DES MOINES - In the final action of its existence, the Iowa Economic Development Board approved state financial awards Thursday for projects in five Iowa communities that will impact up to 481 jobs.

Thursday marked the end of the line for the 13 board members, unless they need a final conference call to mop up some administrative loose ends. Next month, the state Department of Economic Development will launch a new public-private entity, the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress. It will be made up of the Economic Development Authority - a state-funded agency with a new oversight board - and the Economic Development Corp., a not-for-profit organization that will be financed by the private sector and possibly federal grants.

HAVANA, Cuba, Thursday, September 15, 2011 – Licenses for self-employment have doubled with the number of licenses granted increasing from about 150,000 last year to 333,000 at present.

This according to Minister of Labour and Social Security, Margarita Gonzalez, who stated that since the implementation of the guidelines passed during the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), last year, employment alternative have been increased to 181 specialties.

Can two startups help make peace between Israelis and Palestinians?

Theodore Grossman hopes so.

The Babson College professor, specializing in technology and information systems, is helping to drive commerce between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, by teaching Palestinians and Israeli's entrepreneurship at Babson College.

"How can we use new methods to bring the people together?", Professor Grossman said.

As we start our convertible debt series, we’ll focus on the discount. Remember that a convertible debt deal doesn’t purchase equity in your company. Instead, it’s simply a loan that has the ability to convert to equity based on some future financing event (we’ll tackle the conversion mechanics in a later post.)

Until recently, we had never seen a convertible debt deal that didn’t convert at a discount to the next financing round. Given some of the excited market conditions at the seed stage, we’ve heard of convertible deals with no discount, but view this as irregular and not sustainable over the long term.

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions.

This initial focus is usually driven by limited financial and people resources, as well as the bandwidth of the executive team. Yet a creative and skilled team will often find that non-organic growth techniques can better leverage these limited resources.

An example of a startup which used non-organic growth early and effectively was Microsoft. Bill Gates started producing software solutions, like his Basic Interpreter and MS DOS, but quickly focused on adding thousands of small partners for applications, and major partners like IBM and other hardware manufacturers. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early.

Oh that Jesse Brown. He’s at it again. Regular readers probably remember our spirited back and forth recently about Apple’s relative level of importance to technology over the past decade. Now, with his latest post on Maclean's, Jesse has me frothing over another topic: video games.

In his post, he takes issue with the big tax breaks and other financial incentives that video game companies have received in many countries to set up shop there, especially Canada. As Jesse puts it, it’s a highly profitable industry that’s also one of the most subsidized:

"The health of the industry is inarguable—sales of video games reached $15 billion in the U.S. alone last year, eclipsing the music industry, if that still means anything—and it would likely do just fine without the charity. So why the corporate welfare?"

When was the last time you sat staring off into space daydreaming? Now, when you have a moment of down time, you probably check your e-mails, text, go online or play Angry Birds.

There’s plenty of technology on that smartphone to keep your mind occupied. But here's the rub: Your brain needs to be bored to be creative. It also needs down time to re-group.

Just think back to the days when your mom kicked you out of the house and told you to come home when it’s dark. Think of how creative you were at filling that unstructured time.

While President Obama urged Congress to pass his $447 billion jobs bill combining tax cuts and new government spending, skepticism remains as to whether the package could kick-start the stalled economy and if it would indeed pay for itself as the President promised.

President Obama’s “American Jobs Act” proposals include a 50 percent cut in payroll taxes, incentives for businesses to hire returning veterans and people who have been unemployed for more than six months, and new spending on America’s infrastructure. The President said that the proposals would not increase the growing federal deficit, and that he has ambitions for long-term deficit reduction through spending cuts.

Hong Kong is not famous for providing the best environment to entrepreneurs. But if you look around, help is there. Established in 2001 by Hong Kong government, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks offers incubation program for technology startups in the territory.

The program, called Incu-Tech, has been operating since 1992. At first, it was located in a downtown building in Kowloon Tong. Then, it moved to Science Park, a water-front county-side area in the north-eastern part of Hong Kong, in 2001. The place offers a rare campus-like environment in the crowded city.

A recent report, “Oklahoma Higher Education: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom” published by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs and written by Matthew Denhart and Christopher Matgouranis of The Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington, D.C., asserts that state investment in universities bears little fruit with respect to economic development. However, recent data assembled by the Association of University Technology Managers says just the opposite: There is a positive correlation between money spent on research and economic development.

The metrics that go to the bottom line: royalties generated on inventions and the formation of startup companies — those that come about as a result of research activities. An analysis of the AUTM data shows that the top 25 universities in the nation have average research expenditures of $709 million per year. On average, this produces 261 inventions and generates $28 million in royalties for each of those universities. These royalties stem directly from an estimated $560 million per year in revenues to companies based on university research.

Building owners and managers are often reluctant to adopt new energy efficiency technology because they doubt it will be worth the cost in the long run.

Nolan Browne, managing director of the Cambridge, MA-based (for now) Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, is on the same page.

“I fundamentally agree with them,” he says. “If we don’t prove it, why would they want to buy it? We need to prove that it will work or last 20 to 30 years and that the occupant in that building is going to be happy and productive. If not, then it’s a problem.”

His organization is in the process of retrofitting an old building in the South Boston waterfront section known as the Innovation District. The facility will serve as the center’s offices and a “living lab” for demonstrating and validating energy efficient building technologies.

Microfinance is a term for lending money to low-income individuals. These individuals typically don’t have access to the same banking opportunities available to middle- and upper-income households.

Microfinance is often seen as a tool to help people climb out of poverty. Loan recipients can apply the money to building or sustaining a family-owned business. The loan amounts issued, however, are typically small — much smaller than those provided by banks.

While modern microfinance has gained traction thanks to the web, the practice has actually been viable for some time. Here’s a look at how it evolved and how the Internet is bringing it to more and more people.

How do you capture the present state of design in one single chart, with only 50 names? You don't. But, inspired by the effort of those 50, we gave it a shot in Fast Company's 2011 design issue.

In Fast Company's 2011 design issue, we focused on American design: What it means, where it stands, and where it's going. And so naturally, we thought it necessary to create a list of the country's most influential designers. We could have left it as a list, and that would be fine. It would have enraged a few people, enlightened a few more, and that's it. But instead, we wanted to gave readers a bit more insight into what "design" actually means today. Say it with me now: Infographics, to the rescue!

Looking to raise some money, but not sure where to go? Trying to make sense of the venture capital space? This chart from LUMA Partners should help. It lays out all the venture money investing in the digital industry.

Advanced energy as an economic development opportunity is a relatively new paradigm.  Until recently, the industry was focused on regulatory and environmental issues and was not thought of as a job creator.  Within the last 5 -7 years it has become a huge economic opportunity that regions, states and the nation as a whole are trying to capture. But, how do we make sure that we are harnessing the entire system of regional, state and federal efforts to create that economic impact?  By creating  an organization from the bottom up!  It may sound a little glib but the effort is turning into a great opportunity to collaborate nationally and accelerate competitiveness in advanced energy.

Today, NorTech and seven of Ohio’s energy focused business organizations announced that we have formed a new statewide partnership. This new organization, Advanced Energy Economy Ohio (AEE Ohio), will seek to drive the development of advanced energy to boost Ohio’s economy and competitiveness. The purpose of this collaboration is to increase our capacity statewide to accelerate the energy economy, to have good reliable data and to advocate for effective policies.  AEE Ohio is one of the first regional advanced energy organizations in the country that will feed into an emerging national coalition focused on growing America’s energy economy.

Are you an entrepreneur? Are you consumed with a great desire to create a company, create value or change the world? If so, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve created today’s roundup with you in mind. Read up on tips, resources and news important to you as we explore the journey into the world of entrepreneurship.

Basics

Is entrepreneurship all it’s cracked up to be? It all depends on how you approach it. To many people who decide to start their own business, disillusionment and disenchantment can easily and quickly set in. They find their new endeavor causes them more stress and less satisfaction than they expected. They work longer hours, make less money, and are more isolated than in their previous work. This article emphasizes why they do what they do, recognizing the sacrifices they must make. Huff Post Small Business

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Employees shouldn’t be surfing the Web when they’re in the office, right? It’s just common sense. Some recent studies are turning that bit of management wisdom on its head. Turns out that the most productive workers are the ones who get to read the news and make Amazon purchases from their desk.

Recently, PC World reported on a study out of the University of Singapore, which found that giving office workers the ability to Web surf at work allowed them to “restore resources that are drained as a result of work.”

WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, President Obama signed the America Invents Act, historic patent reform legislation that will help American entrepreneurs and businesses bring their inventions to market sooner, creating new businesses and new jobs. In addition, the President announced additional steps that will help convert the ideas from America’s universities and research labs into new products, expanding our economy and creating 21st century jobs.

“I am pleased to sign the America Invents Act.  This much-needed reform will speed up the patent process so that innovators and entrepreneurs can turn a new invention into a business as quickly as possible,” said President Obama. “I’m also announcing even more steps today that will help bring these inventions to market faster and create jobs. Here in America, our creativity has always set us apart, and in order to continue to grow our economy, we need to encourage that spirit wherever we find it.”

Amidst an increasingly connected world, globalization is the order of the day. The concept poses both great benefits and significant challenges to entrepreneurs. However, while the benefits are many (including more efficient communication and greater potential for collaboration), today’s digital age can put increased pressure on young businesses to expand globally — and to do so quickly.

There is something to allowing your business to grow organically and not to push expansion too rapidly. On the other hand, it’s important to consider the realities of today’s business environment. If you’re a startup entrepreneur, you risk facing a competitive disadvantage if you wait too long to expand your operations.

The first step in the process of expansion is identifying which markets are of the most strategic significance to your business. Once you’ve targeted a market, however, things can quickly become convoluted and overwhelming.