Medical research has been called an accelerator for America’s future and its successes are awe-inspiring: Regenerative medicine research has given people a second chance at life. Stem cells were taken from a child’s own bone marrow to create and implant a windpipe in a 2½ year-old-girl. The Human Genome Project served as the research catalyst that allowed us to read all three billion letters in human DNA code. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has led research providing major advancements in our understanding of diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and Parkinson’s.

Three state companies are getting an undisclosed amount of money from a new venture capital fund set up in part by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority.

Organizers of the Borealis Granite Fund, including the BFA and Hanover-based Borealis Ventures, yesterday announced its first recipients of funding would be Manchester-based Mosaic, which provides cloud storage for digital photographs; Lebanon-based Avitide, which makes biopharmaceutical purification technology; and Dyn, a Manchester-based company that says it specializes in “Internet Infrastructure as a Service.”

Research announced today at the International Liver CongressTM 2013 has revealed the deadly impact that alcohol and body weight have on liver disease.

Women should forgo the wine and doughnuts after a new study found the harmful combination of high alcohol intake and high body mass index (BMI) causes an increased risk of chronic liver disease. The study analysed a cohort of over 107,000 women to investigate how a female’s weight and alcohol consumption affected their chances of suffering and dying from chronic liver disease.

Spring has gotten off to a colder- and snowier-than-average start in parts of the United States, particularly in the eastern Rockies andUpper Midwest.

Duluth, Minn., for example, has seen 51 inches (130 centimeters) of snow this April. That's not only the most snow the town has seen in any April — breaking the old mark of 31.6 inches (80 cm) — but the most snow the town has received in any month, ever, according to government records. As of Monday (April 22), a total of 995snowfall records have also been broken so far this month, according to AccuWeather. Over the same time period last year, 195 snowfall records had been broken.

Much like the bulldozers and tractors it builds, Caterpillar’s presence in Peoria, Ill., is big. The company’s corporate headquarters and facilities in the area employ more than 16,000 people, a sizable chunk of the local manufacturing employment base. Requiring a vast supplier network, economic development experts estimate that Caterpillar is the primary customer of 40 percent of local businesses. But as the company expands globally, many have feared its days in Peoria are numbered. Losing that many jobs would deal a devastating blow to the local economy, one the mid-sized city would find far more difficult to recover from than larger jurisdictions. Fortunately, Caterpillar has signaled that it may stay in Peoria for the long haul, announcing last year initial plans to upgrade its existing headquarters in the city. “For them to announce they’re going to maintain their presence in Peoria, you can’t put a number on that,” says Mayor Jim Ardis. “I can’t think of a (Peoria) business that isn’t touched or impacted by Cat on a daily basis.”

The federal government gave out more than $40 billion for research and development (R&D) to universities across the country in fiscal 2011. Universities depend heavily on federal funding, with many of the top programs relying on the government for more than 60% of their R&D budgets. As a result, many research program directors fear that the federal cuts promoted by the sequester will hurt future funding.

In an era of e-tickets, bitcoins and app-based banking, it seems pretty antiquated that we still have to fumble through our wallets for an insurance card each time we go to the doctor’s office. But a Philadelphia-based startup has a plan for making those flimsy pieces of cardboard digital — and the upside isn’t just the potential for going paper-free.

The pace at which the United States produces $100-million companies has been stable over the last 20 years despite changes in the economy. However, according to a new Kauffman paper released today, the locations and sectors in which those companies are created are changing.

In the paper, "The Constant: Companies that Matter," Kauffman Foundation Senior Fellow Paul Kedrosky explores the rate and founding locations of companies in the United States that "matter" from 1980 to present.  

Passed in September 2011, the final phases of the America Invents Act went into effect in March. Cyrus Morton, a partner at the Minneapolis office of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi said this law represents the biggest change since the 1950s.

“This bill spent eight years in Congress and finally got passed when this administration pitched it as a jobs bill,” he said.

At the MedTech Investing conference in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Morton offered seven tips for how medical device companies should manage intellectual property and patent applications under the new law.

Africa is where it is at and its digital/tech scene is all the rage. Bigwigs are noticing the continent. The latest group to take interest in Africa is the Rockefeller Foundation, which announced a new initiative that will focus on Africa’s youth and employment, Digital Jobs Africa. The foundation has pledged nearly US$100-million to Africa’s digital sector in the hopes of impacting “one million lives in six countries through leverage and private sector partnership”. According to the foundation the investment will impact people who would not otherwise have an opportunity for sustainable employment through jobs and skills for youth in the tech sector.

The Obama Administration today announced that it is launching competitions to create three new manufacturing innovation institutes with a Federal commitment of $200 million across five Federal agencies – Defense, Energy, Commerce, NASA, and the National Science Foundation.  To build off the initial success of a pilot institute headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio, the President announced in the State of the Union that his Administration would move forward and launch three new manufacturing innovation institutes this year.  The President will continue to call on Congress to act on his proposal for a one-time $1 billion investment to create a network of 15 manufacturing innovation institutes across the country. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SB) plans to issue Program Announcement No. FAST-13-R-0007 and make twenty awards of up to $95,000 to organizations to conduct outreach and provide technical assistance services to technology-based small business owners. Applications will be considered from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This program is authorized by Public Law (P.L.) 111-117 and 15 U.S.C. 657d©. There is a one proposal per state limitation on this competition. Only one proposal from each state may be submitted to the SBA for consideration and this application must have an original, signed Letter of Endorsement from the State Governor (Mayor for the District of Columbia). Please note that all Technical Proposals must be 25 pages or less double spaced. See pages 8 a) & 9 b) of the Program Announcement for Technical Proposal content. Eligible applicants include, but are not limited to, state and local Economic Development Agencies, colleges and universities and Small Businesses Development Centers.

That's why Swintek has used her own funds to provide seed capital to early-stage companies throughout her career. But three years ago, she teamed up with Golden Seeds, a large angel investor network, for some extra support.

"As a solo investor, deal access is 'catch as catch can,' while in a group, deal flow is more consistent and plentiful," says Swintek, now one of the network's nine managing partners. "The other informed perspectives are valuable."

The White House on Thursday morning released an executive order from President Barack Obama that mandates any data in information systems created by government agencies going forward be available for anyone to access, download, and use.

Administration officials say this will present opportunities for entrepreneurs across the country.

"We sit on a treasure trove of data in government," White House Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel said today during a conference call with reporters. "Today most of that data is locked up in paper, proprietary systems and other things. As part of this motion, government agencies are going to, as they create new or modernize their existing systems, by default they will be required to make their data in those systems open and machine readable."

Telecommuting is increasingly becoming a way of business life.  According to the United States Census Bureau, an estimated 20 to 30 million people work at home at least one day a week. Worldwide, the numbers are even more impressive. The Citrix Workplace of the Future survey found that 24 percent of global companies allow their employees to work at times and locations of their choosing.

What are the benefits of this approach?

For employees, telecommuting eliminates travel costs and provides a better work/life balance. For companies, it lowers employee-related and real estate costs, which can be a major boon to small businesses that may lack the capital and infrastructure to maintain a traditional office environment. Additionally, telecommuting allows businesses to hire from a wider pool of applicants, including disabled and geographically removed workers.

Entrepreneurs seem more quickly frustrated these days when their “million-dollar idea” doesn’t turn into a sustainable business overnight. They don’t realize that it takes many skills to build a business under the best of circumstances, and today’s world of instant gratification doesn’t leave room for the patience and practice to develop these skills.

Successful sports figures and musicians have long understood the value of time and practice in perfecting their skills. So why do entrepreneurs think that building a business is intuitively obvious, and should happen overnight? Building a business is a complex task, like building the product or service, and requires the same focus, discipline, and practice to get it right. Even the revered Steve Jobs of Apple didn’t get it all right the first time.

Mistakes happen. Maybe you missed a high-priority client meeting; you dropped the ball on a big account; or maybe you mishandled company money.

While the scenarios vary, all eyes are now on you.

Almost all of us will make mistakes at some point during our career. When that happens, what’s more important is what you do next.

Making a mistake on the job can be a jarring experience, but there’s a lot you can gain from your errors. You might even come back stronger and more knowledgeable than before. By putting a cleanup and prevention plan into play after the fact, you’re likely to move past this bump in the road.

Congratulations! You’re starting the summer off right with an internship! A full-time job, however, is still front-of-mind.

By creating a good relationship with your supervisors, being open and up front about your goals, and knowing your strengths within the organization, you can differentiate yourself and get ahead on your job search.

Be Open and Honest from the Start

Creating strong professional relationships will be essential this summer. It’s likely that your supervisor has an idea that you’re looking to turn your internship into full-time work, but you should establish that fact with an open conversation.

Greek youth unemployment shot to a record 64% in February, underscoring the dire state of the recession-hit economy despite signs of improving business sentiment.

Repeated doses of austerity under international bailouts have almost tripled Greece's jobless rate since its debt crisis began in 2009, weighing on an economy in its sixth year of recession.

Overall unemployment has risen to an all-time high of 27%, data showed on Thursday (9 May), while joblessness in the 15-to-24 age group jumped to 64.2% in February from 59.3% in January.