On March 9, 2012, President Obama announced his plan to invest $1 billion to catalyze a national network of up to 15 manufacturing innovation institutes around the country that would serve as regional hubs for manufacturing. The President called on Congress to act on this proposal and create the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation. Five federal agencies—the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Commerce, the National Science Foundation, and NASA—jointly committed to invest $45 million in a pilot institute on additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing is a process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital model.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
New Public-Private Partnership to Support U.S. Manufacturing Innovation
The Obama Administration announced on August 16 the launch
of a new public-private institute for manufacturing innovation. The new
partnership, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, was
selected through a competitive process to receive an initial award of $30
million in federal funding, matched by $40 million from the winning consortium.
The consortium includes manufacturing firms, universities, community colleges,
and non-profit organizations from the Ohio-Pennsylvania-West Virginia
"Tech Belt."
On March 9, 2012, President Obama announced his plan to invest $1 billion to catalyze a national network of up to 15 manufacturing innovation institutes around the country that would serve as regional hubs for manufacturing. The President called on Congress to act on this proposal and create the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation. Five federal agencies—the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Commerce, the National Science Foundation, and NASA—jointly committed to invest $45 million in a pilot institute on additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing is a process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital model.
On March 9, 2012, President Obama announced his plan to invest $1 billion to catalyze a national network of up to 15 manufacturing innovation institutes around the country that would serve as regional hubs for manufacturing. The President called on Congress to act on this proposal and create the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation. Five federal agencies—the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Commerce, the National Science Foundation, and NASA—jointly committed to invest $45 million in a pilot institute on additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing is a process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital model.
New York, NYC Biotechnology Credit Extended
L. 2012, S7462 (c. 429), effective 08/17/2012, extends the
authorization for New York City to provide a biotechnology credit against the
general corporation tax, unincorporated business tax, and banking corporation
tax until January 1, 2016. Previously this credit was only authorized until
January 1, 2013.
California Postpones Action on Technology Transfer Agreement Tax Rules
California's State Board of Equalization postpones issuance
of regulations governing taxation of software technology transfer agreements
from November to at least January 2013 due to universal opposition from the
business community to the board's draft proposals so far. SBOE is working
toward regulations on taxation of TTAs in the wake of a January 2011 state
appellate court ruling in Nortel Networks Inc. v. SBOE. In that case, the court
said SBOE exceeded its authority when it excluded all prewritten software from
TTAs, which are exempt from sales tax. At an SBOE meeting, Tax Policy Division
Chief Susan Buehler tells the five board members that a second
interested-parties meeting is being moved from September to January to give
board staff and interested parties more time to submit comments and work toward
agreement. Formal regulations will be proposed after the next
interested-parties meeting.
Mississippi, Tax Sale Record Fees
The Mississippi Attorney General issued an opinion stating
that the $50 fee charged by the clerk of the Chancery Court for determination
of the record owner of property sold at a property tax sale under Miss. Code
Ann. § 27-43-3 may be charged at the time of redemption, whether that occurs
before or after the start of the 180-day notice period preceding the expiration
of the redemption period under Miss. Code Ann. § 27-43-1. Accrual of the fee is
dependent upon redemption of the property, not on the notice period, and the
statute does not prohibit the clerk of the Chancery Court from performing work
to ascertain the record owner of the property before the 180-day notice period.
(Attorney General Opinion, 2012-00135, 07/20/2012.)
USDA Funds Boost Renewable Energy Production
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on August 14
announced that 106 projects in 29 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico have been
selected to receive funding for the production of renewable energy and energy
efficiency improvements. Funding comes through the USDA's Rural Energy for America
Program (REAP).
One example of a selected project is in Washington County, Iowa, where a recipient is receiving a guaranteed loan to construct a 50 kilowatt (kW) wind turbine at his agricultural business. The turbine is expected to generate approximately 103,200 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually, enough to meet the annual requirements of nine homes. WTE-Dallmann LLC in Calumet, Wisconsin, is another recipient of a REAP grant to help fund the installation of an anaerobic digester that will generate more than 4.8 million kWh of electricity, power for about 420 homes annually. The electricity will be sold to the local utility.
One example of a selected project is in Washington County, Iowa, where a recipient is receiving a guaranteed loan to construct a 50 kilowatt (kW) wind turbine at his agricultural business. The turbine is expected to generate approximately 103,200 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually, enough to meet the annual requirements of nine homes. WTE-Dallmann LLC in Calumet, Wisconsin, is another recipient of a REAP grant to help fund the installation of an anaerobic digester that will generate more than 4.8 million kWh of electricity, power for about 420 homes annually. The electricity will be sold to the local utility.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Economic Gardening
With economic uncertainty looming, progressive
American regions have chosen to adopt new economic development approaches. One innovative approach to the ever elusive
hunt for jobs is simply to create your own.
Instead of directing precious financial resources towards carefully
crafted plans that focus on recruiting new business from “outside-in,” economic
gardening embraces a philosophy designed to generate new jobs from the existing
base of businesses already located within the community. Diversifying a community’s economic
development portfolio to embrace an economic gardening model hinges upon
providing targeted incentives such as a job creation tax credit, educational
enhancements, and networking opportunities to innovative home-grown businesses
operating in the region. While the success
of traditional economic development recruiting can bring about a great deal of
publicity and create a large number of jobs, not all communities will be able
to succeed at the game of landing the big projects. Some communities will have difficulty producing
the right amount of incentives to lure high-profile jobs; however, by using the
long term “inside-out” economic gardening approach, the payoff in terms of job
creation and economic growth for certain communities could be huge.
A prime example of the philosophical framework behind Economic Gardening is found in Littleton, Colorado. Not unlike many small towns in Mississippi, the community of Littleton consisted of roughly 40,000 and was attempting to recover from the layoff of several thousand employees by the town’s major employment anchor. In response, Littleton’s community leaders looked inward by focusing on its entrepreneurial economic development infrastructure instead of loading its lure with quick fix incentives in search of the big project.
The framework for economic gardening is both innovative and simple. At its core, the philosophy suggests that a sustainable economic development policy must strike a balance between applying “outside-in” and “inside-out” growth strategies, subject to the unique attributes and resources of a given community. Littleton’s policy was based on a simple belief: small local entrepreneurial firms would be the engine for the creation of sustainable wealth and new jobs, and the role of the city was to provide a nurturing environment within which these small firms could flourish. As a testament to economic gardening’s vitality, other communities throughout the United States have also experienced success as a result of diversifying their economic development portfolio.
In Oakland, California, the city’s economic development office launched an economic gardening program that encouraged entrepreneurialism in connection with the abundance of venture capital firms throughout the region. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Santa Fe Economic Development, Inc. crafted a plan using economic gardening principles to use conventional industry cluster development techniques to create jobs from existing local businesses. In Madison, Wisconsin, the State of Wisconsin used economic gardening principles to establish the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network and Wisconsin PeerSpectives Network to enhance connectivity and exchange amongst business owners and community leaders.
One of the main goals of Economic Gardening is to create an environment where entrepreneurs can flourish. Of particular importance to this concept are intellectual stimulation, openness to new ideas, and the support of infrastructure like venture capital and local universities. Embedded within this economic model is also the notion of Mississippi’s creative class – a development which contends that creative companies and creative entrepreneurs are responsible for a great deal of Mississippi’s new jobs and wealth. Thus, nurturing Mississippi’s creative environment is conducive to entrepreneurial activity and prosperity. As noted by the Mississippi Arts Commission’s and Mississippi Development Authority’s joint study to explore the realization of the economic potential of creativity in Mississippi, communities in Mississippi stand poised to reap the rich benefits of their cultural and creative splendor. Moreover, economic development practitioners see Mississippi’s creative class as a vehicle for job creation and economic opportunity for communities throughout the state.
For cash strapped communities suffering from revenue shortfalls, economic development from a localized approach may be the key. In January 2011, the State of Mississippi, through the Mississippi Development Authority’s Pilot Entrepreneur Training Program, launched an effort to target small businesses and entrepreneurs in order to introduce them to business planning resources, the legal aspects of business and management, human resources and management principles, marketing research and analysis, financial statement resources, trade and exporting, government contracting and information on purchasing or expanding a business. Thus, the key to the puzzle is for communities to seek to generate added value from their rich cultural and historic heritage. Each community should seek to find its own economic development identity or form regional clusters to pool their resources with neighboring communities. In diversifying a community’s economic development portfolio, community leaders must be confident in the proposition that there is a light at the end of the tunnel because entrepreneurs ultimately drive the United States economy.
A prime example of the philosophical framework behind Economic Gardening is found in Littleton, Colorado. Not unlike many small towns in Mississippi, the community of Littleton consisted of roughly 40,000 and was attempting to recover from the layoff of several thousand employees by the town’s major employment anchor. In response, Littleton’s community leaders looked inward by focusing on its entrepreneurial economic development infrastructure instead of loading its lure with quick fix incentives in search of the big project.
The framework for economic gardening is both innovative and simple. At its core, the philosophy suggests that a sustainable economic development policy must strike a balance between applying “outside-in” and “inside-out” growth strategies, subject to the unique attributes and resources of a given community. Littleton’s policy was based on a simple belief: small local entrepreneurial firms would be the engine for the creation of sustainable wealth and new jobs, and the role of the city was to provide a nurturing environment within which these small firms could flourish. As a testament to economic gardening’s vitality, other communities throughout the United States have also experienced success as a result of diversifying their economic development portfolio.
In Oakland, California, the city’s economic development office launched an economic gardening program that encouraged entrepreneurialism in connection with the abundance of venture capital firms throughout the region. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Santa Fe Economic Development, Inc. crafted a plan using economic gardening principles to use conventional industry cluster development techniques to create jobs from existing local businesses. In Madison, Wisconsin, the State of Wisconsin used economic gardening principles to establish the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network and Wisconsin PeerSpectives Network to enhance connectivity and exchange amongst business owners and community leaders.
One of the main goals of Economic Gardening is to create an environment where entrepreneurs can flourish. Of particular importance to this concept are intellectual stimulation, openness to new ideas, and the support of infrastructure like venture capital and local universities. Embedded within this economic model is also the notion of Mississippi’s creative class – a development which contends that creative companies and creative entrepreneurs are responsible for a great deal of Mississippi’s new jobs and wealth. Thus, nurturing Mississippi’s creative environment is conducive to entrepreneurial activity and prosperity. As noted by the Mississippi Arts Commission’s and Mississippi Development Authority’s joint study to explore the realization of the economic potential of creativity in Mississippi, communities in Mississippi stand poised to reap the rich benefits of their cultural and creative splendor. Moreover, economic development practitioners see Mississippi’s creative class as a vehicle for job creation and economic opportunity for communities throughout the state.
For cash strapped communities suffering from revenue shortfalls, economic development from a localized approach may be the key. In January 2011, the State of Mississippi, through the Mississippi Development Authority’s Pilot Entrepreneur Training Program, launched an effort to target small businesses and entrepreneurs in order to introduce them to business planning resources, the legal aspects of business and management, human resources and management principles, marketing research and analysis, financial statement resources, trade and exporting, government contracting and information on purchasing or expanding a business. Thus, the key to the puzzle is for communities to seek to generate added value from their rich cultural and historic heritage. Each community should seek to find its own economic development identity or form regional clusters to pool their resources with neighboring communities. In diversifying a community’s economic development portfolio, community leaders must be confident in the proposition that there is a light at the end of the tunnel because entrepreneurs ultimately drive the United States economy.
Defense, Interior Departments Pursue Renewable Energy on Federal Lands
The Interior Department announced on August 6 that Secretary
of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that encourages appropriate development of
renewable energy projects on public lands that are set aside for
defense-related purposes, and on other onshore and offshore areas near military
installations. The MOU establishes the Renewable Energy Partnership Plan, which
aims to harness the solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy resources
located on or near military installations across the country.
Department of Defense (DoD) installations encompass roughly 28 million acres in the United States, including 16 million acres previously managed by the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that were withdrawn for military use. About 13 million acres of these withdrawn lands are located in the West and are rich in wind, solar, and geothermal resources. In addition, offshore wind is an abundant renewable energy resource available to many DoD installations on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, along the Gulf of Mexico, and in Hawaii.
Access to renewable energy will allow a military base to maintain critical functions for weeks or months if the commercial grid goes down. To keep the military operating in the event of a grid failure, each of the military services has committed to deploy one gigawatt of renewable energy on or near its installations by 2025. In pursuit of these goals, the MOU establishes a framework for an offshore wind partnership and forum; provides a blueprint for Interior and the DoD to identify onshore renewable energy projects at DoD installations; creates a working group on geothermal energy; and commits the DoD and the BLM to developing a pilot process for authorizing solar energy projects on several military installations in Arizona and California.
Department of Defense (DoD) installations encompass roughly 28 million acres in the United States, including 16 million acres previously managed by the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that were withdrawn for military use. About 13 million acres of these withdrawn lands are located in the West and are rich in wind, solar, and geothermal resources. In addition, offshore wind is an abundant renewable energy resource available to many DoD installations on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, along the Gulf of Mexico, and in Hawaii.
Access to renewable energy will allow a military base to maintain critical functions for weeks or months if the commercial grid goes down. To keep the military operating in the event of a grid failure, each of the military services has committed to deploy one gigawatt of renewable energy on or near its installations by 2025. In pursuit of these goals, the MOU establishes a framework for an offshore wind partnership and forum; provides a blueprint for Interior and the DoD to identify onshore renewable energy projects at DoD installations; creates a working group on geothermal energy; and commits the DoD and the BLM to developing a pilot process for authorizing solar energy projects on several military installations in Arizona and California.
DOE Award $3 Million for Energy Storage Technologies
The Energy Department announced on August 2 that 19 new
projects will receive a total of $43 million from the department's Advanced
Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop breakthrough energy storage
technologies. The projects will focus on innovations in battery management and
storage to advance electric vehicle (EV) technologies, help improve the
efficiency and reliability of the electrical grid, and provide important energy
security benefits to U.S. armed forces. The projects are supported by two new
ARPA-E programs: Advanced Management and Protection of Energy Storage Devices
(AMPED) and Small Business Innovation Research.
Twelve research projects are receiving $30 million in funding under the AMPED program, which aims to develop advanced sensing and control technologies that could dramatically improve grid-scale and vehicle batteries. Unlike other Energy Department efforts to push the frontiers of battery chemistry, AMPED is focused on maximizing the potential of existing battery chemistries. These innovations will help reduce costs and improve the performance of next-generation storage technologies, which could be applied in both plug-in and hybrid EVs. For example, Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, will develop an optical sensor to monitor the internal environment of a lithium-ion battery in real-time.
ARPA-E is also awarding $13 million to seven enterprising small businesses that are pursuing cutting-edge energy storage developments for stationary power and electric vehicles. These businesses will develop novel battery chemistries and battery designs as part of the larger department-wide Small Business Innovative Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program. For example, Energy Storage Systems, Inc., in Portland, Oregon, will construct a flow battery for grid-scale storage using an advanced cell design and electrolyte materials composed of low cost iron.
Twelve research projects are receiving $30 million in funding under the AMPED program, which aims to develop advanced sensing and control technologies that could dramatically improve grid-scale and vehicle batteries. Unlike other Energy Department efforts to push the frontiers of battery chemistry, AMPED is focused on maximizing the potential of existing battery chemistries. These innovations will help reduce costs and improve the performance of next-generation storage technologies, which could be applied in both plug-in and hybrid EVs. For example, Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, will develop an optical sensor to monitor the internal environment of a lithium-ion battery in real-time.
ARPA-E is also awarding $13 million to seven enterprising small businesses that are pursuing cutting-edge energy storage developments for stationary power and electric vehicles. These businesses will develop novel battery chemistries and battery designs as part of the larger department-wide Small Business Innovative Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program. For example, Energy Storage Systems, Inc., in Portland, Oregon, will construct a flow battery for grid-scale storage using an advanced cell design and electrolyte materials composed of low cost iron.
USDA Supports Growers of Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on July
27 a total of $19.4 million in payments to 125 advanced biofuel producers to
support the production of advanced biofuels from a wide variety of non-food
sources, including waste products. The funding will be provided through USDA's
Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, which makes payments to eligible
producers based on the amount of biofuels a recipient produces from renewable
biomass, other than corn kernel starch. Eligible feedstocks include crop
residue; animal, food, and yard waste; vegetable oil; and animal fat.
For example, Somerset Hardwood Flooring in Somerset, Kentucky, will receive a $7,040 payment for producing wood pellets from residual sawdust from its hardwood flooring manufacturing process. The company produces about 40 tons of wood pellets annually. Likewise, FPE Renewables, LLC, based in Lyden, Washington, will receive a payment of $9,612 for using dairy waste to produce biogas, which is then converted to electricity. And Virginia Biodiesel Refinery in West Point, Virginia, will receive a payment of $7,900 for making biodiesel from soybean and recycled cooking oil.
For example, Somerset Hardwood Flooring in Somerset, Kentucky, will receive a $7,040 payment for producing wood pellets from residual sawdust from its hardwood flooring manufacturing process. The company produces about 40 tons of wood pellets annually. Likewise, FPE Renewables, LLC, based in Lyden, Washington, will receive a payment of $9,612 for using dairy waste to produce biogas, which is then converted to electricity. And Virginia Biodiesel Refinery in West Point, Virginia, will receive a payment of $7,900 for making biodiesel from soybean and recycled cooking oil.
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