Come join other energy / clean / green technology-based entrepreneurs and small companies who are seeking funding for R&D and plan to submit a SBIR/STTR proposal within the next 12 months. All attendees of this event will receive detailed instructions on how to put the pieces together for SBIR/STTR grant proposals with specific focus on funding opportunities available with the Dept of Energy and National Science Foundation. Attendees will learn how to prepare each component of a proposal, get current information on the SBIR/STTR program and the agency’s proposal submission processes, and learn tools and information necessary to prepare a competitive proposal. Visit the website for more details or to register online.
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The adoption of broadband internet access slowed dramatically over the last year. Two-thirds of American adults (66%) now have a broadband internet connection at home, a figure that is little changed from the 63% with a high-speed home connection at a similar point in 2009. Most demographic groups experienced flat-to-modest broadband adoption growth over the last year. The notable exception to this trend came among African-Americans, who experienced 22% year-over-year broadband adoption growth.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released its "2009 Wind Technologies Market Report." This report, authored primarily by DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, provides a comprehensive overview of trends in the rapidly-evolving U.S. wind power market. For the first time, this year's Wind Technologies Market Report estimates the amount of wind turbine and component imports from other countries. The study finds that a growing percentage of wind turbine equipment is being sourced domestically, as both domestic and foreign companies seek to minimize transportation costs and currency risks by establishing local manufacturing capabilities. When presented as a fraction of total wind turbine equipment-related costs, the overall U.S. content is found to have increased from about 50% in 2008 to roughly 60% in 2009.
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Faced with rising costs, General Electric is moving production of its new energy-efficient water heater halfway around the world. The country it's leaving? China. The one it's bringing 400 jobs and a newly renovated factory? The United States. A small but growing band of U.S. manufacturers—including giants such as General Electric, NCR and Caterpillar—are turning the seemingly inexorable offshoring movement on its head, bringing some production to the U.S. from far-flung locations such as China. Others that were buying components overseas are switching to U.S. suppliers.
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Leadership is compressed. Greater connectivity across the world means broader perspectives are more important than ever before, but leaders—no matter what their sector—have far fewer opportunities to think beyond their short term priorities and immediate responsibilities. Instant information flows are bringing planning horizons closer and closer to the present; pressures from multiple stakeholders are eroding prospects for consensus. It is increasingly difficult for leaders to act in the short term in ways that will yield long-term results.
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The changes in distribution and cargo-handling capabilities of the world's biggest container ports show the shifts that the world economy has undergone over the past two decades. The volume of cargo traded through the world’s biggest container ports has increased nearly sixfold in the past 20 years as globalisation has taken hold. Singapore has now nabbed the top spot and every other big port in 1989 has moved down the list.
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Operation REACH’s Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund, a youth philanthropy initiative that engages youth as leaders and empowers them with the resources to make strategic investments in their peers and their communities, is seeking nominations for the 2010 Youth Change Maker Awards. These awards honor outstanding young people between the ages of 7 and 25 who have shown exemplary leadership in recovery, education, entrepreneurship, and community service initiatives in the Gulfsouth region. Finalists will be recognized and winners announced during the Youth Change Maker Awards Dinner on October 16, 2010, in New Orleans. Each award recipient will be honored with a $500 donation to a nonprofit organization or project of his or her choice. Self-nominations are accepted. The application deadline is September 17, 2010.
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It’s too early to call it a movement, but state and local officials are beginning to ask hard questions about the multiplicity of government agencies. Huge administrative inefficiencies exist in the duplication and overlap among many county, city and township governments, as well as the many thousands of special districts that have mushroomed over the last three decades. In some cases, the answer appears to be intergovernmental service sharing, such as the “Minneconsin” experience. But a more fundamental question is also being asked: Are these entities simply obsolete relics of a bygone era?
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Last week, some 30,000 people stood on line in the heat in East Point, Georgia, hoping to land a federal housing voucher. The vouchers guarantee the local housing authority will pay a percentage of a tenant’s rent. It's one of the ways to make housing available to people with low incomes. But funding has decreased in recent years, and there are fewer public housing units, too. In most major cities, waiting lists for rent vouchers are closed. Those on the list may have to wait for up to 10 years. This edition of Talk of the Nation focuses on the challenges of low-income housing in a struggling economy.
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Over 28 million people—26.9 percent of all workers in 2001—earned low wages and were more likely than higher-wage workers to be female, young, black, or Hispanic. This study looks at the demographic profile of this population, the extent to which they move to higher-wage jobs, and their progress toward financial independence.
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As workforce intermediaries respond to dramatic changes in the U.S. labor market, community colleges are expanding their roles in workforce development and, in the process, often taking on many of the functions of intermediaries. JFF reviewed the growing literature on intermediaries in several settings, including community colleges. This brief by John Hoops and Randall Wilson summarizes the findings on the key functions and characteristics of effective workforce intermediaries and highlights the emerging intermediary roles being played by community colleges.
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When Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast town of Pass Christian, Mississippi, wiping away an elementary and a middle school, community leaders used the destruction as a chance for a new start. The story of renewal in the 1,500-student Pass Christian district is just one example of the revitalization, changes, and challenges seen by many school districts damaged when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast five years ago. The national economic crisis and the massive BP oil leak have stalled the recovery in some districts, but a steady pace of renewal continues in others.
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