Articles

Here's an overview of of what the KY Cabinet for Economic Development has been up to through its Department of Commercialization and Innovation.

[T]he state has funded $114 million worth of technology projects, programs and infrastructure since 2001, when her office was formed...About $16 million in development assistance has been awarded to 32 companies. That number is "fairly low because up until 2005, the effort was really focusing on building incubators," such as Louisville's MetaCyte Business Lab, and "supporting academic programs that ultimately would spin out companies," [Deborah Clayton, commissioner of the state's Department of Commercialization and Innovation] said. "In 2005 we made a shift to focus more on companies."

Read more.

Business Week carries an article on the appointment of Sandy Baruah to be head of the Small Business Administration.

President Bush on June 25 tapped a career bureaucrat in charge of economic development for the Commerce Dept. to lead the Small Business Administration. But it could be months before the nominee, Sandy Baruah, goes before the Senate for confirmation—the last SBA head was approved two months after his nomination. And if he's confirmed, Baruah won't have much time before a new Administration enters the White House next year.

Read more.

Here's an article form the Washignton Post on the appointment.

Here's a note from the State Science and Technology Institute:

Senators Collins and Clinton Introduce Bill to Create National Innovation Council

The creation of a single organization to consolidate federal innovation investments, called for by the Brookings Institution and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) moved a small step closer to reality with the introduction of authorizing legislation in the U.S. Senate. 
 
S. 3078, the National Innovation and Job Creation Act of 2008, was introduced on June 3, 2008, by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and cosponsored by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). The bill calls for the creation of a National Innovation Council within the Executive Office of the President and several new grant programs to support state-directed technology-based economic development initiatives. 
 
One of the missions of the National Innovation Foundation proposed by ITIF and Brookings was to consolidate federal programs involved with innovation into a single organizing office. As drafted, S. 3078 would move the following programs to the proposed council:

• From the National Institute of Standards and Technology,

• The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)Program;
• The Technology Innovation Program;
• The Office of Technology Partnerships.

From the National Science Foundation

• Partnerships for Innovation;
• Industry-University Cooperative Research Center Program;
• Engineering Research Center Program.

From the Department of Labor:

• Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development.

The Council would be tasked with creating and collecting data for improved measures of innovation and productivity, working in concert with the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and several other federal statistical agencies.
 
Five new grant programs would be administered by the Council if S. 3078 passed in its current form. While specific authorization levels are not mentioned for most of the programs, the size of the awards mandated for each state suggests a considerable pool of new federal investment would be required after nearly a decade of reduced or level funding for most federal tech-based economic development spending.
 
CLUSTERS Program
S. 3078 authorizes a $350 million CLUSTERS program, which stands for the Competitive Leadership for the United States Through its Economic Regions Program. The CLUSTERS program would make matching grants to states or entities designated by a state or group of states to support the planning and operation of cluster programs and cluster initiatives. 
 
Feasibility grants for planning could be as large as $250,000. Each state would receive at least one $1 million in start-up funds to initiate a cluster program and at least one annual operating grant of $1 million per year for five years. In addition, CLUSTERS would include a competitive matching grant program to provide awards up to $15 million to support specific cluster initiatives. 
 
State Innovation-Based Economic Development Grants
Structured somewhat similarly to CLUSTERS but without an authorization level, the new council would provide each state with at least one one-time $250,000 feasibility study grant and a one-year $2 million start-up grant. States also would be eligible to receive at least one annual operating grant that could be renewed indefinitely.
 
Federal grant funds, which could only represent one-third of a project’s cost, could be used to establish technology commercialization centers, industry-university research centers, regional cluster development programs, regional skills alliances, entrepreneurial support programs, science parks, and related activities to spur innovation or productivity.
 
States also would be required to prepare strategic plans to describe, among other things, how grant funds “would be used to support the creation of alliances for the dissemination of innovation among local governments, businesses, educational institutions and other institutions.”
 
Technology Diffusion Grants
The MEP centers in each state would receive feasibility, start up and annual grants – again on the same $250,000 and $2 million levels as the state innovation grants – to support manufacturing extension services. 
 
National Sector Research Grants
The council would award competitive matching grants of unspecified amounts to support industry-led consortia involving at least five companies that commit to developing three- to 10-year technology roadmaps for the consortia. The Department of Energy had a similar program in concept during the Clinton Administration entitled Industries of the Future.
 
Productivity Enhancement Research Grants
The council would be authorized to provide grants to academic institutions and university-industry joint ventures to support early-stage research into methods to increase productivity and innovation. No specific grant amounts are identified in the bill. 
 
S. 3078 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for its consideration.

The governor of Kansas has put together the Kansas Innovation Consortium, a group of high level business executives designed to promote key clusters in the state. From the state press release. 

Executive Order 08-02 brings together key industry clusters within the Kansas economy. These industries, animal, plant, and life sciences, health, manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, and energy, show exciting possibilities for future economic growth. The Kansas Innovation Consortium will work to attract new investments in research and development within these industries as well as ensure a prepared workforce.

You can read more here . 

The Tennessee Techonology Development Corp. launched its new technology strategy last week. You can read more about it here.

I was only able to locate  press release. The key elements of the strategy include creating:

• A research board to strengthen the science base
• An entrepreneurship network
• A capital formation board
• A stakeholders relations board

You can download the press release here.  The folks at TTDC might want to focus some effort on upgrading their web  presence and learning something about search engine optimization. I had a tough time tracking these folks down.

Every once in a while I come across a commentator who really understands the dynamics of economic development. This writer is chief executive at the Economic Development Association of New Zealand:

Economic development is much more than just the various projects and programmes that play out at various levels around the country. Fundamentally, it is about the conversations with businesses about their needs and how that information then filters back up to shape policy.

Take the example of skill shortages. If the tertiary education system (university-level education) is to solve future skill needs, it will require focused talks with businesses about what those skill needs are going to be in, say, five years. If those talks do not happen, education and training become decoupled from business need. No one wins.

More broadly, we need to build connectivity within the innovation system. This involves creating meaningful, continuing links between business, research and educational institutions, which must be based on high trust levels, and all parties need to see the value in the process.

Read more.

There is a new book from the Upjohn Institute that organizes some of the most important policy prescriptions to boost both employment and incomes. A Future of Good Jobs? America is Challenge in the Global Economy provides a compilation of chapters written by a number of university and public policy experts. Read more. 

Rhiode Island is reorganizing its state economic development organizations. The Rhode Island Pollicy Council, will become an advisory group to the Rhode Island Economic Development Council. Read more. 

Rhode Island is an interesting state to watch. Like Delaware, the state is turing its size to an advantage. They are coming up with some interesting an innovative strategies. Both Saul Kaplan and Kip Bergstrom are leading thinkers (and doers) in the field. 

Coming back from a meeting of the national Governors Association, Governor Phil Bredesen announced that Tennessee will start working on its own energy plan. 

A common theme of conversations among the governors over the weekend was the need for large-scale alternative fuel production, Bredesen said.

Read more. 

The Washington Post has been conducting a year long investigation into programs administered by the Department of Agriculture. 

This morning, they published an article that explores the business development financing programs of the Department. 

Actual losses are almost surely higher, according to a Post analysis of thousands of USDA loans and grants. USDA officials refuse to disclose losses on loans to individual companies, even after they go out of business, arguing that it "could substantially harm" the companies' competitive positions.