Dear Colleagues-

I promised to keep my opinions out of this newsletter, and this is a difficult task given the almost daily provocations from Augusta and Washington, DC. But, if you are so inclined, I invite you to read my blogs at http://www.innovationpolicyworks.com/blog/. I recently wrote about the infamous mural at the Maine Department of Labor (did you know that officials from the Department are depicted on the mural?) and a great new report from McKinsey Global Institute that I heard about last week. 

Cathy

Catherine S. Renault, PhD

You may recall that we've been writing about the reauthorization of SBIR and STTR Research Grants in the US Congress for several years. The reauthorization had been halted by a very tough issue - should venture backed small companies (i.e., owned more than 50% by VCs) be eligible for SBIRs/STTRs, -  but the factions inside the community came together to work out a compromise. The compromise is embodied in S. 493, introduced by our own Sen. Snowe and Sen. Landrieu (D-LA.) The bill sailed through the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (which Sen. Snowe chairs).

After that, the bill came to the Senate floor where more than 70 amendments were made. This process turned the bill into what is called a "Christmas Tree," with all kinds of unrelated items that inflate the fiscal impact and greatly reduce the prospects of passage.

In the House, the Small Business Committee heard testimony on its own reauthorization bill for the programs, but Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) seems determined to prevent any compromise from surviving. In the meantime, SBIR/STTR program will sunset in May unless the Congress gets its act together. 

During the last election, many candidates made headlines complaining about plans by The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) to open a facility in Florida. However, JAX had to shelve its plans last year facing oppositions from residents in Collier County (FL) who thought that the hundreds of millions in state and county bonds needed to finance the new facility amounted to "corporate welfare."

Last month, JAX announced that it will try again to develop a personalized medicine campus in Florida, this time partnering with the University of South Florida for a project in Sarasota and Tampa.  It is not known what new FL Gov. Rick Scott think about the new plan, which seeks $100 million in state funds and an equal amount from the county.

Florida has been working for a number of years to enhance its bioscience cluster, currently at around 60,000 jobs (roughly the same size as ALL science and technology in Maine).

Jobless Entrepreneurship

The Kauffman Foundation's annual review of entrepreneurial activity released in March shows that more Americans became entrepreneurs during the Great Recession that at any time in the past 15 years. However, most of these entrepreneurs are going it alone, rather than starting companies that employ others. Maine continues to rank high on the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, ranking 21^st, tying the national average and staying above the rest of New England. Read the entire report at www.kauffman.org.