs more effective in both university and non-university settings, according to a recent working paper from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Last week, the Department of Defense (DoD) released a public announcement on the launch of a new pilot program that supports university-industry basic research collaborations focused on the discovery of novel solutions to challenging defense and national security problems. SSTI members, however, were alerted to the release of the Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) for the pilot program in a December edition of the SSTI Funding Supplement.

The American Institute of Physics reports that National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Walter Copan expressed interest in reviewing the Bayh-Dole and Stevenson-Wydler acts for possible revisions. Both pieces of legislation were passed in 1980 to facilitate the transfer of discoveries from the public to the private sector. Copan did not indicate specific changes but mentioned conflicts between federal and state law as a problem.

States are beginning their next round of budget proposals, following last year’s cautious approach to budgeting. SSTI begins its review of the proposals this week, presenting findings on how states are funding elements of the innovation economy with a review of Alaska, Colorado, Florida and Wyoming state budgets.

SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs feature returns as governors across the country roll out their state of the state addresses. We review each speech for comments relevant to the innovation economy, and bring you their words directly from their addresses. In this first installment, we present excerpts from governors in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, New York and Vermont.

Can banks meet Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) obligations by helping address high-speed broadband gaps and the digital divide? Participants in a recent Federal Reserve webinar said yes and provided tips on how.

CRA is intended to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and the webinar explained how financing broadband initiatives would qualify as an economic development tool that meets the CRA service tests. Our communities would benefit on a number of fronts.

SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs feature returns as governors across the country roll out their state of the state addresses. We review each speech for comments relevant to the innovation economy, and bring you their words directly from their addresses. In this second installment, we present excerpts from governors in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Washington.

Financial incentives for company recruitment and retention still dominate state and local economic development expenditures, but recent research estimates that extension programs and customized job training can accomplish development goals in a more cost-effective manner. Despite this, customized services get, on average, five cents of public investment for every dollar that traditional financial incentive strategies receive.