Connecticut Technology Council

Transportation Secretary Visits New Haven to Talk Trains

"Connecticut’s infrastructure is our oxygen. We can’t live as a state without investment in our roads and our bridges and our rails,” spoke Senator Chris Murphy yesterday afternoon in New Haven's Union Station, alongside his senior Senatorial colleague Richard Blumenthal, Governor Dannel Malloy, and all five of the State's federal representatives, including first term Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, Connecticut's only delegate to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  Murphy is keenly aware of the importance of a healthy transportation system in our state, and it is both exciting and relieving to hear the entire suite of our elected officials acknowledging this reality.

Despite the relatively small size of our state, we're home to a string of important centers and hubs from the New York adjacent panhandle, to New Haven and the seaboard, north through Middletown, Hartford, and the entire river valley.  The ability to transition smoothly from town to town, city to city, is a vital and often daily necessity for most businesses in Connecticut, as well as noncommercial necessities.

The need for fast, reliable, safe, and affordable transportation in Connecticut swells when its realized that our State does not function in a vacuum and that so much of our lives here are interconnected with the operations of New York, Providence, Western Massachusetts, and the greater Boston area.

With this in mind, Senator Blumenthal asked former Charlotte, NC mayor Anthony Foxx in May to visit Connecticut promptly after his confirmation as Secretary of Transportation (where he was unanimously approved by the Senate) on June 27th.  Foxx kept his promise and made New Haven his first visit as Secretary.

While some of the rail infrastructure in the Northeast more than a century old, an a train collision on the Metro North line just a few months past, the time for federal acknowledgement of what we in Connecticut have known for quite some time fell on appreciative ears.

Secretary Foxx articulated the importance of the Northeast corridor rail line, "the busiest railroad in America," but was not specific about his exact plans to make improvements, additions, or updates.  He established safety as a primary concern, but left anyone hoping to leave his speech with hard facts and figures a little empty.

Nevertheless, State officials are optimistic.  They see the Secretary's visit, only a month into his term, as a strong indication of his commitment to improving Connecticut's rail system.  Governor Malloy voiced plans to remain a "squeaky wheel" in Washington to ensure federal funding comes through to assist in the revitalization project, the plans for which can be found here at the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Rail Program's official website.

This visit follows closely on Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker's appointment to Chairman of the Northeast Corridor Commission in June, for a two year term. 

Hopefully, the NEC Commission, a recent Congressional creation, working closely with the State and Federal officials, will lead to a safe, efficient, reliable, convenient, and sustainable system of public railways in our corner of the world.  Until then, it would be wise to follow the Governor's advice, and remain a squeaky wheel.

Map of proposed line.

Immigration Provision Pleases CT High-Tech Companies

Washington -– A compromise over visas for highly skilled workers has pleased many Connecticut companies –- and has angered labor unions.

The Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to allow the number of  highly skilled foreign workers admitted to the country each year to rise from 65,000 to 110,000, with the possibility of a further increase to 180,000, depending in part on unemployment levels.

"Raising the current 65,000 cap on H1-Bs would be helpful to companies like us, with a significant technology focus," said David Lebowitz, an attorney with the human resources department at Stamford-based Pitney Bowes.

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Matthew Nemerson, who has taken leave as head of the Connecticut Technology Council to run for mayor of New Haven, said many companies in the state are grappling with the issue.

He said they would prefer to retrain American workers for high tech jobs, either by sending them back to school or new incentives for on-the-job training.

But he concedes other have no choice but to look for foreign workers because they can’t find qualified U.S. workers or any who want to relocate to Connecticut.

“There are definitely two different camps, two different points of view,” he said.

 

The full text of Ana Radelat's article from the CT Mirror can be found here.

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CT Proposal Would Hike Tax on Digital Downloads

HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -

"A provision in a legislative package that has emerged would have the 1 percent tax on these products rise to 6.35 percent, the amount of Connecticut’s sales tax.

Rep. Patricia Widlitz, D-Guilford, co-chair of the Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee, included the provision in the committee’s tax package in an attempt to make brick-and-mortar retailers more competitive.

“As our way of doing business changes, our tax structure has to look to the future as well and change with that,” she said."

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"Supporters of the tax hike say it would generate $40 million in badly needed revenue over the next two years.

Proponents see sales tax expansion as a way to help fill Connecticut’s projected two-year, $2.5 billion budget deficit. The proposal would generate $20.5 million next fiscal year, which starts July 1, and $22.1 million the following year, the legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis estimated."

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"[Connecticut Technology Council] President and CEO Matthew Nemerson said the council accepts that the Internet cannot maintain what in many cases amounts to an exemption from state and local taxes."

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The full article can be found at CBS New York.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related articles

NC Senate pitches 'compromise' tax reform plan

State considers raising tax on digital products

For Oregonians, shopping in Washington may soon not be so tax-free

Gov. Malloy Announces New Energy Strategy for Connecticut

At a CBIA conference in Cromwell this morning, Governor Dannel P. Malloy unveiled the first-ever Comprehensive Energy Strategy for Connecticut, designed to reduce costs, increase choice and reliability, and improve the state's economic competitiveness.

The governor said, "A comprehensive energy strategy can help us create jobs, it can make our state's businesses more competitive, and it can ensure that we preserve and protect our environment for generations to come."

Here are:

• Gov. Malloy's complete announcement
• Executive summary of the Draft Comprehensive Energy Strategy

High energy costs have been a considerable economic disadvantage for Connecticut, especially for the state's manufacturers, which are major energy consumers.

The aggressive, broad-based strategy explores many energy options in order to move the state toward an energy future that can provide cheaper, cleaner, more reliable power-and generate a competitive advantage.

For more information, contact CBIA's Eric Brown at 860.244.1926 or [email protected]

Matthew Nemerson talks to WNPR about crowdfunding

Entrepreneurs all over the country are buzzing about crowdfunding. A new federal law will make it possible for small companies to attract investors online. But not everyone in Connecticut is thrilled about the new rules. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

Earlier this month President Obama signed into law the JOBS Act, a measure with rare bipartisan support.

 Matthew Nemerson, President of the Connecticut Technology Council, says this new law could potentially speed up the pace of innovation.

“I think what we’re really doing here is reducing some of what have become very onerous costs of going public. And I think we’re looking at pools literally of billions of dollars around the country and around the world that are looking for new technology to invest in.”

To Read the Entire Transcript Click Here.

For more information about Crowdfunding: Click Here

 

 

Obama Administration Proposes New National Network to Support Manufacturing

President Obama announced the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, a propped $1 billion initiative to build a network comprised of up to fifteen Institutes for manufacturing innovation across the country. The proposed fifteen member institutes will serve as regional hubs of manufacturing excellence that will help make U.S. manufacturers more competitive and encourage investment. The administration also announced that it would take immediate steps to launch a $45 million pilot institute for manufacturing innovation.

Each institute should have a well-defined technology focus to address industrially-relevant manufacturing challenges on a large scale and to provide the capabilities and facilities required to reduce the cost and risk of commercializing new technologies. By investing in industrially-relevant manufacturing technologies with broad applications, the administration intends for these institutes to bring industry, universities and community colleges, federal agencies and U.S. states together. They also should work to bridge the gap between basic research and product development; provide companies with access to shared assets to help (e.g., cutting edge capabilities and equipment); and provide education and training in advanced-manufacturing related skills to students and workers. The competitively selected institutes would target several areas of innovation including, but not limited to:

• Developing lightweight materials;
• Refining standards, materials, and equipment for "3-D printing"; and,
• Creating a smart manufacturing infrastructure and approaches.

The administration also announced that it would take immediate steps to launch a pilot institute for manufacturing innovation. The $45 million pilot institute will be selected from a competitive application process and is intended to address "key challenges faced by the U.S. manufacturing sector" to reduce the risk and cost of commercializing and scaling-up new manufacturing products and processes.. Existing resources from the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Commerce and the National Science Foundation will be made available to support the pilot institute. Read the press release...

Attributed to: State Science & Technology Institute

President Announces $80M STEM Teacher Training Initiative

This week at the second annual White House Science Fair, President Obama announced a new $80 million Department of Education competition to support STEM teacher preparation programs. The investment will support innovative programs, such as those that allow prospective teachers to simultaneously earn a STEM degree and a teaching certificate. Another $22 million from philanthropic and private sources, including the Carnegie Foundation, Google and Dell, will complement the administration's STEM effort. A separate $60 million Department of Education/National Science Foundation initiative also was announced to reform U.S. mathematics education. Read the White House release...

Attributed to: SSTI (State Science and Technology Institute)

Startup America Legislative Agenda Announced

President Obama issued a new legislative agenda to boost the creation and growth of startup companies. The proposals include tax breaks for small business payrolls and expenses, an expansion of the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program and the elimination of country-specific caps on immigrant visas. The agenda was released in concert with the announcement of a third round of the Economic Development Administration's i6 Challenge, a second round of the Department of Energy's America's Next Top Energy Innovator program and a new Small Business Administration regional mentor network initiative. Read the complete list of proposals...

attributed to SSTI, www.ssti.org 

 

Bringing together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in the emerging technologies

$500 million to jump start the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership

Press Release from the White House, advanced manufacturing companies, take note:

Today, at Carnegie Mellon University, President Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), a national effort bringing together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in the emerging technologies that will create high quality manufacturing jobs and enhance our global competitiveness. Investing in technologies, such as information technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, will support the creation of good jobs by helping U.S. manufacturers reduce costs, improve quality, and accelerate product development.

The President’s plan, which leverages existing programs and proposals, will invest more than $500 million to jumpstart this effort. The President believes that even as we live within our means, we must invest to win the future. Investments will be made in the following key areas: building domestic manufacturing capabilities in critical national security industries; reducing the time needed to make advanced materials used in manufacturing products; establishing U.S. leadership in next-generation robotics; increasing the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes; and developing new technologies that will dramatically reduce the time required to design, build, and test manufactured goods. Leading universities and companies will compliment these federal efforts helping to invent, deploy and scale these cutting-edge technologies.

“Today, I’m calling for all of us to come together- private sector industry, universities, and the government- to spark a renaissance in American manufacturing and help our manufacturers develop the cutting-edge tools they need to compete with anyone in the world,” said President Obama. “With these key investments, we can ensure that the United States remains a nation that ‘invents it here and manufactures it here’ and creates high-quality, good paying jobs for American workers.”

The AMP is being developed based on the recommendation of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), which released a report [today] entitled “Ensuring Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing.” The PCAST report calls for a partnership between government, industry, and academia to identify the most pressing challenges and transformative opportunities to improve the technologies, processes and products across multiple manufacturing industries.

The AMP will be led by Andrew Liveris, Chairman, President, and CEO of Dow Chemical, and Susan Hockfield, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Working closely White House’s National Economic Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy and the PCAST, AMP will bring together a broad cross-section of major U.S. manufacturers and top U.S. engineering universities. The universities initially involved in the AMP will be the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, and University of Michigan. The manufacturers initially involved in the AMP will be Allegheny Technologies, Caterpillar, Corning, Dow Chemical, Ford, Honeywell, Intel, Johnson and Johnson, Northrop Grumman, Procter and Gamble, and Stryker.

The U.S. Government has had a long history of partnership with companies and universities in developing and commercializing the new technologies that have been the foundation of our economic success – from the telephone, to the microwave, to the jet engine, to the internet. The AMP will provide the platform for similar breakthroughs in the next decade, by building a roadmap for advanced manufacturing technologies, speeding ideas from the drawing board to the manufacturing floor, scaling-up first-of-a-kind technologies, and developing the infrastructure and shared facilities to allow small and mid-sized manufacturers to innovate and compete.

Major Commitments to Advanced Manufacturing Being Made Today

To launch the AMP, the President today announced a number of key steps being taken by the federal government:

• Building domestic manufacturing capabilities in critical national security industries: Starting this summer, the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Energy, Agriculture, Commerce and other agencies will coordinate a government-wide effort to leverage their existing funds and future budgets, with an initial goal of $300 million, to co-invest with industry in innovative technologies that will jumpstart domestic manufacturing capability essential to our national security and promote the long-term economic viability of critical U.S. industries. Initial investments include small high-powered batteries, advanced composites, metal fabrication, bio-manufacturing, and alternative energy, among others.
• Reducing the time to develop and deploy advanced materials: The Materials Genome Initiative, would invest more than $100M in research, training and infrastructure to enable U.S. companies to discover, develop, manufacture, and deploy advanced materials at twice the speed than is possible today, at a fraction of the cost. In much the same way that advances in silicon technology helped create the modern information technology industry, advanced materials will fuel emerging multi-billion dollar industries aimed at addressing challenges in manufacturing, clean energy, and national security.
• Investing in next-generation robotics: The National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institutes of Health and the Department of Agriculture are coming together to make available today $70 million to support research in next generation robots. These investments will help create the next generation of robots that will work closely with human operators – allowing new ability for factory workers, healthcare providers, soldiers, surgeons and astronauts to carry out key hard-to-do tasks.
• Developing innovative energy-efficient manufacturing processes: The Department of Energy will launch an effort to leverage their existing funds and future budgets, with initial goal of $120 million to develop innovative manufacturing processes and materials to enable companies to cut the costs of manufacturing, while using less energy.

Additional complementary steps as part of AMP will include:

• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency exploration of new approaches that have potential to dramatically reduce – by up to a factor of 5 – the time required to design, build, and test manufactured goods while enabling entrepreneurs to meet Defense Department needs.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, and University of Michigan commitment to form a multi-university collaborative framework for sharing of educational materials and best practices relating to advanced manufacturing and its linkage to innovation. The universities will also join together with industry partners and leading government agencies to define research opportunities and build a collaborative roadmap for identify key technology priorities.
• Commerce Department development of an advanced manufacturing technology consortium, starting with $12 million in FY12, to identify public private partnerships to tackle common technological barriers to the development of new products.
• Proctor & Gamble announcement that it will make available advanced software at no cost to American small and mid-sized manufacturers through the recently launched Midwest Modeling and Simulation consortium. This is a highly valuable digital design tool usually unavailable to smaller firms.
• Department of Energy launch of an initiative with the Ford Motor Company and the National Association of Manufacturers to make use of the Department’s National Training & Education Resource to educate and train a new generation of manufacturers.
• Defense Department investments, funded at $24 million in FY11, in domestic manufacturing technology that address urgent operational needs including improvements for transparent armor, stealth technology, and targeting systems. The Department is also developing an online marketplace to increase domestic manufacturing capacity in industries critical to our national security by connecting U.S. manufacturers with product needs at the Department and other federal agencies.

SOPA / PIPA - Stop Online Piracy Act and the Senate’s Protect IP Act of 2011

CTC cares about this and is tracking this federal legislation.  We will post updates here as the bill goes through it's process in DC.   We encourage those that care about freedom and the integrity of the global internet to get informed and speak up!

Make an impact: Send a letter or call your legislator. Use CTC's advocacy tool: http://bit.ly/vWpufk 

1/18 update:   SOPA / PIPA Internet Piracy Bills - votes coming 1/24
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is with the House Judiciary Committee and will be voted upon after the winter recess. The Senate’s Protect IP Act (PIPA) will be up for a vote Jan. 24....

Today, Google and Wikipedia have shown their colors: black. From Google: 

"Fighting online piracy is important. The most effective way to shut down pirate websites is through targeted legislation that cuts off their funding. There’s no need to make American social networks, blogs and search engines censor the Internet or undermine the existing laws that have enabled the Web to thrive, creating millions of U.S. jobs."

Local news items of interest:

Click here to read bill co-sponsor Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)'s blog post stating his current position. 

1/17/2012 -Concerns About Online Piracy Act Growing Among State's Congressional Delegation, by Daniela Altimari, Hartford Courant

1/17/2012 - Dodd, Techies Still At Odds Over Piracy Legislation, CT News Junkie
1/1/3/2012 -Connecticut Delegation Split On Internet Piracy Bills,  CT News Junkie, by Christine Stuart

--More general references about the bills:

Wondering how your legislator stands on SOPA / PIPA? 
Check out this SOPATRACK tool: http://bit.ly/u0a7uY

A legal analysis of the bill by professors from Stamford, Temple and Elon Universities is here: http://bit.ly/tpKmhV   - where they state, "(the bill) may represent the biggest threat to the Internet in its history." (thanks to UConn's Eric Knight for the link)

Bill Summary: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41911.pdf - provides a great summary, if you don't want to read the actual bill itself. It also states the concerns about the bill.

Vague, vague how...  http://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/coica-v-20-protect-ip-act does a great job of explaining WHY the wording is vague, instead of just stating the the wording is "too vague" (which is vague, and what you will see most places )

Legal review: http://blogs.law.stanford.edu/newsfeed/files/2011/07/PROTECT-IP-letter-final.pdf - Letter from 108 law professors, again pointing out the problematic sections of the bill.

The Bill itself: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s968rs/pdf/BILLS-112s968rs.pdf

Make and impact: Send a letter or call your legislator. 
Use CTC's advocacy tool: http://bit.ly/vWpufk