Under SSBCI, all states are offered the opportunity to apply for federal funds for state-run programs that partner with private lenders to increase the amount of credit available to small businesses. States must show that a minimum of $10 in new private lending will result from every $1 in federal funding.

Connecticut’s plan will use its $13.3 million in SSBCI funding to support the Capital Access Program (CAP), which provides loan portfolio insurance to encourage private financial institutions to lend to creditworthy small businesses. The state expects that CAP will foster more than $133 million in additional small business lending statewide.

Iowa lawmakers will consider a sweeping overhaul of the state's economic development efforts Wednesday to give businesses a greater voice in shaping state policy and a role in financing development efforts.

Supporters say the measure scheduled for debate in the House would be the first of its kind in the nation and establish a new approach to economic development.

"A lot of what we're trying to do is almost change the mentality of the bureaucracy," said Rep. Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford. "Being able to access private dollars rather than relying on the state for economic development is probably the long-term goal."

On February 14th, President Obama sent Congress his 2012 federal budget proposal for consideration. With the 2011 federal deficit projected to be at least $1.5 trillion and the national unemployment rate lingering around nine percent, the White House’s top priorities are budget cuts and job creation. Although not likely to pass exactly as outlined, the plan includes incentives and funding opportunities that support entrepreneurship, research and development, manufacturing, and clean energy.

Here are some of the proposed opportunities that could have a direct, positive impact on entrepreneurs, researchers, inventors, and manufacturers in 2012.

The European Commission plans to step up its battle against oil- and gas-fuelled cars, and is drawing up strict targets to halve their urban usage by 2030 and "phase them out by 2050," according to an EU road map on transport to be published on Monday (28 March) and seen by EurActiv.

These objectives will play an instrumental role in achieving the more comprehensive target of cutting CO2 emissions from transport by 60% by 2050. Currently, a quarter of EU greenhouse gas emissions come from transport.

The Commission is therefore proposing an ambitious plan which eyes significant reductions of emissions especially in road transport, while it intends to increase rail traffic, on the grounds that is by far cleaner and more environment-friendly. 

When Syracuse University quietly filed for a federal trademark on the word “orange" for use on apparel in 2006, nothing seemed to stand in the way. After all, a similar but broader filing it had made two years earlier was being considered, and Syracuse hadn’t heard a whisper of protest. Orange is the university's sports nickname and team color.

Late last year, though, several colleges that use orange as one of their main colors for sports, marketing, and the like caught wind of the trademark filing. Feeling threatened -- and in many cases believing that Syracuse's assertion of trademark applied to the color, as well as the word -- they moved to protect their own. Since February, seven colleges have filed varying forms of opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. At least two more have communicated directly with Syracuse about the trademark application, but did not file formal opposition.

Canada’s federal budget, presented March 22, 2011, will not be supported by any of the 3 federal opposition parties, and therefore the minority Conservative government will not have the votes they need to pass the budget in the House of Commons. The stage is now set for Canadians to go to an election. The final vote will be Friday March 25.

The budget will now become an election issue. The 352 page document describes no new taxes, and a total of $2.3B in new spending. The budget proposes a $40.5B deficit, $9B less than projected, with the goal of a balanced budget in 4 years.

Innovation was supported in this budget with significant new investments for media and brain research ($100M each). The tri-councils and Genome Canada were given some new funding, and new investments were made to support commercial innovation.

Prepared by: Robert Merson

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Delaware.

That's according to data from the last two years as collected by M-Lab, a partnership between Google and the New America Foundation. Google has made the data available on its Labs Web site in various different formats, including as pie charts on Google Maps.

Average download speeds in the Delaware are 11.36Mbps. Rhode Island is a distant second at 9.74Mbps.

The slowest is Montana, with an average of 2.57Mbps.

The other day I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Anita Campbell on the Small Business Trends Radio Show, where we discussed legal tips that entrepreneurs need to know when starting their business. I want to reiterate one part of that conversation, because time and time again I encounter passionate entrepreneurs who are turning out innovative products, groundbreaking services, fantastic business models, impressive balance sheets, but overlook one thing…a legal business entity.

Too often, small business owners consider their ventures too small to worry about forming a business structure…and think that having an “Inc.” or “LLC” after the company name is only for large businesses with mazes of cubicles and a big payroll. I’ve heard all kinds of statements, including, “I don’t need anything complicated. I’m just a one-person operation. My customers like working with a small business, so why would I want to change?”

FORTUNE -- There is reason to believe that some kind of material good might eventually result from Japan's disaster, and it's confirmed by the way this thirty-something Japanese manager is responding to it: "I have been a 'risk-averse shosha-man (salary-man)' for 14 years, but I decided to quit my big company job to start my new business this June," he emailed six days after the earthquake. He had made the decision before the catastrophe (and doesn't want to be identified because he hasn't yet told his employer). "After the quake, however, what do you think happened to my mentality? Stronger desire to take the risk to SAVE the nation. Japanese people do a bigger job when they face crisis. My venture will surely start in June, despite the much worse economic situation for a new business to be started."

As the credit crunch eases for small businesses in general, the Treasury Department today turned its attention to the needs of startups, especially the high-growth companies that are responsible for most of America’s net new jobs.

The agency invited entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and bankers to its headquarters next to the White House for a six-hour brainstorming session on access to capital. The conference, said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, “is an opportunity to find solutions that run from the traditional—such as tax incentives and direct lending—to the innovative and alternative, such as creating a way to efficiently pool investments in small companies.”

“The financial crisis caused a great deal of damage to the capacity of innovators to access capital, and we can't promote innovation and investment in the United States unless we help these innovative companies get the funding they need to succeed,” Geithner said.

Boeing 747-8 - Big American Innovation

Boeing conducted the first successful flight of the all new 747-8 Intercontinental on March 20, 2011.

747-8 New Features
The 747-8 Intercontinental will seat 467 passengers, 51 more than the current version of the 747-400. The 747-8 Intercontinental applies interior features from the 787 Dreamliner that includes a new curved, upswept architecture giving passengers a greater feeling of space and comfort, while adding more room for personal belongings. The plane also boasts new wings, a new tail, state-of-the-art engines and a new cockpit.

By 2020, there will be around 50 billion devices connected to a wireless network — and a huge chunk of those devices will be able to drastically reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact by virtue of being connected to the Internet, said telecom giant Ericsson’s chief executive Hans Vestberg.

That’s because having all those devices connected to a network will make it easier to run any number of aspects of life that have an impact on the environment more efficiently. That can range from power grids, to traffic or to fuel efficiency. The biggest opportunity lies in placing all those devices on a smart grid — a highly efficient power grid that uses advanced programs and wirelessly connected devices to distribute power without wasting it. Vestberg made the comments at the CTIA Wireless 2011 conference in Orlando, Fla.

There’s a well known quote, attributed to an anonymous person, that says “It’s not what you know but who you know that makes the difference.” My guess as to why that speaker preferred anonymity is that he or she didn’t want to be inundated by people looking to expand their own list of those they “know”.

It’s absolutely true that the right introductions, from a credible and well-connected source, can jump-start a career or company. Partnering correctly, getting money from a top tier fund or making the right hire does add credibility to your venture.

Here’s a light-hearted look at what I’d consider the 10 Greatest Consumer-Oriented Innovations Of All Time.

10. Sliced Bread - Before sliced bread people had to eat a lot of buns or were forced to break bread. It was difficult to make a good sandwich. Sliced bread is the greatest thing since…well, I’m not really sure.

9. Wheel - It’s arguably the most ubiquitous innovation of all time. Used throughout history all over the world. Without the wheel, life would literally be a drag.

8. Microwave Oven - Since 1967 when the first personal microwave oven was introduced, countless cups of cold coffee have been saved from an untimely demise down the drain.

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.), March 23, 2011 – In 2009, at the height of the Great Recession, the economy saw historically large declines in job creation rates from startup and existing firms—the lowest rates in nearly 30 years—while job losses also increased. From 2006 to 2009, the overall job creation rate fell 4 points (from 16.5 percent), and among startups the job creation rate fell by 1 point (from 3 percent). However, compared to 2006 rates this represents a 25 percent decrease in overall job creation and a 34 percent decline among startups. Despite this grim reality, new and expanding firms still created more than 14 million new jobs.

In his 2011 annual letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett offered a variety of insights for business owners. Here are five of my favorite pearls of wisdom from the Oracle of Omaha:

1. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water

Berkshire Hathaway has a significant exposure to the U.S. housing market, yet instead of selling assets or de-prioritizing the industry, Buffett made some additional investments in his housing-related businesses, including purchases of the largest brick manufacturer in Alabama, a new $55-million plant for roofer Johns Manville and five “bolt-on” acquisitions for MiTek.

Being wealthy was supposed to be a passport to lifelong financial stability. But after 18 months of nail-biting volatility in financial markets and wealth destruction on a massive scale, the very rich are no longer feeling quite so secure. True, the banking system and global economy are showing signs of stabilisation, but the longer-term future remains uncertain, and this is having a significant impact on the attitudes and behaviour of the wealthy.

The crisis has had a life-changing impact for many of the world’s ultra high net worth individuals (those with investable assets in excess of US$30m).1 Many have lost their “ultra” tag altogether and have been downgraded to the rank of mere high net worth individual (someone with wealth in excess of US$1m). According to the 2009 World Wealth Report, which is published by CapGemini, a consultancy, and Merrill Lynch, an investment company, the global population of ultra high net worth individuals fell by 24.6% during 2008 to an estimated 78,000. Overall, the wealth held by this cohort shrank by 23.9% from the previous year.

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Ohio State University is hoping a newly hired vice president can turn in a repeat performance in the school’s efforts to license and commercialize technology.

The school on Tuesday announced the hire of Brian Cummings as vice president for technology commercialization. He steps into the job June 1 pending trustee approval and arrives from the University of Utah, where he worked as executive director of its Technology Commercialization Office.

Cummings will make an annual salary of $365,000 in the post. President Gordon Gee had hinted earlier this year in an interview with Columbus Business First that the university was nearing “another high-profile hire who will be expensive.” Under Gee’s watch, the expense for top executives has nearly doubled to $13.7 million as the school seeks to be the state’s main economic driver and gain national prominence.

What better way to study the pros and cons of a major shift in strategy than to examine its impact on a similar organization that took the plunge? In 2005, the University of Utah’s new president Michael Young, in response to the state’s investments in Utah’s knowledge economy, plucked the technology commercialization office out of the research administration division and handed its oversight to Jack Brittain, then Dean of Utah’s business school. The university combined three previously independent units under Brittain into a new division called “Technology Ventures” whose mandate was to accelerate the rate of start-up formation, connect the technology transfer office to the university’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Center, improve the university’s industry research partnerships, and streamline its technology licensing strategy.

Most universities house their technology transfer units inside an administrative division that oversees research functions, such as managing the paperwork around grant funding and providing lab animal care. At many universities, the head of this research administration is a former faculty member who had a solid career as a research scientist, but typically has no exposure to the industry product development process, nor the way businesses think and operate. There are many solid reasons for housing the management of a university’s patent portfolio inside the research division. However, there are equally compelling reasons to move the university’s commercialization efforts into greater alignment with other entrepreneurial activity on campus.

The FY12 Business, Economic Development and Labor budget approved by lawmakers includes $25.7 million for USTAR, the state-funded initiative to grow a knowledge-based economy. This is the same amount recommended by Gov. Gary Herbert, but down from FY11 projected spending of $35.4 million. That amount included some ARRA funding from previous years, however. Research Teams will receive $23 million and $1.9 million is slated for Technology Outreach.

USTAR's recent annual report points to impressive returns for the state, especially over the last six months, during which time USTAR researchers increased grant funding by 50 percent. Since its inception in 2007, USTAR researchers have received $66 million in out-of-state funding. In the last two years, the outreach team helped Utah companies secure $35 million in outside investment, the majority coming from angel and venture capital investors.