If you are in business or thinking about starting a business in Nevada, there has been a change in the way that your business should obtain its Nevada Business Registration (the “License”). With a few minor exceptions, this License is required of every person or entity doing business in Nevada. This means anyone who performs services or engages in a trade for profit or if you have a legal entity with the State.

Effective October 1, 2009, State Licenses began to be issued out of the Nevada Secretary of State Office rather than the Department of Taxation where you previously filed for the License. As part of this change, the Secretary of State’s office will require that all businesses file for their annual State License in conjunction with the filing of the Annual List.

What if you should have a License, but never got one?

If your initial list is due soon (before the end of the year), you can simply apply for the License when you file your initial list with the Secretary of State. However, if your list is not due soon (say before the end of the year), you should submit a Gap Business License Application as soon as possible to avoid late penalties for failure to obtain a License. Thereafter, your License will be due when your annual list is due.

What if you have a License but it expires before your annual list is due?

You should submit a Gap Business License Application as soon as possible (preferably before the expiration date) to avoid late penalties for failure to obtain a License. Thereafter, your License will be renewed when you file your annual list.

What if you have a License, but it expires after your list is due?

Simply file your list when it is due and submit for your License renewal at the same time (even though it has not expired). You will pay a prorated fee for the balance of the year and, next year, your License will expire at the same time that your annual list is due.

To find more information and the appropriate forms, visit the Nevada Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.state.nv.us.

© 2009 Drinkwater Law Offices

Effective October 1, 2009 (It’s coming up fast!), the State of Nevada will recognize a new civil contract between unmarried individuals who meet the requirements of the Nevada Domestic Partnership Act and who properly file registration documents with the Nevada Secretary of State.  Domestic partners may be the same sex or opposite sex.

The new law grants registered domestic partners the same rights, protections, benefits, responsibilities, obligations and duties as those granted to married couples under the law whether imposed by statute, regulation, rule, government policy, common law, or any other source of law.  These rights and responsibilities extended to registered domestic partners include those provided under testamentary/probate law, employment and discrimination law, and all family law statutes including community property, spousal and child support, and adoption.

Although distinct from marriage under Nevada’s Constitution, domestic partners should, in most cases, be treated as the legal equivalent of spouses with the exception listed below.

OK, Fine!  So what are you supposed to do???

To comply with the Nevada Domestic Partnership Act, you should review your policies and procedures to determine if revisions need to be made to account for registered domestic partners.  Generally, any reference an employee’s spouse in your employee handbook or policies should be revised to refer to “spouse and/or domestic partner.”  In doing these revisions, however, you should be aware that certain benefits for spouses mandated by federal law, such as COBRA continuation health coverage and Family and Medical Leave Act leave, may not be available to domestic partners.

Also, think about your company’s forms.  If you have a new hire packet that includes information about a spouse, change that to say “Spouse/Domestic Partner.”

YOU HAVE A CHOICE REGARDING HEALTH CARE BENEFITS!

The major exception to the rights extended to registered domestic partners is required employer health care benefits.  Public and private employers in Nevada are not required to provide health care benefits under their applicable plan to registered domestic partners, but they may choose to do so.

If you wish to extend insurance benefits to domestic partners, we suggest that you call your insurance provider to discuss whether you can and/or will offer benefits to domestic partners of your employees.  Under this new law, employers who offer benefits to their employees and spouses will need to carefully evaluate each benefit and determine if they are required, or if they elect, to include domestic partners.

Please keep in mind that under federal law, neither same-sex spouses nor domestic partners are generally recognized as spouses for whom favorable tax benefits apply. This would usually mean that certain tax-favored benefits (like pretax cafeteria plan or flexible spending account benefits) cannot be provided to employees who add domestic partners to group health plan coverage.

The conditions that must be met to register a domestic partnership can be found in Senate Bill 283 in the 2009 session information on the Nevada Legislature’s website:  www.leg.state.nv.us

For more information on how to register a domestic partnership with the Nevada Secretary of State, go to:   www.nvsos.gov/licensing/securities/domesticpartnership.asp

© 2009 Drinkwater Law Offices

Effective August 15, 2009 in the State of Nevada, if you are an employer with fifty (50) or more employees (for each working day in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current calendar year), you must comply with the new parental leave for school activities law.

This law requires you to provide an employee who is a parent, guardian, or custodian of a child enrolled in a public or private school four (4) hours of unpaid leave per school year per child to:

• Attend parent-teacher conferences;
• Attend school-related activities during regular school hours;
• Volunteer or otherwise be involved at the school in which the child is enrolled during regular school hours; and
• Attend school-sponsored events.

You may place the following restrictions on an employee’s use of the parental leave:

• The leave must be taken in increments of at least one (1) hour;
• The leave must be taken at a time mutually agreeable to both the employer and the employee;
• The employer may require the employee to request the leave in writing at least five (5) school days in advance of the leave; and
• The employer may require an employee to provide documentation indicating that the employee attended or participated in the school-related function for which the leave was granted.

What changes should I make to my employee handbook?

You should prepare and distribute a new (or updated) policy which sets forth who is eligible for the leave, the amount of leave, the activities for which leave will be granted, and the procedure an employee must follow to request the leave.  The policy should also contain a provision indicating that the company will not terminate, demote, suspend or otherwise discriminate against an employee, or threaten to take such action against an employee, who utilizes the leave benefits provided by the new law.

Do I need to do training?

The employer should also train their supervisors and managers regarding the provisions of the new law to avoid discrimination against employees who take parental leave.  There are provisions in the law itself that make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to terminate, demote, suspend, discriminate against, or to otherwise threaten to assert such action against an employee who:  (1) takes the parental leave granted by the statute; (2) attends a conference requested by an administrator of the child’s school; or (3) is notified during work hours by a school employee of an emergency regarding the employee’s child.

What happens if I don’t comply?

The provisions of the new statute provide specific remedies for a violation.  If you terminate, demote, suspend, discriminate against, or threaten to take such action against an employee in violation of the new law, you may be guilty of a misdemeanor.  There is a procedure for an aggrieved employee to file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner.  You then have an affirmative duty to provide the employee “who is discharged from employment or who is demoted, suspended or otherwise discriminated against with all the forms necessary” to file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner.  If the Labor Commissioner finds in favor of the employee, the Labor Commissioner may award, in addition to any remedies provided in NRS Chapters 607 and 608, the following:  (1) lost wages and benefits as a result of the violation; (2) an order reinstating the employee to their position without loss of seniority, pay or benefits; and (3) damages in the amount of the lost wages and benefits.

© 2009 Drinkwater Law Offices

SBIR National Conference
Reno – November 2009

Time is running out for early registration for the 2009 National SBIR Conference. For high technology, start-up companies this is an ideal opportunity to obtain the information needed on how to access $2.3B available from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs -  the largest source of funding for pioneering business ideas.

This exciting conference brings a national audience of dynamic, R&D-focused small businesses and entrepreneurs, university faculty, primary and medium sized contractors and potential collaborators into direct contact with the representatives of 11 federal agencies providing SBIR/STTR funding.

The conference takes place in John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, Nevada from November 2 – 5, 2009. It is the only such conference in 2009 and is the first such conference in the West for many years.

The conference agenda provides:

• Access to over 40 presenters including SBIR/STTR Program Managers from 11 participating federal agencies, proposal preparation experts, business and commercialization specialists, follow-on investors and contracting companies that have achieved success in SBIR/STTR funding.

• Interaction with at least 30 sponsors and exhibitors.

• Optional pre-and post-conference sessions and speed networking sessions extend the value of this conference.

• One-on-session opportunities to find out if your innovations fit into federal needs.

• Opportunities to speed network with companies in your area of interest.

• An inexpensive poster showcase enabling you to promote your special services and products.

• Contact with cutting edge companies with strong upside potential.

Attend! Exhibit! Sponsor!

For more information visit the conference website.

or contact:

Dr. Fritz Grupe

Nevada Small Business Development Center

University of Nevada, Reno

Phone: (775) 813-7407 (Pacific Standard Time)

Email: fhgrupe@gmail.com

If you collect confidential data on your customers or clients, an important change in the law will provide you with a mechanism to reduce your liability if the data is lost or stolen.

On the heels of ineffective data breach notification laws, Nevada Senate bill 227, a more proactive approach, offers a safe harbor to businesses that collect personal information if a data breach occurs. Some important definitions apply:

Are you a “data collector?”

A “data collector” is defined in Nevada Revised Statute 603A as “any governmental agency, institution of higher education, corporation, financial institution or retail operator or any other type of business entity or association that, for any purpose, whether by automated collection or otherwise, handles, collects, disseminates or otherwise deals with nonpublic personal information.”

If you collect data, what constitutes “personal information?”

Personal Information is defined as a natural person’s first name or first initial and last name in combination with a (i) social security number (ii) driver’s license number or identification card number, or (iii) account number, credit card number or debit card number, in combination with any required security code, access code or password that would permit access to the person’s financial account.

So, if I am a data collector, what do I need to do to get the safe harbor?

Effective January 1, 2010, you will need to encrypt personal information that is either transmitted electronically or contained in a data storage device that has moved beyond the data collector’s control (e.g. on a laptop computer).

There are specific requirements contained in the statute! If you do encrypt the data, you, as a business owner, will avoid liability if that encrypted data is lost or improperly accessed! In addition, it is possible that courts will take the encryption requirement into account in determining what constitutes negligent conduct associated with data breaches.

Companies that follow the statutes may even be eligible for reductions on their insurance.

All of these are good reasons to check out SB 227 in the 2009 session information on the Nevada Legislature website at www.leg.state.nv.us or download the bill now  Senate Bill 227

© 2009 Drinkwater Law Offices

NEVADA EXPORT UNIVERSITY
“Helping Nevada companies export and expand international sales”

What: A three-part series designed by the District Export Council and the Commerical Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce. This will be a video-conference that will originate in Las Vegas, Nevada, with participation from three additional locations statewide.

Who should attend: Anyone interested in learning how to sell products and services overseas.

Who will attend: Manufacturers, producers, and service based companies and students with an interested in learning the skills required by companies wanting to export.

When: All sessions are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. & include lunch and materials.

Class 101 – September 18, 2009
This introductory 100 Series class is designed for all levels of personnel at primarily new-to-export companies and students seeking skills to identify and communicate with buyers, banks, logistics intermediaries and others in developing the basis for all export transaction.

Class 201 – October 16, 2009
This intermediate 200 Series class is designed for managers at exporting companies and students who are responsible for developing and fine-tuning operations to increase a firm’s export volume.

Class 301 – November 13, 2009
The advanced 300 Series class is designed for those responsible for developing the strategic export plan.

Locations: Las Vegas, Reno, Carson City & Winnemucca

Fee: $60* general; $30* student (with valid student ID)
*cost per session

Download the detailed Nevada Export University Class Agenda

To register go to:   https://ssl.nsbdc.org/education/calendar

For more details visit: www.exportuniversity.com and click on Nevada, or contact Andrew Edlefsen at: Andrew.Edlefsen@mail.doc.gov or 702.388.6694

• While working at your cash register, you can instantly tell your loyal customers that the  new shipment has just arrived.
• While having a coffee, you can let all your fans know the Tickets are on Sale!
• You can let your commuting morning customers know that you have just taken the delicious apricot ginger scones out of the oven, as you take them out!

One of our own clients, The Hi Point Cafe near the corner of Rob Drive and Mae Ann Avenue  in Reno, has just opened their doors, and are using Twitter to grow their business.

While big businesses like Best Buy, Apple, Coca-Cola and McDonalds are rapidly developing uses for Twitter, small business are the ones that can really benefit from this powerful micro-blogging tool.

Here is a great article from the New York Times about the power of Twitter for the Mom & Pop business:

Mom-and-Pop Operators Turn to Social Media

SAN FRANCISCO — Three weeks after Curtis Kimball opened his crème brûlée cart in San Francisco, he noticed a stranger among the friends in line for his desserts. How had the man discovered the cart? He had read about it on Twitter.

For Mr. Kimball, who conceded that he “hadn’t really understood the purpose of Twitter,” the beauty of digital word-of-mouth marketing was immediately clear. He signed up for an account and has more than 5,400 followers who wait for him to post the current location of his itinerant cart and list the flavors of the day, like lavender and orange creamsicle.  Read More

A discussion on workforce led economic development is particularly important today given the many different economic challenges we face in Nevada as well as nationally and internationally. As many of you probably have already noticed, there has already been considerable discussion about creating green-oriented jobs and jobs that can help build a healthy and vibrant state, national, and international economy. Let’s face it. The days of heavy manufacturing are over. And in the new “service-oriented” economy of today, we also find that service-sector jobs in retail, gaming, and tourism are simply not enough to provide people with a level of income needed to support a mortgage, a car payment, and sending your children to school. Workforce led economic development is not about creating jobs. It is about providing people with the skills and resources needed to build a career that can provide the individual with a level of income needed in order to live a comfortable and adequate lifestyle.

The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) argues that, “Increased global competition and technological change in services and manufacturing have resulted in a new mix of specialized workforce skill requirements.” According to the IEDC, “Workforce development programs seek to bridge the gap between demand and supply through skills enhancement of existing workers and/or improve basic skills of entry-level workers”. Unfortunately, most workforce development programs and initiatives concentrate too much on remedial skill development and do not aggressively seek to enhance, alter, and improve the skill sets (or human capital) of higher-skilled workers. In a nutshell, the IEDC has found that, “Providing the skills needed to obtain a job and addressing additional, often overlooked, issues such as childcare, language training, transportation, and housing, can increase the chances of the workforce of a community in seeking and retaining good jobs.” This insight helps us to understand that workforce development is a very complicated and very difficult undertaking for a community to pursue.

Successful development of a workforce development strategy has many individual and collective community benefits. High-pay and high-growth businesses and industries are usually attracted to areas where there is a plentiful supply of highly skilled and talented workers. Both Blakely and Bradshaw (2002) and Vijay Mathur (1999) found direct links between the number of high-pay and high-growth businesses and industries and the level of highly skilled, talented, and trained workers within a given community. They separately found that as the level of “human capital” (or the sum total of skills, education, training, and talent of a given workforce) increases within a community, the more likely it is that high-paying and high-growth businesses and industries will choose to relocate in those communities. They also found that in areas with high levels of human capital, it is more likely that high-paying and high-growth businesses and industries will be created in those areas. Now this information is probably not new to anyone. It stands to reason that the better trained the workforce of a community is, the better paying jobs the community is likely to attract. It also stands to reason that as more high-paying and high-growth jobs are created in a community, the better the local economic conditions will be.

Although most would automatically understand why a workforce development strategy is important, most would probably not know what a workforce development strategy entails and how a workforce development strategy can be employed.

The first step, according to Vijay (1999), is to think regionally, and stop thinking locally! Local economies operate regionally. Sometimes they operate across neighboring local municipal jurisdictions. Sometimes they operate across county lines. And sometimes they even operate across state boarders. Vijay (1999) has identified two primary “transmission mechanisms” or channels, through which “human capital affects the regional economy.” They are “direct channels” and “indirect channels”. Direct channels include: 1) technological change and innovations which make existing jobs obsolete and require significant “retooling” of the regional workforce, 2) entrepreneurship that directly implements new inventions and innovations, and 3) the diffusion of new inventions and innovations in existing or new businesses that are either attracted to the region or are “home grown” through new business start-up. Indirect channels are the “spillover effects” that help to encourage innovation and new business attraction and start-up. The indirect channels are visible through “positive feedback loops” between human capital, technology, and entrepreneurship. As human capital increases, new technologies are either learned or created. As these new technologies are either learned or created, entrepreneurs find new ways of introducing them to the regional economy. As new high-skill and high-paying jobs are created through the introduction of these new or learned technologies, even more jobs are created and this puts additional pressure on the regional economy to continually increase the stock of available human capital.

Both Blakely and Bradshaw (2002) and the IEDC have identified various “partners” who can help develop and implement a workforce development program. Blakely and Bradshaw (2002) identify the following groups, organizations, and partners:

• Job Training Programs: typically, these are nonprofit contractors who implement federal or state-supported training programs. These nonprofit contractors also administer and provide funds to businesses that provide their own “in-house” curriculum and instructors.

• Nonprofit Community Development Corporations (CDC’s): these CDC’s who have historically been involved in a variety of local economic development programs such as housing, social service, and other programs, are increasingly becoming more involved in workforce development and job training for various disadvantaged groups.

• High Schools: The high school still, for some odd-reason, remains probably the most untapped resource for growing the total potential of a community’s workforce. Teaching high school students through internships, business formation programs, and summer activities have been very successful in the few communities that have turned to their high schools for workforce development support.

• Adult Education Programs: These programs serve a very important roll especially when it comes to retraining a local and/or regional workforce. They include short-term but highly intensive workforce development curriculum designed to help adults “retool” their existing skill set to meet current industry demand for trained workers.

• Non-accredited Postsecondary Training Programs: Many training institutions are often associated with different industries and businesses that offer various “certificate programs” and are often run by business associations, unions, or equipment suppliers.

• Accredited Colleges and Universities: It seems almost silly to mention the important role colleges and universities play in developing a highly skilled and highly trained workforce. But it is important to note that colleges and universities serve as the bedrock institution in most communities when it comes to training individuals for a successful career in a seemingly endless array of possible industries and fields.

There are numerous components of any workforce development strategy – far more than I have the space here to discuss in any great detail. I have already hinted at a few by identifying above some of the major partners who can positively contribute to a successful workforce development strategy. What is needed is a regional economic development association or firm responsible for coordinating the efforts of these various partners. “Workforce Investment Boards” (WIB’s) have historically been the public-sector organization responsible for coordinating and administering the local and/or regional efforts of a community to create and implement a successful workforce development program. Some “historical” roles of these WIB’s have been, according to Blakely and Bradshaw (2002):

• Managing workforce training schemes, such as group apprentice schemes, adult retraining, and new training incentives.

• Offering business support services that increase employment.

• Developing and providing shared facilities for training activities.

• Operating general literacy and community education projects.

• Developing on-the-job training and work experience activities for young adults.

• Attempting to reduce discrimination in employment for disadvantaged groups.

A successful local and/or regional economic development strategy must include considerable and careful attention to the way in which a local community’s or region’s pool of available labor is trained and developed. The individual and community-wide benefits to having a highly trained and highly skilled workforce should be evident. Not only does a highly trained and highly skilled workforce attract new industry and businesses to a local community or region, but a highly trained and highly skilled workforce can also create new jobs by themselves through new business start-up and entrepreneurship. The greater the ability of a community or region to attract and create high-paying and high growth sector jobs, the greater likelihood that the community or region will enjoy longer periods of stable, long-term local and regional economic growth.

Workforce development strategies include a wide variety of partners and a wide-variety of approaches and techniques. Getting consistent cooperation across these various partners is difficult and the cost of these approaches and techniques can often be significantly high. But the benefit of a successful workforce development strategy translates into not only benefits for the individual worker, but for the entire community and region as well.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a scam alert today to small businesses, warning them not to respond to letters falsely claiming to have been sent by the SBA asking for bank account information in order to qualify them for federal tax rebates.

The fraudulent letters were sent out with what appears to be an SBA letterhead to small businesses across the country, advising recipients that they may be eligible for a tax rebate under the Economic Stimulus Act, and that SBA is assessing their eligibility for such a rebate. The letter asks the small business to provide the name of its bank and account number.

These letters have not been sent by or authorized by the SBA, and all small businesses are strongly advised not to respond to them.

The scheme is similar in many ways to e-mail scams often referred to as “phishing” that seek personal data and financial account information that enables another party to access and individual’s bank accounts or to engage in identity theft.

The SBA is working with the SBA Office of Inspector General to investigate this matter. The Office of Inspector General asks that anyone who receives such a letter report it to the OIG Fraud Line at 1 (800) 767-0385, or e-mail at OIGHotline@sba.gov.

A tech transfer and technology-led economic development strategy serves two basic purposes:  1) “Technology Commercialization”, to place new products, services or methods of production in the marketplace through existing companies and firms or through new companies and firms started around the development of a particular new technology, and 2) “Technology Development”, to place new or existing “off-the-shelf” technologies into existing businesses in order to enhance the competitiveness of a business or enable the non-technology-oriented business to develop new or enhance existing product lines, services, or manufacturing processes.

Typically, a local “tech-transfer economic development authority” provides a wide variety of services to encourage either “technology commercialization” or “technology development”.  When dealing with “technology-push forces”, new research that usually gets done by research institutes or local universities are marketed by the local tech-transfer economic development authority to private entrepreneurs and businesses that don’t even know they have a need for the new technology!  When dealing with “technology-pull forces”, it is the private entrepreneur and/or business that has a need for a new technology – usually a new product, improvement to an existing product or even the development/modification for new or existing manufacturing processes.  Usually, the local tech-transfer economic development authority will provide financing for new research at a research institute or local university that will focus on developing the new technology for the private entrepreneur or business.  In either case, the patent for the new technology is held by the local tech-transfer economic development authority and revenues generated from the patent’s use by private entrepreneurs or businesses is reinvested into new research in areas such as biotechnology, life science technologies, opto-electronics, computers and telecommunications, electronics, computer-integrated manufacturing, material design, aerospace, weapons, and even nuclear technology.

The difficultly in local technology-led economic development efforts lies in the trouble in classifying different high-tech and tech-oriented firms and businesses.  However, most “technology businesses” are either skill intensive companies or high-tech assembly companies.  A skill intensive technology-oriented company is “knowledge based” in that the company seeks to focus on the creation and/or effective implantation of new technologies.  Skill intensive technology-oriented companies have a high demand for a highly skilled workforce, high-speed data networks and access to transportation networks.  High-tech assembly companies are similar to “traditional manufacturers” and typically focus on the manufacturing of “tangible” and “real” products.  These high-tech assembly companies “put technology to work” in either the products they make or the manufacturing process.  High-tech assembly companies typically choose to locate near their target markets or supply sources, or near sophisticated transportation networks that allow them to access markets easily.

Various factors contribute to attracting high-technology and technology-oriented companies to a particular community.  These high-tech and tech-oriented firms like the presence of different and varied research institutions.  Access to capital is important especially for start-up high-tech and tech-oriented firms.  These firms also value high levels of support for entrepreneurial development in the community in which they choose to locate in and strive to achieve both state and local commitment.  High-tech and tech-oriented firms also need and want an educated and talented workforce.  For high-tech and tech-oriented firms choosing to move into a particular location, they do not want to spend a lot of resources on training an unskilled workforce nor do they want to spend a lot of money on moving the needed workforce from one community to another.  Start-ups, in particular, need an established workforce that is already educated and talented in various technology fields.

These firms also want an established technology infrastructure, which includes both the physical infrastructure and knowledge-based infrastructure.  Physical infrastructure can include such factors as fiber optic networks, technology incubators, connectivity abilities and even capacity for growth.  Finally, high-tech and tech-oriented firms typically want a high “quality of place” in order to attract an educated and talented workforce.  A high degree of diversity in all aspects of life including education, culture and other entertainment and recreation that supports different types of people at different stages in their life is also important to the high-tech and tech-oriented firm.  Housing and transportation are also important.

Right now you are probably thinking that there isn’t much a local tech-transfer economic development authority can do to help spur new technology-led economic development.  After-all, what can a local tech-transfer really accomplish when it comes to “quality of life”?  When it comes to the diversity of education, culture and other entertainment and recreation opportunities, most communities either “have it” or they don’t!  It’s not like the local tech-oriented economic development authority can really impact choices in entertainment all that much.  In general however, it is the responsibility of the local tech-transfer or tech-oriented economic development authority to coordinate and facilitate three concurrent activities, including:  1) technology development, 2) business development and marketing, and 3) financing.

In regards to technology development, the local tech-transfer or technology-oriented economic development authority might have the most direct influence.  In either the “technology-push force” or “technology-pull force” scenario, the local tech transfer or tech-oriented economic development authority serves as a “clearing house” for both the research institute/local university and the private entrepreneur/business.  In the “technology-push scenario”, new technologies are developed by the research institute/university and “transferred” via the local tech-transfer authority to the private entrepreneur/business.  In the “technology-pull scenario”, market demand by the private entrepreneur/business is communicated through the tech-transfer authority to the “best fit” research institute/university and then the newly developed technologies are transferred back to the private entrepreneur/business.  To accomplish this, the local tech-transfer authority usually provides financing for new research either directly or by funneling monies and donations from the private sector to the research institute and/or university.  If the local tech-transfer authority provides the research financing directly, the tech-transfer agency will usually hold the rights to any developed patent on the new technology and “sell the rights” to private interests.

During the business development and marketing activity, the local tech-transfer or tech-oriented economic development authority is responsible for coordinating and initiating the various activities involved with starting or expanding a business venture centered on the development of a new technological innovation.  Specific business development and marketing activities can include, but are not limited to, obtaining financial and personnel resources, analyzing existing market conditions, making informed market forecasts, developing advertising and marketing plans and strategies, developing pricing strategies and identifying potential distribution channels.

Financing remains one of the largest barriers to the implementation of a successful tech-transfer local economic development strategy.  Although the tech-transfer program itself is generally low cost, researchers and private entrepreneurs are always seeking new financing and funding sources to support new and existing research efforts and the actual development of new products, services and methods of production.  The local tech-transfer or technology-oriented authority must constantly search for appropriate financing sources for researchers and private entrepreneurs alike.

An excellent example of a successful local tech-transfer, tech-oriented economic development authority is Stanford University’s own “Office of Technology Licensing” (OTL).  If you get the chance, check out the OTL online at:  www.otl.stanford.edu.  Stanford’s OTL employs many of the tech-oriented economic development strategies already mentioned here including the support for new technology development, business development and marketing, and even provides financing to researchers and entrepreneurs alike.  In FY 2006 alone, the OTL reported a total of 518 “new disclosures” for new inventions discovered by Stanford University faculty, staff and students.  Nearly 91% of the 518 “new disclosures” resulted in income-generating patents held by the OTL.  In just FY 2006, licenses authorized by the OTL generated generally $61.3 million in revenue for the OTL which was subsequently reinvested by the OTL into new research efforts by Stanford University faculty, staff and students as well as directly into new small business high-tech start-up efforts.  The “Stanford Start-Up’s” program is part of the OTL and, in May 2002, the “Stanford Start-Up’s” program was responsibility for the successful development of nearly 100 high-tech, tech-oriented companies.

Tech-transfer and technology-led local economic development efforts are more “art” than “science”.  This may be some what paradoxical as “science” has everything to do with tech-oriented development!  You never know what the next “big thing” in technology will be but successful local support of the next “big thing” can lead to huge dividends for the local community that invests in it.  But in order to be able to invest in tech-transfer and technology-led local economic development, the right combination of organizational structure, local community resources and adequate financing must be made available in the short-term in-order to ensure long-term, stable local economic growth through technology-oriented development.