A new article at Stateline.org describes the interesting divergence between states on the subject of stem cell research. Six states outlaw embryonic stem research. Michigan (1998), Louisiana (2000), Indiana (2003), Arkansas (2003), North Dakota (2003) and South Dakota (2003) have laws that prohibit human cloning for research or therapy. Seven states-California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin-provide seed money for the research, and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick in May called on lawmakers in his state to follow suit.
View the article link here

Small technology firms that receive corporate venture capital financing are more likely to be exporters, according to a study issued by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The study found that the chances of a corporate-venture-capital-backed, young technology firm deriving more than 10 percent of its revenue from exports are almost 60 times greater than for firms not receiving the funding. It also found that corporate venture capital tends to flow to technology firms that are slightly older, somewhat larger, and more established than firms not receiving such capital. Go to link to obtain a copy of the report, Corporate Venture Capital and the International Intensity of Portfolio Firm.
Access the report here

An increasing number of states have required that some science coursework for high school graduates be in lab sciences. The Education Commission of the States examines the research that supports implementing lab science requirements for high school graduation, the costs associated with fitting schools with science labs and the alternatives to traditional labs and their respective benefits and disadvantages.
For more information, visit the link

In remarks delivered to the White House Conference of the Americas, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez said, "Growth strengthens the delivery of true social justice, which we believe is about giving everyone an equal opportunity to succeed." Building a case for greater private sector involvement, Gutierrez lauded Citibank and Coca-Cola for their efforts in the western hemisphere. Citibank, in partnership with Simon Bolivar University in Venezuela, is training leaders in project management, micro-business financing and responsible management. Coca-Cola is working with UNICEF on education projects in Bolivia and Peru, and its Science Laboratory Program is active in 50 schools in 30 cities in Chile. Gutierrez also spoke about the exemplary performance of entrepreneurs in Uruguay and Mexico. "Access to education, opportunity and employment will help lift citizens out of poverty and put them on the path toward self sufficiency," said Gutierrez.
For more information, visit the link

"People don't usually associate globalization and real estate together," says Ashok Bardhan of the University of California-Berkeley, "but globalization of the real estate industry is now a fact of economic life." The university's Haas School of Business has released a new report that finds that the real estate industry has been dramatically affected by globalization, particularly by offshoring. Cynthia Kroll, another researcher involved in the project, says, "Office markets in some developing countries are now just as expensive as New York, or even more expensive. Real estate markets are no longer independent." In fact, the report shows that Mumbai and New Delhi have moved onto the world's list of most expensive office markets, and that no U.S. market is in the top ten. Offshoring has also increased demand in mineral resources and building materials, with, for example, China's annual consumption of steel tripling between 2000 and 2005. Underscoring the global nature of the market, the report also shows that foreigners hold about $1.2 trillion, or 18 percent, of the real estate related debt issued by agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
For more information, visit the link

Artworks by 62 artists from 26 Latin American countries are on display at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock courtesy of the Inter-American Development Bank's art collection. A multi-lateral initiative, the Bank was established in 1959 to help support development in the region. According the Bank's website, sharing the collection with Arkansas' citizens and Latin American immigrants in the state "...goes hand in hand with the Bank's Opportunities for the Majority initiative to empower workers, proprietors, consumers and business people and help them transform their energy and creativity into engines of development and progress." Sixty-five of the Bank's 1700-piece collection are on display including Diego Rivera's "Self-Portrait" and Carlos Merida's "Figure."
For more information, visit the link

The Walt Disney Company and Youth Service America have announced the availability of Disney "Minnie" grants of up to $500 to support youth-led service projects. These grants support youth (ages 5-14) in planning and implementing service projects in their community. Teachers, older youth (15-25), youth-leaders, and youth-serving organizations are also eligible to apply, provided that they that engage younger youth (5-14) in planning and implementing the service. Service projects can take place between October 1 and November 26, 2007. Projects can address themes such as the environment, disaster relief, public health and awareness, community education, hunger, literacy, or any issue that youth identify, as a community need. Applications are due by August 30, 2007.
For more information, visit the link

Looking for best practices in areas such as rural development, health and volunteerism? The website of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has not only written profiles, but also videos, featuring over 100 different programs. The South is well-represented by efforts such as the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta, the Rural Elderly Enhancement program in Alabama's Black Belt region and the Pointe Coupee Community Enrichment Fund in rural Louisiana.
For more information, visit the link

Civic Participation and Smarter Growth: Improving How Communities and Places Grow and Change, first published in 2000, has been newly updated by the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. The paper points to the benefits of civic engagement in areas such as land use, transportation planning and regionalism. It also offers tools for civic engagement and ideas for building broad-based coalitions, such as Metropolitan Congregations United, a coalition of 80 churches from across the St. Louis region that addresses issues such as transportation, taxes, and racial and economic disparities.
Read the paper here

A new National Academies report suggests that computers will replace 60 percent of today's jobs by 2030. Researchers use recent advances in computer science and the skills outlined in occupational profiles to estimate the levels of human language, reasoning, vision and movement abilities that computers will be able to replicate in the future. Using these predictions, computers could displace two-thirds of the workers in education, food preparation, cleaning, personal care and service, sales and office and administrative support industries. Contrastingly, less than one-third of the science, engineering, law, healthcare, protective service and installation and repair jobs would be lost.
Access the report here

Without policies to help immigrants gain access to and succeed in higher education, "the nation may find itself with a workforce that does not have sufficient education to enable the United States to remain economically competitive." According to a new Institute for Higher Education Policy report, foreign-born students make up 12 percent of America's undergraduate population, and vary considerably in access to and success in higher education. The report, Opening the Door to the American Dream: Increasing Higher Education Access and Success for Immigrants, outlines the college completion rates of immigrants by race, ethnicity and social economic status.
Access the report here

"Talent shortages exist in many areas of the global labor force today, a situation that will grow more acute and more widespread across more jobs over the next ten years-and could threaten the engines of world economic growth and prosperity," according to Manpower, Inc. Many countries, particularly European Union nations, target highly skilled immigrants to overcome worker shortages. However, the Manpower report suggests that as these emerging and developing nations continue to advance in wealth and resources, they will retain more of their talented workers. Confronting the "worker shortage" requires that governments increase the quantity and quality of educational and vocational training investments, and that businesses enhance links with education. Eliminating the worker shortage also requires that individuals engage in lifetime learning and encourage labor unions to focus more on updating members' skill levels.
Access the report here

The American Electronics Association (AEA) has released another installment of its ongoing analysis of China-U.S. trade. China and the U.S.: The Links Grow Stronger reflects the continuing ambivalence about China from U.S. tech companies. They acknowledge the importance of China as a trade partner, but believe China is not trading fairly. Some of the key points of the report include: 
 
· Between 2000 and 2006, U.S. tech exports to China more than tripled, from $4.6 billion to $14.1 billion.  
 
· Only the United States’ two NAFTA partners, Canada and Mexico, are larger export destinations for American tech products than China.  
 
· Between 2000 and 2006, U.S. tech imports from China nearly quadrupled, from $26 billion to $102 billion.  
 
· Total U.S. direct investment in China was $16.9 billion in 2005, a 12 percent increase over 2004.  
 
· China needs to act fairly and responsibly in its trade policies, including fair exchange rate policies, respect for intellectual property rights, complete World Trade Organization compliance, and other factors that currently strain the economic relationship between China and the United States.  
 
· Public policy in both the United States and China must recognize the interdependent nature of the economies and avoid protectionism and distorting trade practices. Such policies restrain trade, damage economies and raise prices for consumers.
Access the report here

A new white paper claims that “over patenting” and patenting of biotechnology building blocks does not hinder research and the development of new treatments. The biotech-lobbying group, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), produced the paper entitled The Myth of the Anticommons. The paper asserts that the biotechnology industry is actively engaged in discovering and inventing innovative therapies. Research, development and employment in the biotechnology industry are steadily increasing, as are the number of therapies in the clinical pipeline. The white paper also cited a study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which examined the impact of patents on university research. The NAS study found that only one percent of academic respondents experienced delays on their projects of more than a month due to patents and not a single respondent abandoned a project due to a patent.
Read the paper here

Get up to date information on the most recent news on biofuels from the Wilson Center. The Center’s “Biofuels Central” is a web portal documenting the most recent news stories and publications regarding biofuels. The portal looks not only at biofuels in the U.S. but also the U.S. and its relations with Brazil in regards to biofuels.
For more information, visit the link

Export.gov, a web portal of the U.S. Commercial Service, is hosting a webinar on India’s market access and opportunities. The webinar will be held on July 19 at 11 A.M. EDT and is accessible to anyone with a computer and high-speed internet access. The webinar is targeted at U.S. suppliers of printing, publishing and converting technologies and those wanting to enter or expand business in India’s fast-growing printing, publishing and packaging market. According to the U.S. Commercial Service, India’s economy is growing at 9.4 percent this year, but the India printing and packaging market has been growing at a compound annual rate of 14 percent since 1987. A question and answer session will be held at the end of the one-hour webinar.
For more information, visit the link

Bloomberg.com is reporting on a new survey that shows that banks and securities firms are not prepared to benefit further from globalization. The survey, published by IBM and The Economist Intelligence Unit, found that more than 90 percent of 848 managers surveyed worldwide don’t see their firms as global enough. The study’s author, Suzanne Dence, said that more than 60 percent of the growth in financial markets in the next 20 years will come from emerging markets. She said that for most firms the biggest shortcoming is the lack of a truly global management team. According to Dence, “That’s exemplified by Swiss banks having most of their top managers in Zurich and U.S. Banks keeping them in New York instead of spreading them out around the world.”
For more information, visit the link

An opinion piece by Beverly Kelley in the Ventura [CA] County Star talks about the complexities and long history of globalization. Kelley quotes a Sloan Foundation study that discusses the origins of the iPod and its 451 parts. “Although ‘designed’ by Apple, the components and software, which were manufactured in India, Japan, South Korea and Scotland, are ultimately assembled in China,” she says. “Furthermore,” she writes, “downloading, say, Robert Plant’s ‘Mighty ReArranger’ from iTunes gives us a Brit augmenting his latest contribution to American rock with West African rhythms and Middle Eastern instruments.” Kelley goes on to suggest that, what we may have heard to the contrary, “...globalization is not a cunning plan dreamed up by the Trilateral Commission, Millennium Development Goal-setters or corrupt laissez-faire capitalists.” Drawing on Nayan Chanda’s “Bound Together,” Kelley points out that one of the first examples of globalization was the coffeehouse, opened first by a Turkish Jew and rapidly spreading from Asia Minor to Europe. Chanda says, “Starbucks, the much-hated poster child of globalization is, in fact, the latest in many incarnations of coffee as it has traveled the world beyond the hills of Ethiopia.”
For more information, visit the link

The Case Foundation has launched a new program to provide grants, tools and recognition to “everyday people” who join together to create innovative ideas and solutions that can lay the groundwork for long-term social change. The Foundation notes that the program was sparked by a paper they released last fall, Citizens at the Center: A New Approach to Civic Engagement, which suggests that if people are actually going to get engaged and stay engaged in their communities, they must be given more chances to connect with one another and figure out how they can work together for the common good. Twenty finalists will receive a $10,000 grant to help make their idea a reality. The final four (chosen by the votes of the Foundation’s online community) will get an additional $25,000 grant. The top 100 finalists will get $100 and everyone who applies will receive GOOD Magazine and online tools to help them share their idea with others and raise funds online. The application deadline is August 8, 2007.
For more information, visit the link

Audio recordings and slideshows from the Congress for New Urbanism’s May 2007 annual conference are now available online. Topics range from “Big City Zoning” to “Beyond Farmland Preservation.” Sessions also cover rebuilding efforts in the Gulf states, including planning in Louisiana and Mississippi.
For more information, visit the link

A new brief, Women and Low-Skilled Workers: Other Countries’ Policies and Practices That May Help These Workers Enter and Remain in the Labor Force, by the U.S. Government Accountability Office highlights international practices and policies that encourage women and low-skilled workers to enter and remain in the labor force. The report compares the use and effectiveness of leave periods, flexible work schedules, childcare and training in several industrialized nations to policies, practices and labor force participation rates in the U.S. Research shows that benefits such as parental leave are associated with increased employment, reducing the amount of time that mothers spend outside of the labor market.
Access the report here

A study, Education Immigration and Entrepreneurship, Part II, by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation emphasizes the important role highly skilled, foreign-born entrepreneurs play in the American economy and provides more detail on their path to success. The majority, 52 percent, of foreign-born engineering and technology entrepreneurs entered the country to pursue an education and 40 percent came following job opportunities. Only two percent of immigrant entrepreneurs interviewed entered America with the initial goal of starting a company. Many entrepreneurs also spend a considerable amount of time in America before starting a company, most having a 13-year lag between entering the country and firm formation.
Access the report here

A new study investigates the benefits of research conducted by college undergraduates. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted by SRI, Inc., found that undergraduate research increases a student's research-related understanding, confidence and awareness, while increasing anticipation of a doctorate degree. The project reviewed the characteristics of undergraduates who participate in research opportunities, why faculty and students choose to participate, characteristics of research opportunities, and the effects of such opportunities on students' academic and career decisions.
For more information, visit the link

The 14th Annual Conference of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds will be held September 17-19 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Hosted by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, the conference will be held at the Peabody Hotel. The Annual Conference is a learning and networking opportunity for venture capital fund managers, angel investors, and for communities and non-profit organizations trying to establish innovation capital. Last year’s conference attendees came from 42 states and eight countries. Attendees included international investment and technology-based economic development leaders, representatives from venture capital and seed funds, technology commercialization organizations, and legal and financial firms.
For more information, visit the link

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) has developed the “NanoMetro mashup.” The “mashup” is, in fact, an interactive map of nanotechnology activity across the country (see link). While there’s no surprise that California and Massachusetts have the most activity, the map clearly indicates a swath of activity that continues from Massachusetts through Texas, including the Southern Growth region. The map is similar to Southern Growth’s past work Connecting the Dots which focused on mapping nanotechnology activity in the South.
For more information, visit the link

An analysis in the July 6th issue of The Economist breaks down the difficulties of living up to grand anti-poverty slogans on a global scale. Noting that the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015 are at their halfway point this month, the magazine says, “Sadly, however, they cannot do what they purport to do, which is to provide credible benchmarks against which governments can be judged.” One difficulty is that the measurements are set for the world as a whole. As a result, great progress in China (which has almost halved poverty since 1990) masks how Sub-Saharan Africa falls far short of its goals. Extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition are still at horrific levels in that region. Moreover, the article notes, many poverty-stricken nations do not collect reliable or relevant data to give an accurate picture of progress. The article also says that a nation’s wealth is an unreliable indicator since, for example, “Brazil is four times richer than Sri Lanka, but its children are more than twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday.”
View the article link here

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, July 25 for its Market Access Program (MAP). He program is designed to help small businesses and trade organizations expand and maintain foreign markets for U.S. agricultural commodities and products. The public hearing will take place in the Jefferson Auditorium at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 9:00 AM until 2:30 PM. Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Mike Yost said that the hearing would help improve the MAP’s effectiveness in helping farmers and ranchers gain access to growing international markets. People wishing to speak at the hearing may register that day or in advance by writing Mark Slupek, Director of Program Policy Staff, Office of Trade Programs, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, STOP 1042, Washington DC 20250-1042.
Read the news release here

Rural economic development and sustainability will be two of the primary topics of discussion at the 2007 Global Competitiveness Conference planned for October 8-12, 2007 in downtown Portland, Oregon. The Competitiveness Institute of Barcelona, Spain, selected Portland as the site for the international Conference, which is being hosted jointly by the states of Oregon, Washington, and the City of Portland. The five-day event will be truly international in scope. Registrants from around the globe will gather to discuss industry cluster development, rural economic development issues, sustainability, workforce, and other topics more than 30 breakout sessions.

Early bird registration offers a $300 discount by August 1st. To register, visit website or contact Amy Keiter at amy.keiter@state.or.us. Also, see link for a list of speakers.


For more information, visit the link

Nashville will be host to one of several Regional Best Practice Forums sponsored by the America’s Promise Alliance. The forums are designed to help communities improve outcomes for America’s youth by sharing best practices and encouraging greater collaboration within communities. Among the presenters at the Nashville forum, scheduled for July 31- August 1, will be Marguerite Kondracke, President and CEO of the America’s Promise Alliance. Topics to be addressed include policy supports for children and youth, strategies to address the high school drop out crisis, and actions to strengthen families and engage parents.
For more information, visit the link

“After years of setting records, housing starts and sales fell in 2006 and are on track to end this year even lower,” says Harvard University’s latest State of the Nation’s Housing report. Yet, the nation’s largest housing challenge remains housing affordability, the report says, pointing out that the number of households spending more than half their income on housing increased by 1.2 million in just the past year.
Access the report here

More than two-thirds of Georgians think poverty is a major problem in the state, yet a sizeable share (46%) don’t think poverty could be eliminated, even if government was willing to spend whatever it thought was necessary. The poll, conducted by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government as part of its ongoing Peach State Poll series, also found that drug abuse was cited most frequently as a major cause of poverty.
For more information, visit the link

The U.S. Chamber’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce’s (ICW) Education and Workforce Summit will be held in Washington, DC, September 24-26. The ICW conference speaker and Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Ben Bernanke, will discuss the correlation between investing in the education and training of workers and the impact on expanding economic opportunity in America. The Ambassador of Finland will discuss his country's first-rate education and workforce system and later host a reception for conference participants at the Finnish Embassy.
For more information, visit the link

“Traditionally, the United States higher education system has been the envy of the world for its high quality, accessibility to millions of Americans, ability to train generations of skilled workers, and its contribution to creating the vast American middle class,” according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center report, Squeeze Play: How Parents and the Public Look at Higher Education Today, includes ten “findings” for higher education based on the public opinions of more than 1,001 Americans.
Access the report here

If big cities are having difficulties, small cities can’t even get the attention of vendors. During the past 18 months, MultiState Associates, a consulting firm for lobbyists, has compiled a database of more than 2,000 communities, with populations of 60,000 or more, interested in developing municipal broadband or wireless services. The data shows that while thousands of towns are interested in developing municipal networks, few vendors are willing to address small town projects.
For more information, visit the link

Municipal wireless broadband systems (Wi-Fi) have not advanced as much as anticipated because of economics, politics and lack of technology. That was the message conveyed by city administrators, Wi-Fi evangelists and even some vendors of Wi-Fi antennas, software and related technology at the MuniWireless 07: New England conference. Esme Vos, founder of MuniWireless.com, which organized the conference, told conference attendees that no big U.S. cities with announced ambitious plans have fully deployed their networks. Some cities such as Philadelphia and San Francisco have begun falling short of lofty political goals to serve poor neighborhoods and to listen to grass roots political organizations as well. See the article in ComputerWorld.
View the article link here

The National Academy of Sciences has released two statements calling on global leaders, specifically G8 leaders, to (1) address sustainability, energy efficiency, and climate protection and (2) promote and protect innovation. The NAS statement on sustainability, energy efficiency, and climate protection urged G8 leaders to invest in better energy efficiency, low- or zero-carbon energy sources and carbon-removing schemes. The statement on promoting and protecting innovation urged G8 leaders to promote research and innovation as the primary means to economic growth, while at the same time being careful to protect the intellectual property of the innovator.
For more information, visit the link

An op-ed piece in The Washington Post by the Council on Foreign Relations’ Sebastian Mallaby says that the next major battleground in globalization will be the growth of foreign government-owned investment funds. “Lou Dobbs is going to love this one,” writes Mallaby. According to the article, “Five years ago, governments were sitting on $1.9 trillion in foreign currency reserves,” but now have $5.4 trillion. Higher energy prices and global trade imbalances are the primary drivers for the dramatic increase. While governments have typically invested such funds in U.S. Treasury bills and other low-risk instruments, the emerging focus is on higher rates of return, which translates frequently into equity investments. When China invested $3 billion in American-owned Blackstone Group, Senator Jim Webb noted that Blackstone may own firms with sensitive national-security information. Mallaby points out that more direct equity investments in operating companies will trigger greater controversy both in terms of national security and management input and control.
For more information, visit the link

University of Arkansas economists have developed a new approach to measuring the effects of globalization. “Despite greater interest in the issues of globalization, discussions are often handicapped by the dearth of appropriate measures to understand its nature and impact,” according to Raja Kali, associate professor at the Sam M. Walton College of Business. While the volume of trade is the primary focus of most studies in the field, Kali and his college Javier Reyes have combined a network approach with data on trade linkages to view global trading as “...an interdependent complex network.” The new methodology allows a more nuanced view of countries’ positions in international trade and affirms that a country’s position in the trading system has “...substantial implications for economic growth.” The study has been published in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of International Business Studies.
For more information, visit the link

The U.S. International Trade Commission reports that U.S. service firms remained dominant in global services trade in 2005. The Commission’s “Recent Trends in U.S. Services Trade, 2007 Annual Report” says that the services sector experienced 10 percent growth in cross-border service exports for the year, and the U.S. trade surplus in services grew to $79.9 billion, the highest level since 1999. The U.S. has the largest such surplus in the world, according to the ITC. Moreover, sales of services by U.S. firms through foreign-affiliates also continued strong growth in 2004 (latest year available), reaching $489.6 billion. According the ITC, “Inadequate enforcement of intellectual property laws, such as those affecting audiovisual services, and equity limitations on foreign investments by U.S. Securities firms continue to be significant impediments to U.S. Services trade exports.”
For more information, visit the link

An upcoming webcast from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation discusses the pitfalls and promises of citizen engagement in comprehensive community change initiatives. Among the topics to be discussed are the best ways to sustain meaningful engagement. The webcast will take place on August 15th, from 2:00-3:00 pm ET. For information on how to access the event, go to the link.
For more information, visit the link

The Leader-to-Leader Institute recently featured Nashville, Tennessee’s Oasis Center as the Innovation of the Week. The Center helps create opportunities for youth leadership and civic action in high poverty neighborhoods. A core group of youth is trained to become agents of change in their own neighborhoods, in turn recruiting, training and mobilizing other youth. Youth have held financial workshops for neighborhood families and college workshops to provide students with information about educational opportunities.
Visit the website here

According to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, more people are driving to work alone, despite rising gas prices. From 2000 to 2005, the percentage of people driving alone rose slightly, to 77 percent, while the share carpooling showed a slight decline and transit ridership held steady.
For more information, visit the link

While many publicly financed workforce programs, such as WIA, provide training to unemployed workers, research by the Upjohn Institute suggests that these resources would yield a higher rate of return if they trained incumbent workers. Using data from a statewide incumbent worker-training program in Massachusetts, Upjohn calculated a five percent rate of return for participating workers and a 17 percent rate of return for their employers. These publicly and privately funded incumbent workers programs increased profits and productivity as well as revenues from employee retention and expanded employment. According to Evidence About the Effectiveness of Public Training Programs for Incumbent Workers the state received a 38.9 percent rate of return in the form of tax receipts and expanded economic activity.
Read the paper here

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is proposing to make community colleges free for all future state high school graduates, according to The Boston Globe. Educators are praising the plan, but warning that tuition is only one obstacle and that the costs of housing, health and child care, and transportation can be even more imposing barriers. The community college proposal is part of the Governor’s “cradle-to-career” education reform plan. The Board of Higher Education estimates that the community college plan would cost as much as $175 million annually. Legislators have expressed concern about how to pay for the plan and other related initiatives.
For more information, visit the link

The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) recently announced their partnership with the Federal Transit Authority to lead two projects related to hydrogen and fuel cell transit bus development. The projects will fall under CTE’s Southern Fuel Cell Coalition and involve national and Southern-based business and universities. The first project is a survey of worldwide hydrogen bus users from 2002 to 2007. The second is a demonstration project that will involve the development and testing of a hybrid- electric fuel cell bus.
For more information, visit the link

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published the latest update to its online resource center for state-level statistics on various science and engineering (S&E) indicators. Drawing data from the most recent updates to seven annual NSF surveys and U.S. Census statistics, Science & Engineering State Profiles, 2003-2005 includes downloadable Excel or PDF versions of state statistics and rankings.
For more information, visit the link

Small Times, a trade journal for nanotechnology, has gotten press for its annual ranking of universities and community colleges for their nanotechnology prowess. The study, based on surveys completed by universities, shows top ten institutions in four criteria: research, education, facilities and commercialization. However, the ranking is of questionable utility since many university leaders did not complete the survey and thus, were not included in the rankings except as peer reviewed rankings. The omitted universities include powerhouses like MIT and Harvard. Small Times also profiles four community colleges with nano programs, including Forsyth Tech Community College in Winston-Salem, NC.
Visit the website here

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) reports that Southern states are leading the nation in international baccalaureate (IB) programs. IB programs are built on a two-year curriculum in six academic areas with high school students having the opportunity to earn advance placement credits in addition to the IB designation. There are 462 U.S. Schools offering the IB curriculum, and 44 percent of those are in the South. Of the 56 schools offering the greatest number of IB exam opportunities, 39 are in the SREB states, with Florida and Virginia leading the way. Florida, Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia all increased the number of schools offering IB programs from 2005 to 2006. Online IB courses are also increasing according to SREB.
Visit the website here

A new report from the United Nations pegs economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean at 5.3 percent for 2006, marking the third straight year of greater than four percent growth for the region. Exports in goods and services from the region were up 8.4 percent and national income up 7.2 percent. The economic growth in the region also drove a significant increase in job creation. According to the report, “...many countries in the region have taken steps to reduce their vulnerability by adopting more flexible exchange rate regimes, paying down foreign debt, restructuring debts in order to shift to longer profiles and fixed rates, building up international reserves, strengthening their fiscal accounts and reducing the dollarization of their financial systems.” The reports forecasts slightly slower growth in 2007 at around 4.7 percent.
Access the report here

“Reduce barriers for start-ups and expansion, promote worker mobility, upgrade people’s skills and provide adequate incomes support,” recommends the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The recommendations in OECD’s latest Employment Outlook come with an acknowledgement that “...people are growing increasingly suspicious of free trade and cross-border development.” OECD points to the need to help companies adapt to a changing competitive environment. According to one of the study’s authors, “...don’t trap people in the jobs they’re in. You have to have policies that support high level mobility so that workers can move between different sectors.” For countries with high social security contributions, OEDC suggests broadening the tax base by focusing on income or value-added taxes and using the money to support R&D and innovation.
View the article link here

The lack of affordable housing near jobs is a problem for employers as well as workers, according to a recent survey conducted for the Urban Land Institute. The survey found that 55 percent of larger companies (those with 100-plus employees) reported a lack of affordable housing near their location. More than two-thirds of such companies believed that the lack of affordable housing was having a negative impact on retaining qualified entry-level and mid-level employees. While 42 percent of larger companies said that they would participate in a government funded housing program, only 34 percent were aware of such programs.
For more information, visit the link

The Summer 2007 issue of the National Association of Realtors’ magazine On Common Ground is devoted to a progress report on Smart Growth. Land conservation, transportation planning and green building are among the trends explored. The issue concludes with tidbits related to Smart Growth in eight states, including Alabama, South Carolina and West Virginia.
Access the newsletter here

“How can policymakers encourage development in depressed urban neighborhoods without pricing out their residents?” asks a new briefing paper from the Urban Institute. Rent options and insurance against rising rental costs are identified as two potential strategies the the report, Promoting Neighborhood Improvement While Protecting Low-Income Families.
Access the report here

“The rise of a completely new class of public schools—‘virtual’ schools using the Internet to create online classrooms…is bringing about reforms that have long eluded traditional public schools,” according to a new Education Sector report, Laboratories of Reform. In the 2006 school year, virtual schools served 700,000 students. In 2007, Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina, joined the 28 states offering online learning courses. Virtual schools provide high quality instruction by utilizing new approaches to recruiting, observing, evaluating and assisting teachers. At Georgia’s Virtual School, run by the Georgia Department of Education, 21 percent of the teachers have doctoral degrees and 60 percent are stay at home moms, dads or retirees—a pool of workers who traditionally do not return to teaching.
View the article link here

Edutopia announced the “Daring Dozen 2007,” twelve people who are reshaping the future of education. “Daring Dozen” recipients represent a broad group of catalysts across the U.S, ranging from the writer-producer of the HBO hit series, The Wire, Edward Burns, to the Georgia-based kid’s soccer coach and entrepreneur, Luma Mufleh. Burns received the “Daring Dozen” designation for bringing education reality to television. The Wire, based on Burns’ seven years of teaching in Baltimore public schools, highlights the real-life challenges urban educators face. Mufleh coached the Fugees, a team of refugee children from war-ravaged countries, to a championship soccer game in one of Alanta’s most affluent and competitive suburbs.
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More than 200 million Chinese elementary school children study English, while only about 24,000 elementary students in the United States study Chinese. In an op-ed piece in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Business Roundtable President John J. Castellani says, “...foreign language skills have become vital to our children’s future as members of the workforce and to our nation’s future success in the world.” He points out that 20 percent of U.S. Jobs are tied to international trade, and that China, India and Japan “...are expected to account for about 50 percent of world GDP within 30 years.” Castellani says that the business community has long called for stronger math and science in the nation’s schools, but now businesses require “...employees with knowledge of foreign languages and cultures.”
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SSTI is now accepting applications for the first Excellence in TBED awards. The award winners will be those technology-based economic development (TBED) programs that have proved successful in improving their state’s research base, commercialization of technology, entrepreneurial culture, sources of capital, or technically trained workforce. Deadline for applications is July 20th, 2007.
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If biotech and nanotech weren’t enough, now officials want us to concentrate on plasma. The National Research Council is urging the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science to reorient its research programs to promote plasma science research and create a focal point for federal efforts in that field. Breakthroughs in plasma science have the potential to enhance national and economic security, energy production, and general scientific knowledge, says Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest. See the free executive summary of the report.
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The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) has produced a new guide on marketing incubators. A Practical Guide to Business Incubator Marketing is an easy-to-read guide that offers real-world tips and advice from more than 50 incubation professionals. The guide emphasizes a cost-effective approach. Separate chapters examine market research, market planning and specific marketing techniques. A CD-ROM features more than 40 samples of actual incubator marketing pieces. The guides cost $42 for NBIA members and $59 for nonmembers.
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One of the more salutary messages on globalization to make its way into a Southern newspaper appears in the June 18 issue of the Charleston Daily Mail. Editorial Page Director Johanna Maurice pens an article tracing the arrival of international foods to West Virginia over the course of several decades. As is true for many, her first experiences with international foods involved chow mein and pizza pie, but now she regularly enjoys Thai, Indian and other global cuisines. What sets Maurice’s op-ed piece apart, however, is her graceful move towards larger issues. “The bad actors in the world cultivate differences, sow mayhem and plot mass murders to gain followers,” says Maurice, “The rest of us find ourselves watching anti-globalization riots while eating Chinese take-out without thinking there's anything incongruous about it.” She goes on to say, “I don't think there's much future in anti-globalization. After all, what do anti-globalization rioters do after riots? Pick up cashew chicken?”
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A report, Arts, Culture and Design in Rural North Carolina, from RTS, Inc. suggests that rural areas may be overlooking an opportunity for economic growth centered on creative and cultural assets. “Many of the creative enterprises in rural economies are missing from the databases used by economic developers because they are populated mainly by self-employed and part-time workers, misclassified under non-creative sectors, or informal micro-enterprises,” they explain. “Yet collectively, they may be a very significant part of many regional economies with growth potential,” they emphasize. The report focuses on three case studies involving four North Carolina counties.
Access the report here

Southern Growth Policies Board's annual conference in St. Louis, MO June 3rd-5th, 2007, featured the release of the 2007 Report on the Future of the South, EnterpriseSouth.Biz, recommending a cultural shift in the South to an enterprise economy—an economy characterized a knowledgeable, entrepreneurial and innovative workforce. Conference presentations supported the report’s recommendations, with presenter including the Honorable William Winter, former governor of Mississippi, Deborah Russell of AARP and Marc Tucker from the National Center on Education and the Economy.
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Do you have ideas that you would like to see discussed at a conference on Smart Growth? The Local Government Commission has issued a Call for Ideas for the 7th annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference, to be held February 7-9, 2008 in Washington, D.C. Submit your ideas between June 6th and July 11th.
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The National Center for Education Statistics recently published Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment, High School Completions, and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06. The report includes national and state level information on public school students and staff for the 2005-2006 school year including four-year graduation rates. Nationally, 75 percent of high school freshman complete high school in four years. High school graduation rates in the South range from 62 percent in Georgia to 81 percent in Missouri.
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According to, Reality Check 2006: Is Support for Testing and Standards Fading?, a report by Education Insights at Public Agenda, “Relatively few parents complain that their child has to take too many tests or that tests are harmful.” Likewise, “Relatively few students complain about too much testing or say they get overly nervous about them.” Sixty-one percent of parents and 71 percent of students say the number of tests students take is “about right.” Teachers likewise agree with the amount of testing, but believe that the assessments should be used in a different way. More than eight out of ten teachers support the use of a high school exit exam.
Access the report here

A new Progress & Freedom Foundation report, Parental Controls and Online Child Protection: A Survey of Tools & Methods, explores the market for parental Internet control tools, rating schemes, education efforts and initiatives aimed at promoting online child safety. The report provides an overview of the current state of parental control tools and online safety efforts. "There has never been a time in our nation's history when parents have had more tools and methods at their disposal to help them decide what is acceptable in their homes and in the lives of their children," concludes Adam Thierer, author of the report. The report will be released at a June 20th meeting.
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The Southern Research Institute based out of Birmingham, Alabama announced in May their intention to build their Carbon-to-Liquids (C2L) Development Center in Research Triangle Park North Carolina. The purpose of the center is to “facilitate the commercial acceptance of technologies that convert non-petroleum carbon resources into high value products such as clean diesel fuel, jet fuel, methanol, ethanol and electric power.” These non-petroleum carbon resources include human and agriculture waste, agriculture crops and coal. Southern Research Institute is an independent non-profit scientific research center known for its leadership in environment and energy research, aerospace and materials engineering, and pre-clinical drug discovery and development.
Read the news release here

The latest assessment of entrepreneurial activity by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation provides startling numbers for yet another year. The study found that an average of 465,000 people created new businesses each month in 2006. Asians, Latinos and immigrants far outpaced native-born Americans in entrepreneurial activity. African Americans experienced a decline. The report also contains data on activity at the state level. The five states with the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity included three of the Southern Growth states: Montana, Mississippi, Georgia, Oklahoma and Maine.
Access the report here

“Globalization can be a force for good—but it needs new rules if the poor are to benefit from it,” writes Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus in a guest editorial for the German magazine Spiegel. Noting that 60 percent of the world’s population lives on only six percent of the income, Yunus says, “To me, globalization is like a 100-lane highway crisscrossing the world. If it is a free-for-all highway, its lanes will be taken over by the giant trucks from powerful economies—Bangladeshi rickshaws will be thrown off the highway.” Yunus proposes redefining the meaning of entrepreneur to include “...doing good for people” as well as “maximizing profit.” This would lead to two kinds of businesses, according to Yunus, those organized to maximize profits, and what he calls “social businesses.” The new “social businesses” would have the objective of “...making a difference in the world.” Unlike non-profits, social businesses would not need donations to be self-sustaining, because they would have their own profits plowed back into the company.
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“In Germany, we have now have this big public debate about there being a shortage of engineers in the country. Well, I don’t care, or at least not as the chief executive of SAP,” says the software giant’s Henning Kagermann in an interview in the International Herald Tribune. Why is Kagermann so complacent about the engineering shortage? SAP, which had all of its engineers in Germany a decade ago, now also has 1,400 engineers in Silicon Valley, 3,000 in India, 1,000 in China and 900 in Israel. Kagermann explains, “There really is no alternative, for two reasons. It’s foolish to believe today that the smartest people are in one nation. The second is sourcing, at least if you are a big company...you need to tap into the global talent pool.”
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According to UNICEF, more than 30,000 children will die today of hunger, disease, and other consequences of poverty, according to UNICEF. This staggering number is used by Nicholas Kristof to set the stage for a review of two current books on world poverty in the May 31 issue of The New York Review of Books. Far more girls than boys will be among those deaths because, according to Kristof, “...parents don’t have the resources to keep all their children alive, so they put a finger on the scales on the side of their sons.” With that as background, all progress must be kept in perspective. Still, it’s heartening to read in one of the books under review, Understanding Poverty, that between the early 1980s and 2001, “...poverty rates fell by almost half: approximately 400 million crossed the $1 [per day] threshold during this time.” Kristof writes, “...in the last quarter-century far more people have been pulled out of poverty than ever before in the history of the world. Largely that’s because of the economic success of Asia, and it should give pause to the critics of globalization.”
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A new report, Farmshoring in Virginia, from Virginia Tech looks at the potential for what it calls “farmshoring,” or domestic, rather than overseas, outsourcing to low-cost communities. The report calls on economic developers to take on new roles as matchmakers, connecting firms in urban areas with lower-cost rural communities within the state. “A broader statewide conversation on urban-rural economic linkages must begin in order to develop leadership capacity on the issues involved,” the report emphasizes.
Access the report here

Downtown churches are “in a prime position to breathe new economic life into their communities,” says a recent article in the Savannah Morning News. The article, Gospel of Growth, describes a program of the Savannah Development and Renewal Authority (SDRA) that helps churches develop plans for using open lots and other church properties in a way that can benefit the surrounding community. Seven churches have partnered with the SDRA so far. Projects have included the development of an education/computer center and a community resource center.
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The Education Testing Service (ETS), Winter 2007 Policy Brief includes highlights of the Carnegie Centennial Conference, Improving Quality and Equity in Education: Inspiring a New Century of Excellence in Teaching and Assessment. The presentations and sessions focused on several major themes including the use of assessments to influence education outcomes, build accountability and initiate action. Acclaimed education researchers from across the U.S. shared their ideas on increasing access to higher education. Freeman Hrawbowski, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County asked attendees, “How can we encourage the academy not to be content with the status quo?” Her presentation encouraged more data collection in higher education, information that could be used to improve the quality of higher education, assess what students are learning, while insuring students are retained and making progress towards their degrees.
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Achieving the Dream is an initiative sponsored by the Lumina Foundation to increase student access to and success in community colleges. The Lumina Foundation recently published Fifty States of Achieving the Dream: State Policies to Enhance Access to and Success in Community Colleges Across the United States. The report includes findings from the Community College Research Center State Policy Audit, a compendium of state-level community college policies across the U.S. The report also highlights state policies related to tuition and student aid, dual enrollment, remedial education and articulation.
Access the report here

“The number of bachelor’s degrees awarded increased by 33 percent between 1989-90 and 2003-04, while the number of associate’s degrees increased by 46 percent. Minority students have accounted for about half of the growth in associate’s and bachelor’s degrees,” according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The National Center for Education Statistics recently published, The Condition of Education 2007, the annual statistical portrait of American education. The report summarizes important developments and trends in education using 48 indicators on the status and condition of education and includes special analysis on high school course taking.
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The Export Institute began offering online export management classes for a Certificate in Export Management in May. As part of the course, students conduct global market research by accessing 1,200 export trade web sites. The certificate curriculum consists of six courses in areas such as marketing, sales, logistics and payments. At the Institute’s website, students can take a free sample online course and quiz.
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A new study by the National Academies calls for significant improvements in data collection about entrepreneurship. The current business data systems from the federal government do not adequately measure economic trends, particularly for new businesses. The report makes three recommendations: increase the statistical system's capacity to measure activities of small and young businesses, especially in fast-growing and innovative sectors, improve the coverage and depth of business data through more effective coordination and integration of existing information sources, and shift the legal and organizational environment to accommodate data sharing and confidentiality protections. Download the executive summary of the report, Understanding Business Dynamics: An Integrated Data System for America's Future.
Access the report here

The United States is falling further behind other developed countries in broadband network deployment. According to statistics released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States ranked 15th among the OECD's 30 member countries in 2006 broadband deployment, dropping three spots from the previous year. The standing may continue to decline since the U.S. ranks 20th in the growth rate of broadband penetration. The situation must be serious—even the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is alarmed. The FCC has launched an inquiry into the state of the U.S. broadband market, focusing on the question of "net neutrality"-whether big carriers and service providers are prioritizing voice and data traffic for some customers at the expense of others.
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State agencies interested in collaborating in technology across organizational lines must first establish a firm policy foundation, according to a newly released brief from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. “State-to-state and private/public partnerships can cut costs and boost citizen services, the brief states. Although technology exists to make collaboration happen more easily,” state Chief Information Officers (CIOs) must consider other factors to make the alliances work. “Technology is an essential enabler between two or more agencies seeking to share data or services,” the report states. “However, to begin and sustain a successful collaboration, there must be sound policy in place as well.” State CIOs eyeing cross-boundary collaboration should define the goals of the effort and define success criteria, according to the brief. In addition, information technology managers should weigh business case elements such as business impact, benefits, risk, total cost of ownership and return on investment. To learn more about successful technology collaborations, see the report, Getting Started at Cross Boundary Collaboration, see link.
Access the report here

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has released its semi-annual global economic analysis and forecast. The latest Economic Outlook sees a soft landing in the U.S., a strong and sustained recovery in Europe, a solid trajectory in Japan and buoyant activity in China and India. The report, however, warns of risks in imbalances in current accounts and in financial and housing bubbles. This report has a special chapter on “Making the Most of Globalization,” with detailed analysis of new issues and insights. Data sets are downloadable for further research.
Access the report here

Is the current monetary exchange system working? If not, what should take its place? The Council on Foreign Relations held, as part of its McKinsey’s Executive Roundtable, a discussion of the issue with former Treasury Secretary and Harvard University professor Lawrence Summers and former Federal Reserve System Chairman, Paul Volker. The answer to the questions: no, the current system isn’t working perfectly, although it has provided stability, but there is no agreement politically or intellectually on what, if anything, should take its place.
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“Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year—$63.1 billion in spending by organizations and an additional $103.1 billion in event-related spending by their audiences,” reports Americans for the Arts in their new report, Arts and Economic Prosperity III, on the economic impact of the industry. The study covers 116 cities and counties, 35 multi-county regions and five states. Nonprofit arts and culture organizations located in communities that were not part of the study can estimate their local economic impact by using an online Arts and Economic Prosperity Calculator.
Access the report here

A new report, Promising Practices, from the Southern Institute on Children and Families shares promising practices in breaking down barriers to provide health coverage for low-income children and adults. Among the efforts highlighted are outreach initiatives in Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Virginia. For example, the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana hosted a lunch meeting of human resource directors for the major businesses in the area to raise awareness of health coverage issues. Five of the attending business subsequently held enrollment events for their employees. Arkansas and North Carolina are also recognized for efforts to simplify application procedures, and Louisiana for inter-agency coordination.
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In Atlanta, Georgia, the East Lake Foundation spearheaded the development of a new charter school to serve area residents, including a new, mixed-income development of 550 homes. In St. Louis, Missouri, a private developer led an effort to renovate and reinvigorate a failing elementary school serving a new, 400-unit mixed-income development in a high-poverty neighborhood. These are just two examples of school-centered community revitalization efforts that are featured in a new report from Enterprise Community Partners. Reconnecting Schools and Neighborhoods, the first in a three-part series, encourages educators and community development practitioners to work together to build on the synergies between schools and neighborhoods.
Access the report here

Education Week recently released a new resource tool, the “District Graduation Rate Map Application.” The Application is a beta version of a powerful online mapping instrument designed to help the public, policymakers, and education leaders combat the high school graduation crisis. Users can map comparable graduation rates for every school district in the U.S. The application currently maps information calculated in the 2006 Diploma’s Count report.
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“In the United States, postsecondary education has long driven individual social mobility and collective economic prosperity. Nonetheless, the nation’s labor force includes 54 million adults who lack a college degree; of those, nearly 34 million have no college experience at all,” according to the Lumina Foundation. The Lumina report, Return to Learning: Adults’ Success in College is Key to America’s Future, discusses the changes needed to successfully integrate adult learners in the postsecondary system. Using the findings from 80 interviews and 1400 survey responses of post-secondary students and administrators, the report advocates for creating credentialing pathways using career-related courses and increasing financial aid options for adult students.
Access the report here

The Southern Education Foundation’s Spring 2007 newsletter includes an article on Investing in Teachers. The article provides an overview of the Foundation’s 140-year history of “improving educational services and opportunity for low-income students and communities by helping teachers gain access to needed resources and training.” An additional article, Unity in Diversity, also highlights the forthcoming demographic changes in the U.S. and the South. According to the article, “By 2050, if current national trends continue, no one ethnic group will constitute a ‘majority’ population.” The article also notes that “divided we fall”—economic prosperity will rely on our ability to successfully educate a diverse group of stakeholders since the nation’s growing populations are concentrated in high-poverty, low performing schools.
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Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy announced the Southeast Solar Summit for October 24-25, 2007 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Conference Center. The Summit will focus on new opportunities to promote solar research and development and pathways to bring these technologies to market. This will be an opportunity to build strategic partnerships across institutions with a technical report at its conclusion.
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According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), the dollar amount of R&D research being conducted at the nation’s universities and colleges rose 5.8 percent in fiscal year 2005, for a total of $45.75 billion. An analysis of the 2001-2005 data by the State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) shows the difficulty of improving a state’s ranking in this area. During the past five years, only a handful of states have shifted rankings by more than one position either up or down. The only three states to show dramatic improvements of more than two spots are Nebraska, which moved from 35th to 31st in 2005; Tennessee, which climbed from 26th to 20th; and Virginia, moving from 17th to 14th in 2005. New Mexico and Minnesota dropped in the rankings.
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The Tennessee Broadband Task Force announced the Connect Tennessee initiative to make the state competitive in broadband access and utilization. Working with the national non-profit, Connected Nation, Connect Tennessee hopes to emulate the successful (and Southern Growth Innovator award winner) ConnectKentucky program which offers a comprehensive resource approach to community and individual broadband access. The task force, chaired by Senator Roy Herron and Rep. Mark Maddox, included representatives from the telecommunications industry as well as representatives from a number of state agencies. The new independent non-profit, Connect Tennessee, will work with a wide array of Tennessee entities, both public and private, to accelerate the availability and use of technology in business, government, education, and healthcare.
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The U.S. global merchandise trade and current account deficits rose to $857 billion in 2006, a rate that G. Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute for International Economics deems unsustainable, according to testimony before various Congressional subcommittees in early May. Bergsten testified, “The global imbalances probably represent the single largest current threat to the continued growth and stability of the U.S. and world economies.” He believes that even a modest shortfall in the nation’s ability to attract foreign capital could “...initiate a precipitous decline in the dollar.” Bergsten calls on China to increase the value of its currency, for Japan to raise the value of the yen, and for the U.S. to develop “...a credible program to convert its present, and especially foreseeable, budget deficits into modest surpluses...”
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Six Southern Growth Policies Board states experienced manufacturing export growth above 15 percent between 2005 and 2006, according to the WISERTrade International Database at Holyoke Community College. In a chart published in Fedgazette by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Alabama showed an increase of 28.7 percent, Missouri of 20.5 percent, Louisiana of 19.4 percent, Virginia of 17.4 percent, Tennessee of 16.8 percent, and Kentucky of 15.6 percent. Mississippi (13.7 percent), Arkansas (10.2 percent), and North Carolina (7.4 percent), and Oklahoma (1.3 percent) also showed increases. South Carolina (-3.4 percent) and Georgia (-4 percent) saw slight declines. The nation’s overall manufacturing exports growth was 14.5 percent.
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North Carolina businessman Earl N. Phillips Jr. has endowed the Phillips Ambassadors Program at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. According to UNC Business magazine, “His gift will provide scholarships each year for up to 50 undergraduates to study and travel abroad.” Phillips says he was influenced by a family trip to Asia when he was a teenager, and more recently by a tour of the region sponsored by the Business School. Phillips also served as U.S. ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean in 2002. “My ultimate dream is for UNC students to take UNC out to the world and then bring the world back to UNC,” Phillips said.
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“Each day, decisions affecting residents’ ability to age successfully in their communities are made by housing officials, transportation planners, planning and zoning specialists, parks and recreation officials, and economic development leaders,” emphasizes a new guide from Partners for Livable Communities and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Blueprint for Action: Developing Livable Communities for All Ages encourages local government leaders to create crosscutting partnerships to address the challenges and opportunities of the maturing population. Successful examples include the Aging Atlanta initiative, a collaboration of 50 government agencies, non-profit organizations and local businesses, and the Area Agency on Aging’s effort to develop a comprehensive plan on aging in rural central Virginia. The guide makes six key recommendations for local governments, starting with convening stakeholders from diverse fields and encouraging collaboration.
Access the report here

The City of Bowling Green, Kentucky recently received the Robert L. Woodson, Jr. Award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for its efforts to reduce regulatory barriers to affordable housing. These cost-saving efforts include waiving certain permits and fees for single-family housing built by charitable nonprofits or the city; donating city-owned land to nonprofit agencies to develop infill or affordable senior housing; and streamlining the permitting process for most residential construction projects to within five days of application.
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“U.S. personal income grew 6.3 percent in 2006, up from 5.2 percent in 2005,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. This is the strongest annual growth rate since December 2001. Louisiana and Oklahoma exhibited the first and third highest per capita income growth rates in the nation in 2006. There has been little change in the top ten states with the highest and the lowest per capita incomes. Nine of the ten states with the highest per capita incomes in 2006 also placed in the top ten the year prior. The ten states with the lowest per capita income levels in 2006, six of which are Southern, are the same ten states from 2005.
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A new policy brief by the National High School Alliance (NHSA) outlines the Federal Policy Positions of National High School Alliance Partners. NHSA partners represent a diverse group of more than fifty organizations ranging from policymakers to practitioners throughout the U.S., all working collectively to improve the quality of America’s high schools. NHSA, in a survey of member’s policy positions on No Child Left Behind (NCLB), identified six common themes:  
 

The Aspen Institute in conjunction with Public/Private Ventures and the Mott Foundation recently announced the 2007 Sector Skills Academy Fellows. The Sector Skills Academy is designed to provide emerging leaders with the skills and technical assistance to implement sectoral employment initiatives in their respective industries and regions. The 25 fellows will attend a series of workshops during a 12-month period, and encouraged to acquire new skills, engage in experiential learning, connect with peers and build relationships with mentors and leaders to use sectoral employment as an organizing framework for their workforce activities.
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News from Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher shows that information technology jobs have grown at a rate that is three times faster than the nation. The news from the Governor's office identifies the work of ConnectKentucky as the reason for such tremendous growth. In the last two years, Kentucky has seen the addition of 14,500 new technology jobs; broadband use and availability has increased by 53 percent and 73 percent respectively; and more than 500,000 formerly unconnected homes, now have broadband access. With these results, ConnectKentucky has been invited to brief congressional leaders on their model and explore the possibility of it being a model for the nation.
Read the news release here

Ernst & Young has completed its annual assessment of the global biotechnology industry. Capital raised by biotech firms grew by an impressive 42 percent in 2006, reaching a global total of $27.9 billion. U.S. firms raised a record $5.4 billion in venture capital. Global public company revenues also reached a record level of $70 billion. The report dubs 2006 “the year of the deal,” as the value of mergers and acquisitions reached the second highest level in history. Despite all this activity, the biotech sector is still not profitable but industry experts predict that the U.S. biotech sector will reach profitability by the end of the decade.
Access the report here

A new study by the Pet Internet and American Life Project divides communication technology users into new categories of users. For example, the study found that 85 percent of American adults use the Internet or cell phones, and most use both. Many also have broadband connections, digital cameras and video game systems. Yet the proportion of adults who exploit the connectivity, the capacity for self-expression, and the interactivity of modern information technology is a shockingly small eight percent. The study also found that half of adults have a distant or non-existent relationship to modern information technology. Another new group is called Lackluster Veterans, who are long-time and frequent online users who don’t like the extra connectivity availability that comes with new technology. Another group, the Connected but Hassled, worry about information overload and don’t see additional communication devices helping their personal productivity.
Access the report here

Test your trade IQ during International Trade month. You’ll be asked questions such as what percentage of American exporting firms are small businesses and how many U.S. jobs are supported by exporting. International Trade month was originally declared as National Foreign Trade Week by President Roosevelt in 1933. The U.S. Chamber and others have expanded the celebration to a month-long event. The website also features a link to World Trade Month events that may be near you.
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The lead on a story called “Lost in Translation” in a special report on U.S.-China trade in the May 17 issue of The Economist, says, “If China sharply revalued the Yuan, as American politicians are demanding, it could actually hurt the United States and help China.” The article claims that American anger over the growing bilateral trade deficit with China is built on a series of myths. “The first myth is that there is overwhelming evidence that the Yuan is grossly undervalued. China's large bilateral trade surplus with America proves nothing. It largely reflects Asia's changing supply chain. Much of what America buys from China today once came from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan,” according to the magazine.
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In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, the Vice Premier of China, Wu Yi, writes that bilateral trade is a win-win activity for the U.S. and China, but says both nations must do more to assure that globalization’s benefits are widely reaped. He notes that U.S.-China trade was virtually non-existent only 35 years ago, but now each nation represents the other’s second biggest trading partner. He says that the growth rate of U.S. exports to China has been 3.7 times that of U.S. exports to other countries since China joined the World Trade Organization. He calls for China and the U.S. to “...increase mutual understanding and trust, overcome the interference of non-economic factors, and resolve the problems in our business and trade relations in an active and pragmatic way.” The full article is available on the website of “The Truth about Trade & Technology,” an agricultural advocacy group.
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The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has launched a nationwide community service initiative, called Blueprint for America, to help celebrate the organization’s 150th anniversary. The initiative puts AIA architects together with community residents to develop and implement projects that use design and architecture as a tool for community enhancement. Over 150 communities are participating, including nearly 40 in the South. Visit the link for a list of participating communities, as well as case studies of selected projects. 
 

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Governor Bob Riley and other state leaders recently met with members of the new Alabama Rural Action Commission to launch a statewide effort to bring more progress to Alabama’s rural communities. The Commission is modeled after the Black Belt Action Commission, an initiative that has brought together 800 volunteers to improve economic opportunities and the quality of life in an impoverished 12-county region. The Rural Action Commission will focus on improving healthcare, education, economic development and workforce development in rural Alabama.
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The solutions to poverty are not out of reach, says a new report from the Center for American Progress. The report, From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half, recommends 12 key steps to cutting poverty in half in ten years. Among them are: raising and indexing the minimum wage to half the average hourly wage; guaranteeing child care assistance to low-income families; and expanding and simplifying the Saver’s Credit to encourage saving for education, homeownership and retirement. Download From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half Locate other ideas and resources related to reducing poverty at a new web site created by the Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF).
Access the report here

“The South in 2007 leads the nation in offering state funded Pre-K to three and four-year old children,” according to the Southern Education Foundation (SEF). The SEF report, Pre-Kindergarten in the South: The Region’s Comparative Advantage, estimates that more than 19 percent of the South’s three and four-year olds attend pre-K compared to eight percent of their non-Southern peers. “High-quality Pre-K programs for three- and four-year-old children are among the best education investments a state can make.” In an independent study, Oklahoma five year olds who attended pre-K consistently out performed their peers in spelling, letter-word recognition and applied problems. The report summarizes the outcomes of high quality pre-K programs in Louisiana, West Virginia, Georgia and other Southern states.
Access the report here

On May 9th, 2007, The National Governors Association, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, TIME magazine and MTV along with numerous other players held the “Summit on America’s Silent Epidemic.” The Summit launched a national movement to end America’s high school dropout crisis. First Lady Laura Bush gave the keynote address asking the crowd of more than 500 superintendents, teachers, parents and students, “Do you know your school’s on-time graduation rate?” The event introduced new federal resources under No Child Left Behind and a compendium of best practices, What Communities Can Do to End the Dropout Crisis. The Gates Foundation along with the Broad Foundation also revealed “Strong American Schools,” a national public awareness campaign to improve education quality and standards.
Read the news release here

Edward Steinfeld, an MIT associate professor of political science, argues that America consumers and firms have a stake in the success of China’s products. Steinfeld writes that today’s products are “...made through international production chains involving myriad corporate actors, firms bearing a wide variety of national flags of origin, and firms operating across a host of geographic locales.” He says that understanding which countries and stakeholders benefit is difficult, and that the Chinese are just as likely to feel that they are losing the globalization game as are U.S. citizens. For example, he writes, “When Americans see a ‘made in China’ computer, they rue their nation’s economic demise. When Chinese see a ‘made in China’ computer, they see Intel inside (processors), Samsung inside (screens), and Microsoft inside (operating software) and rue their nation’s inability to compete globally. The article appears in the Spring 2007 issue of précis, free from the MIT Center for International Studies.
Access the newsletter here

The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) unveiled its information technology plan for the 240 county DRA region at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C last Tuesday. The plan, which will be presented to the president and Congress, was developed in conjunction with Southern Growth Policies Board. iDelta: Information Technology in the Delta, the comprehensive plan to build information technology access and utilization in the Delta, is organized in two volumes. Volume I provides research and data on the capacity and utilization of information technology in the region. The report examines 18 indicators of information technology usage and economic factors affected by information technology. The second volume provides recommendations for increasing utilization. One of the key recommendations is the creation of a DRA iDelta Center that will act as an organizing entity for information technology initiatives in the region. The recommendation is based on successful models that already exist in the South such as ConnectKentucky.
Access the report here

An article in The New York Times acknowledges the Entrepreneurial League System, which applies the professional baseball farm system concept to the teaching of entrepreneurs. The system, which was highlighted at Southern Growth’s annual conference last year, features clearly defined talent levels—rookie league, single A, double A and triple A—along with general managers, coaches and scouts. Just as the Yankees scour the bushes for the next Derek Jeter, the league is looking for the next Bill Gates. Leagues have been formed in West Virginia and central Louisiana.
For more information, visit the link

A white paper from the Economist Intelligence Unit (part of The Economist) discusses the e-readiness of 69 countries across the globe. The 2007 report ranked North American and Western Europe the highest in e-readiness, with Denmark, the U.S., and Sweden at the top. The report cited significant improvements in Asia from the 2006 rankings particularly in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. The report also described how lower-tiered countries are closing the gap on the upper-tiered countries between the 2005, 2006, and 2007 rankings. It should be noted that in 2007 the model that generated the rankings somewhat differs from previous years.
Read the paper here

A survey by the Harvard Institute for Politics finds America's 18-to-24-year-olds well-traveled and well-educated, enthusiastic technophiles, civic-minded, more liberal and more positive about the global economy than the public as a whole.
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The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s June 2007, Chicago Fed Letter, includes an article on The Globalization and Rural America. According to the article, “Globalization has been a great benefit to rural America in that it has opened overseas markets for its agriculture. Yet, there is growing concern that U.S. rural communities will lose not only their share of agricultural trade but also nonfarm jobs to global competition.” The article examines how rural America can remain competitive relative to low-income countries.
View the article link here

An award named after Richard Riley, former Governor of South Carolina and U.S. Secretary of Education, aims to recognize schools that serve as centers of their community. The award program was launched in 2004 as part of an effort to support school districts and communities that make school facilities more conducive to learning and more accessible to the entire community. All public schools are eligible to submit entries. For more information, including an online application form as well as profiles of past winners, go to the website. The application deadline is July 9, 2007.  

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There are more than 200 interstate compacts in existence today, with at least 76 focused on environment and natural resource issues, says a new report by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO). These include such compacts as the Arkansas River Basin Compact and the Gulf State Marine Fisheries Compact. The report takes a detailed look at the varied approaches used to administer environment and natural resource compacts, including issues related to structure, governance and accountability.  
 
 
 
 
 

Access the report here

According to the article, Policy Options for a New Rural America, changing demographics and industrial restructuring suggest different policy needs for today’s rural communities, says the latest issue of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s magazine, Amber Waves. “Strategies to generate new employment and income opportunities, develop local human resources, and build and expand critical infrastructure hold the most promise for enhancing the economic opportunities and well-being of rural America.”
View the article link here

The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) recently published the results of listening sessions on entrepreneurship held across the South. The report, Voices of the People: Strategies for Expanding Entrepreneurship in the Rural South, issues recommendations and case studies on creating an entrepreneur-friendly climate in the region. The “must do” items include cutting red tape for new companies, providing entrepreneurship training at the K-12 and postsecondary level and redirecting funds that traditionally support big companies towards smaller entrepreneurs.
Access the report here

The National Center for Education Statistics published a report, Event Dropout Rates for Public School Students in Grades 9-12: 2002–03 and 2003–04, documenting high school “event” dropout rates, by state, for the 2002-03 and 2003-04 school years. Event dropout rates measure the percent of ninth to 12th graders leaving high school in one year. The report accounts for students who leave high school to pursue a GED by defining a dropout as an “individual enrolled in school at some time during the previous school year, who was not enrolled on October 1 of the current school year, and did not graduate from high school or complete some other district- or state-approved educational program.” Dropout rates in 2003-04, ranged from a low of 1.8 percent to a high of 7.9 percent. 
 
 
 
 
 

Access the report here

With support from the Lumina Foundation, the Council on Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) is offering a one-time grant to a state-based team currently planning or developing Lifetime Learning Accounts (LiLAs). LiLAs are portable employer-funded savings accounts used to finance education and training and education—like a 401(k) for skill building and career advancement. CAEL is already conducting multi-sector demonstrations in Chicago, Northeast Indiana, and San Francisco and the grant is intended to help a state team leverage additional resources in support of a new LiLA initiative.
For more information, visit the link

Biotech 2007, the 16th annual conference that showcases North Carolina’s thriving life science community, will be held May 14-15 at the Durham Marriott Civic Center in Durham, NC. Presented by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and NCBIO, the conference attracts more than 800 industry executives. Keynote speakers include stem cell researcher Dr. Tony Atala, alternative energy advocate Senator Tom Daschle and British technology transfer expert Tony Hickson.
For more information, visit the link

Nanotechnology promises to change not only what we produce, but how we produce it. Green Nanotechnology: It's Easier Than You Think, a report from the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, identifies how "green" principles are influencing nanotechnology research. By embracing the values of "green chemistry" and "green engineering" nanotechnology researchers are developing processes and products that use less energy and create little waste in producing nanoproducts. In addition, researchers are using nanotechnology to develop products, such as solar cells and water filtration devices, to create better products for a greener world. Researchers hope that by taking this approach, nanotechnology will be environmentally friendly and environmentally beneficial from the start.
Access the report here

The Licensing Executives Society (LES) Spring Meeting will be held May 
 
16-18 in Atlanta. The meeting will highlight the economic and innovation impact of technology-based businesses, with a focus on the role of intellectual property in starting and sustaining new companies. Speakers include senior management from Bayer, General Electric, Georgia Institute of Technology, and NASCAR.
For more information, visit the link

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is continuing to focus on globalization issues with the release of its 2006 Annual Report, The Best of All Worlds: Globalizing the Knowledge Economy and a new staff paper called Globalization, Aggregate Productivity and Inflation. Dallas Fed President Richard W. Fisher says, “My favorite theme has been the need to better understand the ramifications of ongoing global integration for our economy and the conduct of monetary policy.” The bank’s chief economist, W. Michael Cox, is the author of the “Best of All Worlds” lead essay and the staff paper previously referenced. Speaking to the rise of knowledge, Cox says, “Over the past 35 years, literacy spread from 63 percent to 82 percent of the world’s population. Average years of schooling rose from 5.1 in 1970 to 6.7 today. The global supply of college graduates has more than doubled since 1980.”
Access the report here

“Internationalization of Regional Innovation” is the theme for a conference in Fairfax, VA and Washington, DC June 6-8, organized by The Technopolicy Network. Researcher Richard Florida, Science Advisor to the President John Marburger, and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine are among the scheduled speakers. The conference brochure says that Chinese and Indian-run businesses represent more than 30 percent of Silicon Valley’s high tech businesses, and that, “Internationalization is the fastest way for a start-up to become a gazelle.” The organizers say that the conference will focus on “...international strategies and cooperation between innovative regions.”
For more information, visit the link

This week’s National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship newsletter reports on the 2007 World Survey on Globalization and Trade from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org. According to the survey results, “...globalization is remarkably strong around the world.” Seventeen countries plus the Palestine territories were surveyed, with a majority in fourteen of the countries agreeing that globalization is “...mostly good for their country.” The strongest positive feedback came from booming exporters China, Korea and Israel. Positive rankings fell short of a majority in Russia, Mexico and the Philippines.
Access the report here

A new report from the Corporation for National and Community Service gives a detailed breakdown of the nation’s volunteering habits, including patterns by state and region. While no Southern state reached the top ten in terms of percentage of adults volunteering (and five states were among the bottom ten), several Southern states were among those who experienced the highest rates of growth in volunteering over the past 15 years. The report also provides a ranking of civic engagement by state through a new Civic Life Index. The Index incorporates 12 indicators of engagement, from volunteer hours per capita to voting rates. Missouri was the highest ranked Southern state, at number ten.
For more information, visit the link

The Urban Institute has published a series of six essays from policy experts to help guide rebuilding efforts in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. The essays came out of a November 2006 conference held in New Orleans and sponsored by the Urban Institute and the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations. Topics addressed include affordable housing, helping children and families rebuild their lives, and the role of arts and culture. Download the publication, After Katrina: Challenges for Rebuilding Communities, and the audio files from the conference.  

Access the report here

“Seventy-two percent of Americans say that ‘the strength of this country is mostly based on the success of American business’,” according to the Pew Public Research Center. Pew’s most recent report, Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007, outlines a decade of trends in eight areas including the impact of science and technology, business labor and corporate favorability, and success, poverty and government responsibility. The Pew survey also documents differences in political views and participation between older and younger Americans. “Young people are the only age group where fewer than half (46 percent) say they completely agree with the statement, ‘I feel it’s my duty as a citizen to always vote,’ a view shared by substantial majorities of those ages 30-49 years old (62 percent), people ages 50 to 64 (71percent) and those ages 65 and older (79 percent).”
Access the report here

The Urban Institute’s March 2007 brief, Trends in the Low-Wage Immigrant Labor Force, documents the legal status, education level, and occupational choices of America’s foreign-born workers. Nationally, the number of native-born low-wage workers is declining and immigrants, particularly immigrant women help offset this decline. Immigrants also play a large role in adding younger workers to the American economy. While the number of native-born workers only increased by 4 percent between 2000 and 2005, the number of non-native born workers increased by 16 percent.
Access the report here

AeA recently released the latest edition of Cyberstates, a report documenting where technology jobs and industries are located in the U.S. Virginia has the highest concentration of high-tech employment—somewhat attributable to Washington, D.C. and the area’s large number of government information technology contractors. Technology employment is up across the nation. U.S. high-tech employment totaled 5.8 million in 2006, up by 146,600 jobs or three percent from 2005. The full Cyberstates 2007 report is available for purchase
For more information, visit the link

The number of community development venture capital funds (CDVC) has increased tremendously over the last few years. CDVC funds operate like traditional venture capital funds, but while also seeking decent returns on their investments, also promote social equity and community development. The latest issue of Community Developments Investments, a journal sponsored by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, reviews the state of CDVCs and describes model programs including programs run by Wells Fargo and by the Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation.
For more information, visit the link

The European Union recommends creating a new organization—the European Institute of Technology (EIT)—to build closer research alliances between academia, business and the public sector. This is just one recommendation of the new report, Improving Knowledge Transfer Between Research Institutions Industry across Europe: Embracing Open Innovation. The report presents a series of policy proposals to ease the transfer of knowledge from research institutions to private industry. The report contains a review of many ongoing initiatives across Europe. The report also recommends that member states devote more resources to supporting knowledge transfer between researchers and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Access the report here

On March 28th, 2007, researchers and policymakers from countries within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) came together to discuss the international mobility of researchers. The one-day symposium looked at the international flow of researchers and policy options that could build research capacity for all countries involved. Presentations focused on OECD countries as well as China and India. The presentations from the symposium can be found at the OECD website.
Visit the website here

The Harvard Business School’s “Working Knowledge for Business Leaders” is reporting that global business’ newest target sector is something of a surprise: it’s the 2.8 billion people who survive on $2 a day or less, the so-called BOP (bottom of pyramid). According to an article posted on April 4, “...business has come to realize that while BOP individuals may only have tens of dollars a year to spend, that disposable income, multiplied several billion times over, represents significant purchasing power.” Members of Harvard’s Global Poverty Project believe that “...business can make a profit while serving the poorest of consumers and contributing to development.” Businesses receiving high marks from the project include Nestle for supporting businesses around its dairies in rural India, CEMEX for a program of affordable payments and materials that allows BOP families to build their own housing, and Kodak for its no-frills camera/film packages.
For more information, visit the link

 
“Preparing Global Citizens” is the theme of the 2007 NAFSA—Association of International Educators annual conference. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell leads a strong lineup of speakers for the conference which offers an examination of “...the possibilities and challenges of preparing global-ready students and scholars.” According to the conference materials, “The demand for informed, open, and inspired citizens of the world is increasing, and international education professionals must help lead the way in this promising and challenging frontier.” The conference will be held May 27-June 1 in Minneapolis.
For more information, visit the link

“...As a nation, our business leaders, training institutions, and future workforce are woefully unprepared to meet the challenges of globalization,” according to an article in Economic Development America, written by Stephanie Bell-Rose (president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation) and Vishakh N. Desai (president of the Asia Society). The article cites a number of reasons why new skills are crucial, including the fact that U.S. companies realized more than $315 billion in overseas profits in 2004. Among the emerging key attributes for employees are sensitivity to foreign cultures, language skills and economic/entrepreneurial literacy. A recent survey of CEOs found that 72 percent need to improve their performance on a broad range of international and cultural skills.
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The Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation (KHIC) is spotlighted in the Spring 2007 issue of Community Developments Investments, an online magazine from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. KHIC has a 30-year history of investment in rural Appalachia, creating or retaining more than 10,000 jobs through investments in 455 businesses. The issue also provides other examples of community development venture capital investments that marry investment and community development goals.
For more information, visit the link

A recent article in the New York Times points to a disturbing climb in infant death rates in the South. The article, In Turnabout, Infant Deaths Climb in the South, notes that death rates in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee increased in 2005 after making steady progress for decades. While 2005 rates had not yet been released for Louisiana and South Carolina, their rates had increased in 2004. Poverty-related issues, such as health conditions and lack of transportation to doctor visits, are thought to be factors, the article suggests. One of the most striking findings is the large racial disparity in death rates, the article says, pointing to a national average of 14 deaths per thousand live births for blacks in 2003 compared to a rate of 5.7 for whites.
View the article link here

Pawsitive Living, a Birmingham, Alabama-based program designed to help at-risk teens manage anger, was recently featured as the Nonprofit Innovation of the Week by the Leader to Leader Institute. The 12-week program uses trained therapy dogs to teach youth ways to deal with stress, work cooperatively and resolve conflicts. Hands-in-Paw, the administering organization, has developed training materials that can be used to replicate the program elsewhere.
For more information, visit the link

More than 270 business and higher education leaders across the U.S. signed The American Innovation Proclamation, a contract to encourage legislation that bolsters U.S. Innovation. The proclamation urges that Congress increase federal funding for basic research, improve student math and science achievement and reform U.S. visa policies. Leaders also recommend a permanent and strengthened R&D Tax Credit to encourage more private-sector research investments. The Innovation Proclamation is a part of Tapping America’s Potential, an initiative to double the number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics baccalaureates by 2015.
For more information, visit the link

A new report, Linking NAEP Achievement Levels to TIMSS, by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) translates international academic achievement into standardized test scores that American policymakers can understand. AIR researchers link the scores of two tests, the U.S.-based, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to the international exam, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Using TIMSS results, researchers predict other country’s math and science scores on the NAEP exam. While the methodology used does not create a strong prediction of NAEP performance, the information provided “should be considered rough, ballpark estimates…used only for broad policy understandings.” The analysis does presents findings similar to other international education assessments. The results consistently rank the U.S. as 15th-20th in math and science.
Access the report here

“Kentucky has the potential to be the state that others follow to remedy the STEM crisis. We believe that collaborative and coordinated strategies to resolve the STEM crisis must engage all sectors and all citizens,” stated a recent report by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. Kentucky’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Imperative presents eight interrelated recommendations, the results of a 110-member task force charged with “developing ‘a statewide P-20 strategic action plan to accelerate Kentucky’s performance within the STEM disciplines.’” Recommendations include focusing on sustainable energy and other competitive industries to advance the state’s economy and revolutionizing STEM education by changing the way courses are taught, learned and developed.
Access the report here

Hewlett Packard (HP) will award grants to nonprofit groups that provide assistance for microenterprise programs. Awards will go to microenterprise development agencies, programs, and higher education institutions that provide start-up assistance, business training, access to capital and advice to entrepreneurs and very small businesses in underserved communities. The awards are focused on providing technology access for entrepreneurs and on training micro-entrepreneurs in the use of technology to build and grow their businesses. HP will award up to forty grants worth about $56,000 each. HP will begin accepting grant proposals via an online application system on May 8, 2007. The deadline for submitting proposals is June 5, 2007.
For more information, visit the link

Arkansas has passed a set of policies that will fund up to $140 million in technology-promotion programs. The 2007 Legislative Agenda of Accelerate Arkansas authorizes $40 million for the Arkansas Risk Capital Matching Fund, to provide financing to knowledge-based companies in early stages of development; $40 million to provide up to $10,000 for teachers who specialize in science, technology, engineering, and math, $33.5 million for research grants, $20 million for the Seed Capital Investment Program, $3 million to create Innovate Arkansas, a new nonprofit organization that will contract with state government to support the needs of start-up companies, (modeled on the i2E (innovation to enterprise) Inc. program in Oklahoma), funds to establish the Arkansas Research Alliance, a not-for-profit corporation (modeled after the Georgia Research Alliance) designed to identify and encourage job-creating scientific research and recommend strategic investments at universities in Arkansas, and $200,000 to create and fund the Task Force for the 21st Century, collecting 17 individuals to study economic development and global competitiveness in Arkansas.
For more information, visit the link

The Joint Economic Committee of Congress recently released a study on nanotechnology. The report, Nanotechnology: The Future is Coming Sooner than You Think, gives a concise overview of what nanotechnology is, how the technology has progressed, possible dangers and the role of the federal government. The report describes the need for cross-disciplinary research as well as multi-institutional funding in order to fully capitalize on the future of nanotechnology.
Access the report here

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has concluded an unusual set of talks with a Brazilian counterpart, the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo (FIESP) aimed at stimulating the Doha round of trade talks. The two manufacturing associations issued a joint statement announcing formation of a bilateral Brazil-U.S. Industrial Dialogue to “...encourage and support the Brazilian and American governments in increased efforts to obtain the balanced and ambitious DDA (Doha Development Agenda).” On the Dialogue’s agenda will be investment opportunities, trade adjustment measures, domestic reform as well as issues such as piracy and counterfeiting. The partners intend to further engage private sector representatives throughout the world to achieve their common goals.
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The Economist says that the World Bank is reporting that the number of people getting by on less than a dollar a day fell to under one billion in 2004. According to the magazine, “The most striking reduction has been in China. In 2004, 9.9 percent of the population lived on less than $1 a day, compared with 33 percent in 1990.” A little over 40 percent of world population living below the dollar a day line are in Sub-Saharan Africa, and another 30+ percent live in South Asia. Latin America and the Caribbean constitute a little less than 10 percent of the total.
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The lack of a consensus on immigration policy in Washington DC is not hindering state legislators from weighing in on the subject, according to a survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). According to the report, 57 statutes have already been enacted in 18 states, and the total number of bills proposed has doubled since last year. Overall, 1,169 immigration bills have been introduced in all 50 states. The President of NCSL, Texas state Senator Leticia Van de Putte said, “States can only do so much. It’s like we’re trying to scale a 12-foot wall with a step stool. The federal government must fix and fund the problem—now.” A Stateline.org story on the survey said that this year’s new laws include a Wyoming act to make it a crime to use false citizenship documents, an Arkansas law that prohibits state agencies from doing business with companies that employ illegal immigrants and an Oregon law which specifies that only registered lawyers can act as immigration agents.
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The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has issued a guide designed to assist Community Development Corporations (CDCs) think about, plan and become partners in joint ventures with for-profit developers. Among the topics discussed in the guide are the benefits to partnering from the perspective of both developers and CDCs, typical roles and responsibilities of each party, and organizational and management options. Vineyard Square, a 200-home townhouse development in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is among the projects profiled.
For more information, visit the link

A new report,Building Communities Through Homeownership, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development explores ways that universities have helped build homeownership in their communities. Vehicles for assistance have included research and technical assistance, financial literacy and homeownership education, financial assistance, academic programs and holistic approaches. Among the universities highlighted are Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee, Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Access the report here

“In a nation that prides itself on providing equal opportunity for all, too many low-income and minority children are falling behind their peers in school. In an increasingly competitive global arena, the United States cannot afford to ignore this widening achievement gap. What can be done to close it?” asks a recent report by the National Issues Forum (NIF). The NIF brief, Too Many Children Left Behind: How Can We Close the Achievement Gap? presents three approaches to improving the education of America’s low income and minority students. The first approach focuses on increasing expectations and accountability, while the second approach emphasizes the need for more resources. The last approach highlights the need to focus on the factors that influence education, family income, health and nutrition and parental support.
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“Most high school teachers believe that meeting their state’s standards prepares students for college-level work, (but) most postsecondary instructors disagree,” was just one of the major findings in a recent ACT publication. The report, Aligning Postsecondary Expectations and High School Practice: The Gap Defined, presents what postsecondary institutions believe is important and necessary for entering college students to know and what middle and high school teachers are teaching. The Gap Defined includes the results from a survey involving more 6,500 middle school, high school, and postsecondary English, reading, math, and science teachers.
Access the report here

Bobby Harrell, Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, recently wrote an article for the USC Moore School of Business' Business & Economic Review on growing the Hydrogen Energy industry in the state. With the Savannah River site, the National Science Foundation’s Center for Fuel Cell Research, and the International Center for Automotive Research located in South Carolina, Harrell sees the state as being "on the edge of what could become a multi-trillion dollar industry in the next 20 years - the beginning of the hydrogen revolution." To usher in this new industry, Harrell points to the need for developing and attracting hydrogen-related businesses and developing a workforce that is proficient in math science, and engineering.
View the article link here

As part of the Innovation America initiative, the National Governor's Association (NGA) recently announced a request for proposals for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Center. Proposals can focus on developing a new center, supporting the development of a network of centers, or supporting the refocusing of a current center. There will be six grants awarded for up to $500,000 over two years. Proposals must be submitted by Governors and received no later than May 15, 2007.
For more information, visit the link

A recent report to the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation reviews the Foundation's efforts in stimulating an Open Educational Resources (OER) Movement. This movement focuses on using technology to make high-quality curricula available to everyone by means similar to open-source software. The report sees the OER movement has having nurtured a culture of sharing between individuals and institutions and suggests the next step is to develop an open participatory learning infrastructure (OPLI) that would include institutional practices, technical infrastructure and social norms.
Access the report here

A recent paper from the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics says that world real GDP growth was up to just over five percent in 2006, but that growth should be more like 4.5 percent in 2007 and 2008. The paper also says, “The danger of entering recession over the next year or so has gone up in the United States to roughly double its normal level but does not exceed Alan Greenspan’s recent suggestion of only about a one-third chance.” Aside from country-specific risks, the paper identifies four important risks to global growth over the next two years: volatile commodity prices (particularly oil), inflation pressures, the pace of growth in equity markets, and international payment imbalances. Overall the paper, presented by Institute Senior Fellow Michael Mussa at the semiannual meeting on Global Economic Prospects, is optimistic, “...that the current global expansion that has sustained a remarkable four consecutive years of better than four percent real growth will continue for at least another two years.”
Read the paper here

The United Nations takes a slightly more cautionary point of view in the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2007, saying “...the world economy is expected to decelerate in 2007, with the growth of world gross product (WGP) moderating to a pace of 3.2 percent.” The UN report says that the United States economy will be the major drag in the global slowdown, with a “weakened housing market” the major culprit. The report says that no other major economy is positioned to take up the slack, with Europe’s growth projected at around two percent and Japan’s below that. The UN does see substantial growth in developing countries and economies in transition, however, with 6.5 percent growth forecast for developing countries and 7.2 percent growth forecast for economies in transition.
Access the report here

U.S. Chamber Senior Vice President Lt. General (retired) Dan Christman delivered an address to the Harvard Business School titled “Doing Business with China: The Glass is Still Half Full.” Christman said that, “...no market is more appealing, exciting, or more challenging than China.” He noted that in the past 25 years, China has seen its economy help more than 400 million people out of poverty, has jointed numerous multilateral organizations, and “...created one of the most dynamic and exciting environments for foreign investment.” Within just the past ten years, he said, China has moved from our 15th largest export market to our third largest. In 2005, service sector exports to China exceeded $3 billion. According to Christman, “U.S. Service sector exports are growing more rapidly to China than to any other country.” Moreover, he cited that the number of small and medium sized manufacturers exporting to China is up over 500 percent since 1992. However, Christman also points to rising economic nationalism in China as a significant risk to the continuing growth of trade between the U.S. and China. He outlined a series of U.S. Chamber-backed recommendations to improve the opportunities for trade with China, including patent law reform, pushing back on new industrial policies and monitoring WTO implementation.
Read the paper here

Baton Rouge, Louisiana will be the host for the 2007 Neighborhoods, USA conference – an event focused on creating and strengthening neighborhood organizations. “Bridging Our Communities” is the theme for this year’s conference, scheduled for May 23-26, 2007. Six workshop tracks will focus on: 1) building healthy neighborhood organizations; 2) celebrating arts and culture; 3) creating safe and livable communities; 4) development and redevelopment of our communities; 5) healing humanity; and 6) nurturing and empowering youth. Mack McCarter, Coordinator for the Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal Program and a member of Southern Growth’s Council on the Southern Community, will give a keynote address.
For more information, visit the link

“More and more jurisdictions are using structured mechanisms — mail and telephone surveys or focus groups — to assess citizen priorities, get a sense of whether voters are happy with city services and solicit feedback about specific program and service areas,” reports a recent article in Governing. The article, Polling the Populace, provides a number of examples of citizen engagement efforts, including Clearwater, Florida’s monthly breakfasts that bring council members together with a small group of citizens in an informal settin
View the article link here

The Congress for the New Urbanism recently announced the recipients of its 2007 Charter Awards, an annual prize honoring the best of New Urbanism principles. Among the 25 winners were 11 projects from the South, including projects in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Several of the projects are related to Gulf-Coast recovery efforts, including the Louisiana Speaks Pattern Book, described as “a pattern book showing the re-emerging housing industry in southern Louisiana how to honor traditions in building design and neighborhood form that are deeply ingrained in the Louisiana way of life but are in danger of being lost in the wake of 2005’s major hurricanes.”
For more information, visit the link

On May 2, 2007, Southern Growth Policies Board and the Tennessee Valley Corridor Board will be hosting a one-day workshop, Leveraging Our Nation’s Military Expertise to Advance the Corridor’s Education and Technology Base, for stakeholders in the Greater Knoxville area. This meeting represents the first stage in the Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) Initiative, a strategy to recruit exiting military personnel into the South’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Convening participants will develop a timely strategy to attract these diverse and technically proficient former servicemen to the Northeastern region of Tennessee. The event is by invitation only, but for more information contact Sandra Johnson at: sjohnson@southern.org 

“Is excellent education for all of America’s children a good investment?” asks a new report from Columbia University. According to researchers, 23 percent of males and 15 percent of females leave the education system without a high school degree. If served effectively, these dropouts would each add $65,000-$150,000 to our nation’s economy in wages and reduced health care, crime and public services expenditures. Reducing America’s high school dropout rate by just 20 percent would create a net economic benefit of $18 billion. The report, An Excellent Education for All of America’s Children, accounts for the costs of providing a quality education using four well-known and successful education intervention models.
Access the report here

Join parents and educators in a discussion on what it takes to improve American education by watching the U.S. Department of Education television show, Education News Parents Can Use. The show airs on the third Tuesday of each month across the U.S., and gives viewers the opportunity to ask questions of the experts—educators, community and business leaders and concerned parents—drawn from across the country. This month’s show, Charters and School Choice, will air Tuesday, April 17, 2007 from 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM ET. For more information on viewing options visit Ways to Watch. General information on Education News Parents Can Use is available.
For more information, visit the link

A new report from The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation catalogues what is known about the economic impact of information and communications technology (IT). The report, Digital Prosperity: Understanding the Economic Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution, examines the impact of IT in five key areas: 1) productivity; 2) employment; 3) more efficient markets; 4) higher quality goods and services; and 5) innovation and new products and services. The report finds that the integration of IT into virtually all aspects of the economy and society is creating a digitally-enabled economy that is responsible for generating the lion’s share of economic growth and prosperity, both here and abroad, including in developing nations. The “IT engine” does not appear likely to run out of gas anytime soon and should power robust growth for at least the next decade, provided that policy makers take the right steps. Toward that end, the report lays out five key public policy principles for driving digital prosperity: 1) give the digital economy its due; 2) actively encourage digital innovation and transformation of economic sectors; 3) use the tax code to spur IT investment; 4) encourage universal digital literacy and adoption; and 5) do no harm.
Access the report here

A new report shows that 16.6 percent of the 2005 U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) was directly attributable to the $2.1 trillion in revenues received by venture-backed U.S. companies, while the $23 billion of VC invested in 2005 only equaled 0.2 percent of GDP. The report, Venture Impact: The Economic Importance of Venture Capital Backed Companies to the U.S., prepared by Global Insight and the National Venture Capital Association, concludes that venture-backed companies outperform other firms in job creation, revenue growth and overall contribution to state economies. The report states employment at companies that received investment from venture capital firms grew three times more quickly than their non-venture-backed counterparts between 2003 and 2005. With 10 million employees, venture-backed companies account for nine percent of U.S. private sector employment. With much of the health of the nation's economy hinging on the relatively small venture industry, the groups recommend that federal and state governments pursue policies that support the venture industry, such as increasing funding for basic R&D.
Access the report here

New and aspiring small businesses can learn how to apply for, and what it takes to win, some of the $2 billion in U.S. Government R&D investments in technology at the 2007 Spring National Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Conference, held on April 30 to May 3 in Research Triangle Park, NC. The Small Business Innovation Research program funds high-risk projects at the earliest stages of technology development and works with the company through commercialization.
For more information, visit the link

Forbes.com features a lead story called "Why Globalization is Good," with a subheading that reads, "Multinationals are trashed as exploiters of the poorest people on the planet. Wrong, wrong, wrong." The article reminds readers of the World Trade Organization riots in Seattle in 1999, which followed a proclamation against globalization. According to Forbes, "Cut to 2007, and the numbers are in: the protesters and do-gooders are just plain wrong. It turns out that globalization is good--and not just for the rich, but especially for the poor." The article goes on to say that economic progress in China and India has resulted in more than 200 million people moving out of poverty. It estimates that almost one billion people in Asia will move into the middle class in the next eight years.
For more information, visit the link

The Public Agenda's Foreign Policy Index reports that "Public anxiety about America's place in the world has reached troubling levels." The Index is developed in cooperation with Foreign Policy Magazine and is updated every six months. Among the current findings, 84 percent are "...worried about the way things are going for the United States in world affairs," and 82 percent, "...say the world is becoming more dangerous for the United States and its people. Also, 68 percent "...believe the rest of the world sees the United States negatively."
Access the report here

The President of the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank's Director for Brazil, and three deans of major medical schools are among the featured speakers for Navigating the Global South: Global Health and Regional Solutions, an April 19-20th conference, sponsored by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Center for Global Initiatives. The conference will explore "...regional approaches to public health and ask what experiences translate between the American South and other world regions."
For more information, visit the link

An article in the April 2007 issue of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Amber Waves explores the importance of the “creative class” for rural growth in the 1990s. According to the analysis, about 11 percent of non-metro counties ranked in the top quarter of all counties in terms of the proportion of residents employed in creative class occupations. Counties high in natural amenities, as well as those dominated by colleges and universities, were most likely to be “creative class magnets.” New England and the mountain areas of the West were found to have higher shares of rural creative class counties than the Midwest and South.
Access the report here

Are you interested in growth issues, but were not able to attend the recent New Partners for Smart Growth conference? Now available on the web are more than 100 PowerPoint presentations from that conference. Topics range from “Jobs and Housing: Promoting Balance” to “Turning Regional Policies into Local Plans.”
For more information, visit the link

The Kentucky “Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) developed a five-step plan that, if realized, would double the number of four-year degree holders in Kentucky’s adult population. This means that by the year 2020 32 percent, an additional 178,000, of the state’s adult workers would hold bachelor’s degrees. Implementing all five steps of the CPE plan: 1) increasing post-secondary participation and quality, 2) improving the GED to college transitions, 3) funneling more first time students through the technical college system 4) raising high school graduation rates and 5) increasing in-migration of educated workers, would increase Kentucky’s per capita income by $36,000, an additional $4,000 per capita when compared to current projections.
Read the paper here

“The value of an additional year of education peaked at 13.5 percent in 1993 and has since fallen to 12.7 percent in 2005.” New research from the Chicago Federal Reserve asks, “Why has the economic value of education stopped rising over the past ten years?” Economists Cecilia Rouse and Lisa Barrow associate the stagnating value of education with the rising cost of non-monetary compensation, such as health benefits, and the economic boom of the late 1990’s that raised wages for workers of all skill levels.
Access the report here

Want to hear from CEO’s from a diverse set of high-growth companies describe the workforce strategies they use? Then attend the SJF Ventures Fund event, The Winning Workforces CEO Panel, in Atlanta, Georgia on April 25, 2007. At Winning Workforces, CEOs will share how to develop and retain skilled employees in an increasingly global, knowledge based economy, while creating great places to work for both entry-level and white-collar positions. The daylong event will feature executives from the information technology, construction and tele-services industries, among others.
For more information, visit the link

Time is running out to register for the Southern BioProducts and Renewable Energy Conference that will take place at the Golden Moon Hotel and Casino in Choctaw, Mississippi on April 16-18. Hosted by the Mississippi Biomass Council, the conference will feature more than 40 speakers on renewable energy including Dr. David Bransby, internationally acclaimed professor of energy crops at Auburn University, and a workshop with Renewable Energy Entrepreneurs.
For more information, visit the link

Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Task Force released its final report containing eight recommendations to accelerate Kentucky’s performance in STEM disciplines. The report, Kentucky’s STEM Imperative: Competing in the Global Economy, provides a comprehensive plan to boost STEM performance in government, business, and P-12 and postsecondary education. The eight recommendations of the task force include a statewide public awareness campaign, incentives for students, teachers and institutions, changes in how STEM subjects are taught, and targeting of energy sustainability problems and opportunities in Kentucky and the nation as a primary objective of statewide STEM enhancements.
Access the report here

The International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON) hosts the Virtual Journal of Nanotechnology Environment, Health and Safety. The Journal is published monthly and provides links and citations to articles published in other journals that are related to environmental, health and safety issues of nanotechnology.
Visit the website here

A new study by the Small Business Administration classifies innovative firms by their business models instead of classifying them by the goods or services that they produce. The study, Identification of the Technology Commercialization Strategies of High-tech Small Firms, found that high technology small firms tend to have common strategies, while their less innovative competitors tend to have varied strategies. Such firms can be categorized as R&D organization or contractor, product solutions provider, highly specialized component/module/consumable or raw materials suppler, and specialized subcontractor.
Access the report here

The United States announced that it will impose "...potentially steep" tariffs on Chinese imports to protect American paper producers from Chinese government subsidies. According to the International Herald Tribune, the move "...reverses 23 years of U.S. Trade policy by treating China, which is classified as a 'nonmarket economy,' in the same way that other U.S. trading partners are treated in disputes involving government subsidies." Imports of glossy paper will see tariffs of 10.9 percent to 20.4 percent imposed immediately, with a review to determine the final penalties. The move came after the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the administration has the right to levee such sanctions. It is seen as a part of a "get tough" approach in response to soaring U.S. trade deficits.
For more information, visit the link

A major pharmaceutical firm has developed an entirely new business model to provide inexpensive drugs for neglected diseases in developing nations. BBC News reports that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has filed for permission to market Globorix, a meningitis vaccine, to Africa at prices that may never recover its research costs. GSK chief executive Jean-Pierre Garnier says, "We have found a pretty clever way to fund therapeutic solutions for the developing world without essentially sacrificing the more traditional research we do on diseases around the world." Major pharmaceutical firms were heavily criticized a few years ago for suing African nations in an effort to prevent the distribution of cheap generic versions of patented drugs. While the industry has devoted as much as $2.5 billion to develop medicines for neglected diseases, GSK is the first to bring such a medicine to Africa at such a low price. The vaccine is targeted at strains of meningitis that afflict children and can kill in as little as six hours.
For more information, visit the link

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is encouraged by developments at the Global Intellectual Property (IP) Protection and Innovation Forum held in Beijing on March 27-28. In a statement released at the Forum's conclusion, the Chamber hailed the "...sense of responsibility that was espoused to all stakeholders to promote IPR education in schools, government, among businesses, and the general public." The Chamber said that the forum demonstrated a growing global consensus on matters such as the role of governments in supporting basic education, training a technology proficient workforce, funding basic scientific research, and making that research available for commercialization." The Chamber also cited important progress on the need for better protection of intellectual property rights, without which innovation is undermined and market order is threatened.
For more information, visit the link

The Central High School Memory Project in Little Rock, Arkansas is featured in the spring issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine. The project grew out of an effort to create a curriculum that could be used nationwide to promote discussion and learning around efforts to integrate Central High School in 1957 – lessons such as how some have been excluded from the benefits of democracy, what it means to act heroically and what it takes to change society. As part of the curriculum, students have conducted taped interviews with older relatives about their memories of the civil rights movement, turning these recollections into written essays. More than 250 essays will be archived online by the time of the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine.
View the article link here

The National Association of Counties is seeking nominees for its Sustainable Communities Awards Program. The program recognizes counties whose innovative collaborations are leading the effort to create sustainable communities through economic enhancement, environmental stewardship, and social responsibility. In addition to other recognitions, one Platinum Innovation Award winner will receive $10,000 and $5,000 each will be awarded to up to three Outstanding Practices Award recipients. Applications for the 2007 competition are currently being accepted and are due May 11, 2007.
For more information, visit the link

The most recent analysis from a long-term study funded by the National Institutes of Health found both positive and negative effects from early childcare. While the study found that high quality early child care was linked to better vocabulary scores in the 5th grade, it also found that the more time spent in early child care the more likely 6th grade students were to have been reported by their teachers for problem behavior. Both the positive vocabulary effects and negative behavior effects were said to be small. Researchers found that parenting quality was a much more important predictor of childhood development.
For more information, visit the link

"Seventy-seven million baby boomers will begin to leave the workforce over the next 10-years. Who will take their place?" asks a new report by the Center for American Progress and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In light of the potential worker shortage, the report lists four action items needed to improve the quality of K-12 education in the U.S.:

1) Better teaching-provide the resources, training, and working conditions for teacher to be effective,

2) More innovation-give federal, state, and district leaders the room to be innovative,

3) Better data-improve the accuracy and depth of the information collected,

4) Better management-use data to hold teachers and policy makers accountable and decision-making.

The full report, A Joint Platform for Education Reform, is available online.
Access the report here

The North Carolina Department of Commerce recently released, The State of the North Carolina Workforce, a report outlining the demand and supply of North Carolina workers from 2007-2017. In conjunction with the release of the report, the Department organized three community forums throughout the state to share and discuss the results with constituents. The report projects a "talent shortage" where the demand for skilled labor outstrips the supply of skilled workers. The biggest talent shortage will be for workers with a two-year degree or technical certification or those in management, business, financial and administration occupations.
For more information, visit the link

According to a press release from Lux Research, a private nanotechnology research company, countries like China, India, and Russia are beginning to challenge the U.S., Japan, Germany, and South Korea as leaders in nanotechnology research and commercialization. When controlling for the cost of living, China comes in second, only behind the U.S. in government spending on nanotechnology. China also has the second largest number of nanotechnology publications in the world. Not only has China made significant gains, but other countries continue to encroach upon the U.S.' number one ranking in all categories.
Read the news release here

Technology Review (TR) magazine has announced its annual list of new significant technologies. TR’s 2007 list covers many fields including medicine, energy and the Internet. On the health care/biotech front, hot technologies include nanohealing, neuron control, and single cell analysis. All of these tools will transform how doctors diagnose and treat diseases like Parkinson’s and depression. In the energy sector, quantum-dots, tiny crystals of semiconductors that are only nanometers wide, may help make solar power more efficient and cost competitive. Finally, peer-to-peer video network tools may enhance Internet capacity.
For more information, visit the link

Now that the Appellate Court of California has sided with the state, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is poised to be the largest investor in stem cell research in the world. Even during the litigation, Governor Schwarzengger allowed the borrowing of funds in order to approve 72 grants totaling nearly $45 million at 20 California institutions. Another $80 million in grants will be considered in March. At that point, California will become the world’s leading funder of stem cell research.
Read the news release here

Global Integration and the Pacific Partnership is the theme for the National Association of Business Economists annual meeting in San Francisco on September 9-11. The conference will examine U.S. business, financial and political relations with Pacific Rim nations. Among the topics to be pursued will be China's continued amassing of huge reserves, the development of Asian stock markets, the potential for the U.S. venture capital community to invest more in Pacific companies, port congestion as a potential brake on trade, and how the U.S. can focus on the Asian "prize" without forfeiting markets in Europe.
For more information, visit the link

"Four billion low-income consumers, a majority of the world’s population, constitute the base of the economic pyramid (BOP)," according to The Next Four Billion, a new report from the World Resources Institute. Previous discussions of this emerging market have relied on rough estimates and case studies. The Next Four Billion includes new data to measure market opportunity. The report addresses the BOP by country and by region, focusing on market size and consumer ability-to-pay in areas such as water and sanitation, energy, IT/telecom, healthcare and financial services. It was made known to Southern Growth by the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship.
Access the report here

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is sponsoring "Access to Opportunity in Central America and the Caribbean," an international investment conference on May 15-17 in San Salvador, El Salvador. The conference will ..."highlight investment opportunities in the region, to encourage the formation of joint ventures and partnerships between U.S. and local businesses, and to facilitate support for new investments." The conference will pay particular attention to investment opportunities in infrastructure, energy, tourism, franchising, financial services, and housing.
For more information, visit the link

Cape Charles/Northampton County (VA), Jackson (MS), Kansas City (MO) and St. Louis (MO) are among the communities highlighted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as Brownfields Showcase Communities. These are communities that have cleaned-up and redeveloped abandoned or underused industrial and commercial properties suffering from environmental contamination. Cape Charles is featured for the development of “the nation’s first eco-industrial park,” Jackson for the revitalization of its downtown historic district, St. Louis for promoting collaboration across city and state lines, and Kansas City for the restoration of historic Union Station.
For more information, visit the link

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently accepting applications for the sixth annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This competition is open to public-sector entities that have used smart growth principles to improve communities environmentally, socially, and economically. Applications are being sought in five categories: 1) Overall Excellence in Smart Growth; 2) Built Projects; 3) Policies and Regulations; 4) Equitable Development; and 5) Waterfront and Coastal Communities. The application deadline is April 3, 2007. Winners will be recognized at a ceremony Washington, D.C. in November 2007.
For more information, visit the link

Fifty percent of high school students are bored in class, according to a new Indiana University survey. Seventy five percent of students attribute their boredom to a lack of interest in classroom material and 31 percent said that they have “ no interaction with the teacher.” The High School Survey of Student Engagement reflects the opinions and aspirations of more 80,000 students across 26 states including five Southern Growth states—AL, TN, VA, MO and OK. When asked why they enjoy or attend school, the desire to attend college and the opportunity to socialize with peers received the most responses at 73 percent and 68 percent, respectively. Students spend a majority of their time outside of school socializing with friends, working and practicing a sport or musical instrument.
Access the report here

The midterm results of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s High School Honor Program (HSH) are now available. HSH, operated through the National Governor’s Association, is an effort to assist ten states including three Southern Growth states—AR, LA and VA—in improving high school graduates’ college and work readiness. Within HSH’s first two years, states have established more rigorous graduation requirements, aligned high school standards with college expectations, expanded opportunities for students to take college level courses, while still in high school, and linked high school and post-secondary education data systems.
For more information, visit the link

The National Center for Education Statistics recently updated its State Education Reform website (SER), an online compilation of state-level reform efforts in four areas: 1) standards, assessment, and accountability; 2) school finance; 3) resources for learning; and 4) school choice. According to the SER website, only eight states linked K-12 education data systems with state higher education databases during the 2005-06 school year, one of which was Georgia. Seven Southern Growth states—AL, GA, LA, MO, NC, SC and VA—were among the 23 states that disaggregate and publish high school graduation rates by race, income, limited English proficiency and/or special education.
For more information, visit the link

A new analysis of state entrepreneurship education programs, Entrepreneurship Education Laws in the States, shows that on the whole, states are not doing much to support entrepreneurship education. The Education Commission of the States (ECS) has found that only nine states have legislation specifically addressing entrepreneurship at the K-12 level, and only 14 states address legislation at the post-secondary level.
Access the report here

A self-assessment of Maine’s return on its $296 million investment in R&D found that "The private sector recipients of the state's investments are reporting higher job growth (6.8 percent) than the average Maine economy (0.5 percent) and much higher average wages ($38,825), strongly suggests that they are contributing to this improvement in Maine's overall economic situation." However, the evaluation also concluded that the R&D investments had the unintended consequence of actually reducing the share of industry R&D within the state.
Access the report here

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) recently published a report outlining a policy plan for supporting and developing the biofuels industry. The report, The Promise of Biofuels, describes the potential role of government to encourage the development of first and second generation biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel, and creating a market for biofuels to compete. The paper explores policies such as putting a price on carbon emissions, increasing research and development for biofuels, and building a national distribution infrastructure.
Access the report here

Following its recent survey on the American South, The Economist's current issue features a survey on the European Union. Noting that the Union has been more successful that expected when the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957, the magazine's Europe Editor, John Peet, argues for a need to refocus on economic reform and expansion of the Union's membership. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to use the upcoming Berlin summit to, "...issue a ringing declaration about the values and successes of the EU." With two countries (France and the Netherlands) rejecting the EU Constitution in recent years, two ex-EU presidents evaluate the Union as being in deep crisis. However, even with that background, the survey notes that "...the EU has agreed on a seven-year budget and set out ambitious plans for an energy policy and for tackling climate change."
View the article link here

According to the Brookings Institute, "...a consensus has developed that institutional development is key to both faster economic development and policies that contribute to improved conditions for the poorest members of society." That assumption is at the heart of a conference being held this week at Johns Hopkins University and Brookings, co-sponsored by Brookings and the Nitze School of Advanced Studies at the University. The conference description notes that domestic demand for "...accountability by voters and civil society entities (such as community groups, research institutes and independent media organizations)..." is as important as donor and funder insistence on such controls.
For more information, visit the link

The announcement that Halliburton is moving its corporate headquarters to Dubai has set off debates on outsourcing and politics as well as provided fodder for late night comics. Less obvious is the question of economic opportunity in the Middle East and the availability of opportunities for Southern businesses. The U.S. Commercial Service has made Saudi Arabia its, "Market of the Month" on its website, which notes that the nation's bilateral trade with the U.S. topped $38 billion in 2006. According to the Service, "American firms are expected to make significant inroads into the areas of education and training and financial services, which have been opened up to foreign companies. Desalination plant construction, power generation, public transportation, and mining represent other major growth areas for U.S. companies."
For more information, visit the link

“Many rural counties throughout the South have hopes of spurring economic development by attracting a share of the increasing number of migrating retirees,” points out the University of Tennessee’s Institute for Public Service (IPS) in a new report on retiree recruitment. Using Cumberland County, Tennessee as a case study, an area in which one in five residents moved to the community as a retiree, the report examines both the positive and negative impacts of retiree immigration on rural communities. According to IPS, the idea for the study came out of community forums on rural development that IPS hosted in 2006 as part of Southern Growth’s community forum process. Among the key findings of the study were positive impacts, such as an increase in the number and variety of employment opportunities, mixed impacts, such as differences in expectations and values within the community and negative impacts, such as increased traffic congestion. In addition to data analysis, the study included interviews with more than 40 community leaders, a telephone survey of more than 700 local residents and a series of focus group discussions.
Access the report here

Five Southern communities are among the Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2007 named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In addition to New Orleans, Charlottesville, Virginia was recognized for its “captivating blend of colorful history, distinctive architecture and Southern hospitality,” and Hillsborough, North Carolina for capitalizing on “ distinctive heritage, eye-catching natural beauty and proximity to the nearby business and academic centers of Raleigh-Durham and the Research Triangle.” Little Rock, Arkansas “offers a wide range of attractions - from historic neighborhoods to a presidential library” and Morgantown, West Virginia “is home to one of the nation's top research centers, West Virginia University, and some of the most magnificent mountain scenery imaginable,” added the National Trust in describing the unique attributes of each of the 12 chosen communities.
For more information, visit the link

A new guidebook from the Urban Land Institute offers lessons for those interested in developing a regional vision for future growth. The guidebook focuses on Reality Check, a one-day, participatory, regional visioning exercise inspired by Envision Utah. This practical guide covers everything from costs to physical set-up. Appendices include sample materials, such as agendas and invitations, as well as case studies and lessons learned by com. The guidebook and appendices are available for download.
Access the toolkit here

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) recently published the brief, Some Best Practices and Strategies for Engaging and Retaining Older Workers. The paper identifies key challenges in developing a mature workforce, including employer perceptions about the cost of hiring and retaining older workers and the need for mature workers to update skills. To overcome these obstacles, the report highlights best practices and lessons learned. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce will host a briefing and panel discussion on the GAO report, Engaging and Retaining Older Worker on Monday, March 26th from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Read the paper here

“Providing a competitive workforce will become significantly more difficult in some areas of the Commonwealth, according to 2006 population estimates by age and gender developed by the Demographics and Workforce section of the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.” The Weldon Cooper brief, Age Estimates Show Rural Virginia Short of Younger Workers, highlights the distribution of “the emerging workforce,” (individuals aged 18-24), baby boomers and immigrants, three groups key to the state’s labor force.
Read the paper here

Manpower’s Chief Financial Officer, Michael Van Handel commented on the “looming ‘war on talent’ and its global implications” in a recent interview. According to the Manpower CEO, “talent shortages, both in the U.S. and abroad will continue for the next several decades.” He contributed the talent shortage to a variety of demographic factors including the pending baby boomer retirement. To overcome the pending worker shortage, Van Handel recommends addressing career development issues on an employee-by-employee basis and building more flexibility into jobs. The interview also highlighted current and forthcoming worker shortages in specific industries.
For more information, visit the link

Five Oklahoma businesses are the first winners of nearly $1.25 million in the Oklahoma Nanotechnology Applications Project (ONAP) award. Awarded by OCAST, the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, the program provides financial support and technical services for the application of nanotechnology in Oklahoma's business and manufacturing community. Michael Carolina, executive director of OCAST and a Southern Technology Council member, said, "The emerging field of nanotechnology is globally recognized as a transformational technology and the third great mega trend that will have a profound impact on all aspects of life. Our goal is to establish Oklahoma as a key player in nanotechnology and create an environment conducive to the rapid development and commercialization of nanotechnology." The Oklahoma Legislature created ONAP last session.
Visit the website here

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has produced its periodic State New Economy Index, which, according to the Foundation, assesses “the extent to which the 50 state economies are structured according to the tenets of the New Economy.” The report, which updates the 2002 State New Economy Index, shows the usual suspects as winners: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, and California (the report’s indicators usually reward urban environments).
Access the report here

The Mississippi Biomass Council is hosting the 6th annual Southern BioProducts and Renewable Energy Conference April 16-18 at the Pearl River Resort in Choctaw, Mississippi. With the theme of "Success Stories in a Growing Industry," the conference will focus on the South's strengths and how the region can harness those strengths for development. Speakers include representatives from the Environmental Law & Policy Center, the Governor's Ethanol Coalition and Southern Growth Policies Board.
For more information, visit the link

Google continues to expand its global capability with a variety of language tools. There is an automatic text translator that allows users to translate most any text from English to a dozen or so other languages and vice versa. This site also allows users to set their Google interface to languages from Afrikaans to Zulu. There are also links to Google's Sites in local domains ranging from Antigua to Zimbabwe, with stops in localities like the Isle of Man and Moldova.
Visit the website here

A new study from the Urban Institute finds that the economic impact of immigrants on low-wage, native-born workers is mixed. Focusing on the period of 2000-2005, the study says that "...employment and labor force participation rates fell for the least-educated native-born workers." However, the study also says, "...improvements in the educational attainment of natives, especially women, contributed to the declining numbers of native workers in the low-wage workforce." As of 2005, immigrants represented more than 20% of the nation's low-wage workers and almost half of workers without a high school education.
For more information, visit the link

In testimony before the Budget Committee of the United States Senate, Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, has urged the U.S. to pursue a conversion of current budget deficits into "...modest surpluses a la 1998-2001." Bergsten called the nation's growing international trade and current account imbalances "...the single greatest threat to the continued prosperity and stability of the United States and world economies." Noting that the nation's current position requires an international funding requirement of about $8 billion per working day, Bergsten says that we are at risk because of "...the potential share reduction, or even elimination or reversal, of the very large capital inflows" that are required to finance our external deficits at debt."
For more information, visit the link

Increasing the Availability of Affordable Homes, a new guidebook from Homes for Working Families, identifies 22 policies that state and local leaders can implement to increase the supply of affordable housing. The policies are organized into the following six strategy areas: 1) expand the availability of sites for affordable homes; 2) reduce red tape and other regulatory barriers; 3) harness the power of strong housing markets; 4) generate additional capital for affordable homes; 5) preserve and recycle resources; and 6) empower residents to purchase and maintain market-rate homes. The guidebook features “Solutions in Action” for each of the 22 recommended policies, including Fairfax County, Virginia’s rezoning of an area near a transit stop to allow for higher density residential development.
Access the report here

“Instead of being viewed as a problem, the aging of the population is actually opening up opportunities for people to think and act differently,” emphasizes the blue moon fund in a toolkit aimed at designing solutions to meet the needs of older generations that will also meet the needs of younger generations. Examples from around the country include developing new school curricula that encourage young people to go into health care fields where jobs are likely to be booming due to the health care needs of the aging population, designing walkable communities that improve the health of all generations, and having after school programs share sites with senior centers. A user guide and video complement the Sustainable Communities for All Ages toolkit.
Access the toolkit here

Daniel Island, a 4,000-acre planned community north of Charleston, South Carolina, is among several new case studies recently added to the Urban Land Institute’s database of best practices in real estate development. The database, which is searchable by year and development category, contains more than 450 case studies from throughout the world. The Kensington Business Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Birkdale Village in Huntersville, North Carolina, and Vickery, a mixed-use neighborhood in Cumming, Georgia, are among the other Southern developments featured.
For more information, visit the link

The Education Sector report, Eight for 2008: Education Ideas for the Next President, offers eight, pragmatic ideas to address the nation’s education concerns. The eight detailed education reforms highlights how each reform overcomes a current education barrier and the political challenges associated with implementing the suggested solution. The reforms touch on every level of education from pre-K to higher education, while addressing issues related to technology, immigration and teacher quality, among other subjects. Overall, the report suggests a mix of market-based solutions and federally funded initiatives from a non-partisan perspective.
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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW) recently published the business community’s perspective on the effectiveness of state level education systems. Drawing on a variety of data sources, Leaders and Laggards grades each state in nine areas: 1) academic achievement, 2) academic achievement among low-income and minority students, 3) the return on investment from education expenditures, 4) the truth in advertising about student proficiency, 5) the rigor of academic requirements and standards, 6) high school graduate’s college and work readiness, 7) teacher quality and recruitment strategies, 8) flexibility in school management and policy and 9) data quality. Overall, the South performs well in terms of data quality, teacher quality and recruitment strategies, but lags the nation in return on investment and academic achievement.
Access the report here

The Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) and West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III, Chairman of SSEB, will host the American Energy Security Summit in Washington, D.C. on April 16-19, 2007. The summit’s theme, Energy Independence through Domestic Alternative Liquid Fuels, will bring attention to a national initiative to achieve energy security through the production of alternative oil and liquid transportation fuels from U.S. domestic resources, including coal, biomass and oil shale. The summit will include government, business, industry, academia, project development and financial community officials from across the country to establish a dialogue and discuss the implementation of a path forward to energy independence.
For more information, visit the link

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced a new competition for cost-shared awards to support high-risk industrial R&D. The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) provides partial support to single companies or to industry-led joint ventures to accelerate the development of innovative technologies for broad national benefit through partnership with the private sector. ATP projects are selected in a competitive, peer-reviewed process. Although the formal announcement will not appear until later this spring, those wishing to join the ATP mailing list (who will receive a competition announcement and the ATP Proposal Preparation Kit) should visit the website.
Visit the website here

The Nanotechnology Workgroup of the Environmental Protection Agency has released its final Nanotechnology White Paper. The paper addresses science issues and needs related to nanotechnology, and outlines nanotech science issues for the public. The paper is a culmination of the efforts by EPA’s Science Policy Council, which was created in late 2004 to address the scientific, environmental, and commercial issues associated with nanotechnology-enabled materials.
Read the paper here

The March 4 issue of international news publication, The Economist, features a ten-page report on the American South. The report examines the South's economic, political and cultural climates from a global perspective. Among its key points, "The South is doing remarkably well economically. One of the main drivers of growth is that the South is such a pleasant place to live, so talented people- and businesses- move there. Race relations are at least as good as in the rest of the U.S. The education system, though still worse than the rest of the country, is improving faster."
Access the report here

Writing in the International Herald Tribune, Tyler Cowen says that how well American pop culture fares in various other nations has economic aspects as well as cultural. He notes that there are many booming economies in countries where American pop culture is not dominant, and that there is strong population growth in Islamic countries. "The combination of these trends," he says, "means that American entertainment, for largely economic reasons, will lose relative standing in the global marketplace." He also challenges the assumption that rich cultures will always dominate poor cultures, citing research that shows that "...the poorer a country, the more likely it is to buy and listen to its own domestic music." However, Cowen also says that this trend is more dominant for music than for film because "...making a movie costs much more than cutting an album.
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The BBC World Service maintains a web portal dedicated to globalization (but with an "s" instead of a "z") stories. The site notes that "...globalisation attracts increasing interest and importance in contemporary world affairs. It also inspires passionate supporters and critics." One current report looks inside five multi-national companies to see how they do business and wield power globally. A second looks at "The Noisy Planet," asking if "...sound has become a drug we all have to take?" A third explores "...the revolutionary power of fast food," and a fourth--the "Global Music Machine" looks at how western music is listened to and marketed globally.
Visit the website here

Vanderbilt University’s Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker Program was recently featured as the Innovation of the Week by the Leader-to-Leader Institute. The program trains trusted neighborhood women in impoverished communities to serve as home visitors to pregnant women and families with young children. It currently serves families in rural and inner city areas in Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia. The program has shown positive impacts in terms of pre-natal care, child health and school readiness. Materials are available for those interested in replicating the program.
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A new briefing from the Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture summarizes research related to rural population and migration. Six key trends are identified and discussed, including: 1) Population redistribution makes defining rural America harder; 2) Non-metro population growth has slowed compared with the 1990s; 3) Scenic and urban amenities are fueling rapid growth in certain nonzero areas; 4) Death exceed births in over 800 nonzero counties; 5) Racial and ethnic diversity is increasing in rural America; and 6) Rural areas face challenges from an aging population. Visit the Rural Population and Migration briefing room.
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The Educational Testing Service report, America’s Perfect Storm, asks, “Can America continue to grow apart as a nation, or invest in the policies that will help us grow together?” The paper outlines the “perfect storm” as the three social and economic forces influencing America’s future. America’s first challenge, the widening skill and academic achievement gap among adult and school age populations, conflicts largely with the second challenge, a growing demand for skilled workers. While America’s high school graduation rates and education achievement scores have remained relatively flat or declined since the 1990’s, the nation’s future economic growth relies heavily on the availability of skilled labor. Lastly, sweeping demographic trends require that more people are integrated into the workforce particularly, older and non-native born populations.
Access the report here

According to the Ewing Kauffman Foundation, “Entrepreneurs tell us that perhaps the most significant constraint on their future growth, and on the growth of future entrepreneurs, is the difficulty finding and attracting ‘talent’—highly skilled entrepreneurial workers.” Ensuring an entrepreneurial workforce requires a strong primary, secondary and postsecondary educational system and Kauffman’s research points to the rising inequalities in the American education system as one of the nation’s main challenges. A new Kauffman report, On the Road to an Entrepreneurial Economy, also outlines four strategies to overcome educational inequalities: 1) encourage and allow educators to be innovative, rewarding their entrepreneurial ventures, 2) promote market-based education reforms, 3) study the role of entrepreneurs in the American economy infusing creativity and entrepreneurism into all academic disciplines and 4) devote more resources to support and develop a science and engineering-based entrepreneurial economy.
Access the report here

The National Center for Education Statistics recently published results from the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) High School Transcript Study. When compared to the early nineties, students now take more courses and earn higher GPA’s, but current trends may still raise cause for concern. High school graduates with more rigorous course work earn higher scores on national assessment exams in both math and science. Students whose highest math course included calculus or other advanced math exhibited a mastery of high school level mathematics and scored on average at the proficient level on NAEP exams. However, the same does not stand true for science. Even students taking physics or other advanced science courses failed to master high school level scientific concepts and scored on average at the basic level on NAEP exams.
Access the report here

The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) and the Regional Rural Development Centers are requesting pre-proposals for the next round of e-commerce funding. The grant is to "support the development or expansion of innovative educational resources focusing on key e-commerce topics." The grants are open to any Extension educator across the U.S. A two-page pre-proposal is due to SRDC by March 15th.
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The future success of the nanotechnology industry depends on moving quickly into high-volume manufacturing of nano-materials and products. High volume manufacturing will be much more important to industry success than new R&D spending, according to a survey of more than 400 nanotechnology executives. Executives are bullish on American nanotechnology capabilities as 67 percent see the U.S. as the world’s leader in nano R&D. Executives also believe that government must play a strong role in the industry’s development. In particular, government agencies must effectively address the potential health and environmental risks of nanotechnology, while also investing in critical long-term research projects. At present, nanotech leaders believe that the greatest barriers to industry growth are lack of financing, intellectual property issues, and the shortage of available prototype facilities.
View the article link here

The Education Commission of the States has published a review of state laws that promote entrepreneurship. The review covers state-by-state policies on entrepreneurial training in K-12, programs at the university level, the creation of education centers, and other programs.
Access the report here

The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) in Chapel Hill, NC will host an open house on March 2, to showcase a wide range the technologies and projects it works on in disaster research, bioinformatics, public health, high performance computing and high-resolution visualization. Founded in 2004 as a major collaborative venture of Duke University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina, RENCI brings together diverse teams of people and technologies to address major issues facing the region and the world. Highlights of the open house include tours of the robotics laboratory; demonstrations of HydroMet, a comprehensive forecasting system that combines atmospheric, hydrological and coastal storm surge data and demonstrations of RENCI’s autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an experimental emergency response vehicle. The open house will take place at RENCI’s anchor facility in Chapel Hill between noon and 3 p.m.
Visit the website here

SouthwestEconomy, a publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, profiles a tool of NAFTA--the TN or NAFTA Professional visa. This is a special purpose visa that is "...granted in one-year renewable increments to high-skilled workers from Canada and Mexico who are in eligible occupations and have U.S. job offers." The article says that the process is attractive to both workers and employers because of its simplicity, low fees and the absence of quotas. This is in great contrast to programs for other high-skilled foreigners such as the H-1B visa program which is costly, has processing delays of months or years, and has a fixed limit on the number of workers allowed into the country. During the 1997-99 period, 19 percent of those receiving TN visas were computer, math or operations research scientists, 17 percent were executive or managerial, 17 percent were engineers and 16 percent were registered nurses.
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FITA--the Federation of International Trade Organization--is offering a new tool for those seeking information on international markets. Export Navigator allows users to search and access 10,000 free market surveys on the Web. FITA's analysts regularly scan the market reports and assure that they are "...relevant to your industry, have been published by reliable sources, do not require any registration or password, [and] are not older than two years." The site is designed as a search engine for exporters. While market reports are available now, FITA intends to add contents in the coming months.
For more information, visit the link

A new paper from the Dialogue on Globalization examines current trends in international cooperation, such as "global partnerships", "multi-stakeholder initiatives," and "global public policy networks." These vehicles have arisen in response to complaints about the "...agonizingly slow pace of the cumbersome global negotiation process." According to the paper, "'Partnerships' with the private sector and civil society are thus held up as the way to achieve what governments and the United Nations cannot manage alone." The paper challenges assumptions that these approaches are the only alternative to traditional approaches. The author identifies eight risks and side effects to be considered, ranging from "choosing the wrong partner" to "governments escape responsibility." He calls for the UN to establish a better framework for its relations with the private sector and a clear cut "...set of basic principles of engagement."
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Join a panel of experts for an online discussion of eminent domain regulation and its impact on community development. The session, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 2:00 pm ET, will feature national eminent domain expert John Echeverria, executive director of the Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute; Don Chen, founder and executive director of Smart Growth America; and Michael Snodgrass, director of Neighborhoods Now.
For more information, visit the link

The National Governors Association (NGA) has issued a new report on the efforts of six states, including Louisiana, to better coordinate housing and economic development activities. The six states that were selected for participation in NGA’s Policy Academy on Strategies for Coordinating Housing and Economic Development assembled cross-agency teams of six to ten members, including executive level policy advisors from the governor’s office and state agencies from such disciplines as housing, economic development, community development, transportation, workforce development, land use planning and the environment. Several of the states also included representatives from the state legislature, local government and the private sector on their teams. The report identifies several common elements of success, including: leadership from the governor; development of a common vision among relevant agencies and other key stakeholders; defined priorities that focused on a few targeted, actionable items; and a structure for effective coordination and communication among team members. Louisiana’s efforts focused on hurricane recovery and rebuilding efforts, including implementation of the “Road Home” housing recovery program.
Access the report here

Bank of America is currently accepting applications for its Neighborhood Excellence Initiative. The program offers leadership training and general operating support for growing nonprofits, recognizes a community’s local heroes, and develops student leaders through the provision of paid internships at nonprofits in their communities. The deadline for the student internship program is March 9, while other program deadlines are June 29. The program is targeted to 44 communities, including Atlanta, Charlotte, St. Louis, Kansas City, Richmond, Nashville, and Hampton Roads.
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A new report by Urban Institute, University of Chicago and Northwestern University researchers estimates The Economic Costs of Poverty in the U.S. and the subsequent effects of children growing up poor. According to researchers, the national costs “associated with childhood poverty total about $500 billion per year…nearly four percent of GDP.” The multi-billion dollar estimated cost of poverty includes expenses associated with lost productivity and economic output, crime, and healthcare.
Access the report here

Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education recently published, Securing Kentucky’s Future: A Plan for Improving College Readiness and Success. The report presents findings and best practices identified by the Council’s 18-member task force and other state and national experts. The report’s six recommendations are largely geared towards building a stronger link between K-12, adult and post-secondary education by creating shared incentives for collaboration and success. The report also emphasizes expanding student intervention programs and the importance of collecting and using data to encourage collaboration, create accountability and define success.
Access the report here

Not only did Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry recently propose a $40 million dollar bioenergy research investment, but in the February Council of State Governments (CSG) newsletter, Governor Henry names sustainable energy as the focus for his tenure as CSG president. Henry's 2007 President's Initiative will examine alternatives to traditional power and fuel, the role of state governments in alternative energy and energy efficiency, and the development of new energy infrastructure. The goal of the initiative is to provide state governments with "a range of policy options and best practices for providing abundant, economic, clean and secure energy in the 21st century."
View the article link here

According to a study by the Small Business Administration, the rate of establishing new firms correlates more than any other measure as a determiner of state economic growth. It correlates with changes in gross state product, state personal income, and state job growth. The other key finding from the report is that small business birth and death rates have equal and opposite effects on states’ economic performance. A state’s economic growth will be faster when its firm establishment rate exceeds its firm death rate. The opposite is also the case: higher firms death rates are associated with negative economic performance. Based on these findings, the report authors conclude that state efforts to promote small business start-ups and growth should have more positive effects than nearly any other policy options.Download a copy of the US Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy report, Small Business and State Growth: An Econometric Investigation.
Access the report here

Under the U.S. President’s 2008 Budget proposal, the stand-alone Technology Administration will morph into Technology Council that will coordinate technology policy activities across the department. The budget also proposes to appoint a senior advisor in the department's Office of Policy and Strategic Planning who will handle technology issues and chair the council. Technology policy will be coordinated through meetings of the council, where policy issues will be highlighted to ensure input from the various technology-related bureaus. Ultimately, the council will forward high-level policy decisions to the Deputy Secretary and Secretary with its 
recommendations.
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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez hailed 2006 as a banner year for exports as he released the nation's annual trade numbers on last week. Gutierrez said, "In 2006, American workers and businesses had a banner export year with an all time record high of over $1.4 trillion in exports of goods and services. For the first time in nearly a decade, the growth rate of exports outpaced the growth rate of imports." He noted that exports to India were up 26 percent, Germany 21 percent, Brazil 25 percent, China 32 percent and Chile 30 percent. Overall, exports were up 12.7 percent while imports grew by 10.5 percent. According to a Department of Commerce fact sheet, "Exports comprised 11.1 percent of U.S. GDP in 2006, the highest ever in dollar terms. It was 5.2 percent 50 years ago and 9.6 in 2002."
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The Columbia (SC) World Affairs Council along with Communities of the Future will host the "2nd Enlightenment Conference" in Columbia on March 4-6. The conference is designed to discuss 18 different issues with citizens from all over the world. The organizers hope to develop "...new ideas and a network of people throughout the world who can help their communities prepare for a constantly changing future." Keynote speakers include evolutionary biologist Elisabeth Sahtouris and University of South Carolina President Andrew Sorensen. Among the 18 topics are, "Global Warming," "Your Neighborhood as a Change Agent," and "Not in My Backyard Issues."
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The U.S. publishing industry has begun making major investments in China, both in terms of publishing Chinese works and in publishing for the Chinese market, according to the January/February issue of Poets & Writers magazine. HarperCollins, for example, is partnering with a Chinese publisher to "...release new and classic Chinese books in translation in the United States, the U.K. and China." Penguin is working with a local publisher to offer ten classic titles to Chinese readers in Mandarin. And Macmillan has opened a new publishing division, Picador Asia, based in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the largest publishing book fair in the world (the Frankfurt Book Fair) will feature China as its guest nation in 2009.
For more information, visit the link

“Why the Delta Matters” is the theme of the Delta Regional Authority’s 2007 annual conference, scheduled for April 18-20 in Tunica, Mississippi. Among the featured speakers will be Tom Piazza, a Grammy award winning music writer and the author of the widely acclaimed book Why New Orleans Matters. Key themes to be discussed at the conference include education and health. There is no registration fee for the conference, but those planning to attend are asked to register in advance.
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“States that ignore the economic well-being of their cities risk falling behind,” emphasizes a new report from the Fannie Mae Foundation. States and Their Cities: Partnerships for the Future examines the impact of state policies on cities. North Carolina is among the seven states studied. Recommended approaches to helping cities achieve success include: 1) encouraging problem solving at the regional level; 2) promoting home rule; 3) eliminating funding inequities between local governments; and 4) recognizing the importance of high-quality university systems and providing them with adequate support.
Access the report here

Hendrix College in central Arkansas is the centerpiece of a recent New York Times article about how rural colleges are reinventing themselves with an urban edge. At Hendrix, this means replacing ball fields near the main campus with an urban style village, complete with housing, stores, restaurants and offices. At Furman University in South Carolina, an on-campus retirement community is being planned. The idea is to create a vitality that appeals not only to students, but to working people and retirees as well.
View the article link here

“The United States remains a highly desirable destination for higher education. However, (America’s) share of international students worldwide has declined partly because of expanding higher education options abroad,” participants concluded during a recent General Accounting Office (GAO) forum. The GAO forum, Global Competitiveness: Implications for the Nation’s Higher Education System, convened a select group of leaders to identify strategies in attracting talented international students while maintaining America’s national security. Suggested strategies included: 1) developing a national strategic plan for recruiting and retaining international students, 2) modifying the immigration system to remove barriers for talented international students and 3) exploring new sources of international students, particularly those in developing countries. The full forum summary, Global Competitiveness: Implications for the Nation’s Higher Education System.
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The Aspen Institute is accepting applications for the 2007 Class of Sector Skills Academy Fellows. The Sector Skills Academy “provides emerging leaders with an opportunity for experiential learning with practical applications for present and future work in the sector field. The Academy consists of three workshops over roughly a 12-month period that allow participants to acquire new skills, engage in peer exchange and benefit from relationships with mentors.” Applications must be received by March 16, 2007.
For more information, visit the link

A Chicago Federal Reserve brief reviews the role two and four-year colleges and universities play in serving local economies. The brief summarizes presentations from University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill’s, Center for Competitive Economies, a group using university resources to improve the state’s business decision-making and government policies related to economic development. Presenters from the University of Chicago focused on higher education’s role in transforming declining industries, using examples from Ohio and New York. While conference panelists agreed that higher education develops human-capital and acts as a center for research and development, whether higher education should be explicitly required to support regional and local economic growth remained unresolved.
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A new National Center for Education Statistics report, Teacher Attrition and Mobility, shines light on the nation’s teacher shortage and retention crisis. During the 2003-04 school year, 16 percent of public school teachers either changed schools or left the teaching profession altogether. Private schools experienced similar turnover rates with 20 percent of teachers either changing schools or leaving the teaching profession. Younger teachers represent the majority of those who changed jobs or left the profession. Twenty-five percent of public school teachers and 32 percent of private school teachers under the age of 30 either changed schools or left teaching. The majority of teachers who left the education profession felt that their workload was more manageable and that they could more easily balance their work and personal life.
Access the report here

The National Institute for Excellence in Teaching recently published, The Effectiveness of the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), a report analyzing the outcomes of a six state school reform pilot. TAP improves student achievement through four main activities: 1) providing teachers with management and alternative career opportunities while remaining in the classroom, 2) introducing customized and ongoing professional development, 3) increasing accountability in the classroom by routinely evaluating instruction methods, and 4) providing performance-based compensation to teachers who assume additional responsibilities and improve student achievement. The TAP piloted in six states, including three Southern Growth states (AR, SC and LA). Though educating a higher proportion of low-income students, TAP schools in AR and LA outperformed their peers in 2005 and 2006 under No Child Left Behind.
Access the report here

A new report from the Pew Research Center provides a portrait of Generation Next – young people between the ages of 18 and 25. Among the key findings: 1) they use technology and the Internet in new ways, with greater use of such tools as text messaging and social networking sites; 2) they are somewhat more interested in keeping up with politics and national affairs and are significantly less cynical about government and political leaders than the previous generation of young people; and 3) they are more comfortable with globalization and new ways of doing work and are more likely than others to see the benefits of these trends. View a summary of key findings and download the full report.
Access the report here

According to the latest figures on geographic mobility from the U.S. Census Bureau, 11.3 of the South’s population (five years old and above) moved out of state or abroad between 2000 and 2005, compared with 10 percent for the nation as a whole. These movers included 17 percent of the South’s 20 to 24-year-olds, 21 percent of its 25 to 29-year-olds and 17 percent of its 30 to 34-year-olds. Those with higher levels of education were more likely to move out of state than others. Among the South’s population 25 years and older, only 8.5 percent of those without a high school degree moved out of state or abroad during the five year period, compared with 14.4 percent of those with a bachelor’s degree and 15 percent of those with a graduate or professional degree.
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Education Week magazine has a new blog devoted to challenges and innovations in foreign language education, edited by Mary Ann Zehr. Current postings include a link to a new study, Learning the Language, by a team of Canadian researchers who found that bilingual brains stay sharp longer. The study of people being treated for dementia found that "...those who regularly used two languages reported their first symptoms of a fading mind about four years later than those who used only one language."
For more information, visit the link

Why Lou Dobbs is Wrong... That's the subtitle of Healthy Factories, Anxious Workers, a report issued on February 9th by the Public Policy Institute. In the report, Edward Gresser documents the recent wave of fear regarding all things international, but argues that the causes of worker anxiety are more complex than a fear of international competition. He notes that while the U.S. may have lost jobs from the manufacturing sector, our position as a manufacturer in the global marketplace has remained stable. The U.S. represented 21.4 percent of all global manufacturing in 1993 and 21.1 percent in 2005. Moreover, in the first nine months of 2006, foreign investors plowed more than $48 billion into the United States, while U.S. investors sank about $39 billion into foreign investments. And, American manufacturing exports are soaring--when the final numbers for 2006 are available, they are expected to set an all-time record for export growth. The paper calls for "...painstaking creation of new policies for national competitiveness," rather than a backlash of protectionism.
Read the paper here

"Global Health and Regional Solutions" is the theme for the University of North Carolina's annual Navigating the Global American South conference, set for April 19-20 in Chapel Hill. Among the featured speakers will be John Briscoe, The World Bank’s Country Director for Brazil; Pierre Buekens, Dean of Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; and Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation. Conference presentations will explore regional approaches to public health and experiences translate between the American South and other world regions.
For more information, visit the link

The Southeast Bio (SEBIO), a regional nonprofit that promotes the Southern life sciences industry, has announced a business plan competition worth an estimated $100,000. Prospective entrepreneurs complete an application and then are paired with mentors to further develop the concept. Finalists present at the annual SEBIO Investor Forum held each fall.
For more information, visit the link

A new report by Battelle and BIO, a national organization promoting biotechnology, describes the economic impact of the U.S. biosciences industry. Growing The Nation's Biotech Sector: A Regional Perspective reveals that more than half of the nation's 361 metropolitan statistical areas have a specialization in at least one bioscience sub-sectors: drugs and pharmaceuticals; medical devices and equipment; research, testing and medical laboratories; and agricultural feedstocks and chemicals. In-depth profiles showcase several regions, including two Southern Growth areas: Durham, NC and St. Louis, MO.
Access the report here

Ending Oil Dependence, a new report by David Sandalow at the Brookings Institution, provides a clear and concise overview of the issues surrounding oil dependence in the U.S. The paper outlines how oil dependence has created national security, environmental and economic threats that can be curbed through alternative fuels and fuel efficiency measures. Plug-in hybrid vehicles, biofuels, fuel efficiency and smart growth are all discussed as solutions to oil dependence. Sandalow also pursues fiscal policy and incentive options to encourage the adoption of these alternatives.
Read the paper here

Duke University and University of California, Berkley researchers collaborated to publish, America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, a report emphasizing the importance of "high-skill" immigration to the American economy. Immigrant-founded engineering and technology companies produced $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers in 2005. Indian founded high tech firms in the South are largely located in Virginia and Georgia while Southern entrepreneurs from the U.K. are dispersed throughout the South in Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia. For more on the influence of high-tech, immigrant entrepreneurs in your state visit the website.
Access the report here

According to the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the South has one of the most diverse public student bodies in the U.S., second only to the West. People of color represented nearly half (46 percent) of Southern public school students in 2004. The NCLR brief, Hispanic Education in the U.S. documents national and regional demographic changes, minority academic achievement and education attainment rates. The report also focuses on access to higher education, per pupil funding and education quality as major issues affecting Hispanics and the nation.
Access the report here

A new Public/Private Ventures report features the successes of three workforce development organizations in New York, Colorado and Georgia. Locally Grown: Key Strategies for Expanding Workforce Services highlights how each organization responded to welfare reform and community needs by significantly increasing the number of job seekers they served. The organizations improved services by adhering to four principals: 1) remaining committed to your core mission when pursing grants and contracts, 2) creating a work environment that attracts and nurtures good people, 3) focusing on the common good by playing a critical and positive leadership role in the community and 4) pursuing funding outside of government support.
Access the report here

Connecticut and Delaware topped the list in the Corporation for Enterprise Development's 2007 Development Report Card for the States. This annual assessment, now in its 20th year, includes 67 measures in three key areas related to economic development: economic performance, business vitality and development capacity. No Southern state made this year's "honor roll" of seven states with A's and B's in the three main categories. Only two Southern states received A's in these categories: Alabama and Kentucky, both of whom received top grades in business vitality. In addition to grading the states on each of these measures, the report card website includes promising practice briefs in the areas of affordable housing, business finance, education, entrepreneurship and innovation. A number of Southern programs are recognized in these briefs.
For more information, visit the link

The International City/County Management Association will present its second smart growth Leading Practices Conference Feb. 26-27 in Washington, D.C. The conference will feature three case studies of local governments at the "leading edge" of smart growth: Arlington County, Virginia; Sarasota County, Florida; and Winchester, Virginia. In addition to sessions led by representatives from these communities, participants will have an opportunity to share their own leading practices and get feedback from their peers and national experts. The registration deadline is Feb. 21.
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What does Mount Sterling, Kentucky, population 5,876, have in common with New York City and Chicago? They have all been named among the 100 best cities for young people by America's Promise. In all, 27 Southern communities claimed a spot in the top 100 for 2007. Mount Sterling was recognized for its work to identify and assist students at risk for dropping out of school, Butler County, Missouri for its efforts to engage community volunteers and Germantown, Tennessee for a program aimed at improving teen driving safety. America's Promise plans to hold forums on community best practices in Houston and Nashville later this year. For more information, including a list of all 100 winners, go to the website.
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Five organizations have collaborated to issue new recommendations to reform U.S. visa policy in light of its impact on the nation's competitiveness as a, "...destination of choice for academic, exchange and business visitors." The Alliance for International Education and Cultural Exchange, the Coalition for Employment Through Exports, the Heritage Foundation, NAFSA, the Association of International Educators and the National Foreign Trade Council released the recommendations on January 31 under the title, Realizing the Rice-Chertoff Vision: A National Interest-Based Visa Policy for the United States. The Coalition's recommendations to Congress include restoration of the Secretary of State's authority to grant consulates the discretion to waive the personal interview requirement on risk assessment; strengthen and expand the Visa Waiver program; and exercise "...vigorous oversight" of the implementation of the Rice-Chertoff vision. Bill Reinsch of the National Foreign Trade Council said, "...we are encouraging smart people to go elsewhere, and we are encouraging American business to move their innovation capabilities outside the U.S. so their foreign engineers and scientists don't have to run the visa gauntlet.
For more information, visit the link

The Aspen Institute has launched a new initiative to help China business leaders "...with the ethical frameworks, substantive knowledge and functional skills necessary to lead successful enterprises, contribute to social progress and improve environmental conditions in China." A group of governmental officials and business leaders met in Beijing in December to review the Institute's plans. The initiative is co-hosted by the Chinese organization SynTao and the Chinese State Environmental Protection Agency. Startup funding was provided by the Citigroup Foundation. Judith Samuelson of the Aspen Institute said, "As the private sector grows in China, the government, media and general public are raising expectations about the contributions that business can make."
For more information, visit the link

The final application deadline to present at Venture 2007, the Council for Entrepreneurial Development's annual meeting, has been extended to Feb. 23. Readers of Southern Compass can receive a special discounted rate to attend. When registering, non-investor attendees (entrepreneurs, service professionals, etc) can enter promo code 0601 for a discounted nonmember rate. The conference is set for April 23-25, 2007, at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club on Duke University's campus in Durham, NC. 

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Last week, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry announced a $40 million proposal to develop the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center. If approved by the legislature, the Center would be a consortium including the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the Noble Foundation. The Center's primary focus would be the development of technologies geared towards making cellulosic ethanol a commercially viable fuel source. The proposal includes funding of $40 million to be distributed over four years. Cellulosic ethanol is fuel converted from biomass (i.e. switchgrass, forestry residues, trees, etc) rather than starches, such as corn or sugarcane. You can learn more about cellulosic ethanol from the Department of Energy's website.
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After a three-year slide, industry funding for university research and development in science and engineering fields reached a record $2.3 billion in 2005. Data from the National Science Foundation showed fiscal support rose by 7.7 percent. Medical and biological sciences accounted for about half the funds. Social sciences recorded the biggest drop in funding of about 4 percent.
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The National Issues Forum and the Kettering Foundation have developed a discussion guide for community forums on the issue of energy. Three approaches are presented to stimulate discussion. The first discusses reducing America's dependence on foreign oil. The second looks at reducing the use of fossil fuel due to environmental concerns. And the third looks at reducing America's demand for energy in general. The guides include in depth descriptions of how to address the problem and a moderator's guide for those leading the discussion. More information, including order forms can be found at the website.
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Yet another report about America’s eroding innovation competitiveness, with this one saying the other reports don’t go far enough. The new report, from Rob Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, states that recent initiatives such as President Bush’s American Competitiveness Initiative and the House Democrats’ Innovation Agenda contain helpful proposals, but don’t advocate for big changes. Atkinson believes that policymakers have become complacent about American economic competitiveness. He advocates renewed efforts to open global markets, overhaul the tax code to spur innovation, expand funding ($2 billion per year) to support research partnerships and technology economic development efforts ($1 billion per year), and commit to digital transformation.
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Although somewhat dated (published May, 2006), an issue brief from the National Governors’ Association provides a good summary of emerging state economic development initiatives. Technology-based economic development initiatives took center stage as promotion of energy, life sciences, and nanotechnology gained momentum (as well as film industry promotion).
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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Second Annual TradeRoots Best Practices Summit on February 6-8 in Coral Gables, FL. Sessions will focus on best practices that have helped Chambers, World Trade Centers, and American Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AmChams) "...engage in successful international trade programs and economic development." The event is scheduled to coincide with Latin American AmChams's annual "Outlook on the Americas" keynote luncheon. TradeRoots is a national trade education program designed to raise grassroots support regarding the importance of international trade to local communities.
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What Business Week calls "...a remarkable panel of business leaders" convened at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on January 26 to discuss a new "manifesto" for globalization. The leaders were charged with figuring out how to "...convince a wary public that the risks of globalization are outweighed by the economic benefits." Conceding that business leaders have been put on the defensive in globalization debates, McKinsey's E.L. Davis said, "We have to stop using abstract concepts such as GDP growth and explain globalization instead in terms such as job creation, prices and taxes." He also suggested that business leaders in the United States could "...support creation of insurance pools for unemployed and self-employed workers,