It’s been a tough year for the suburbs. First, the housing bubble burst, and now, gas prices are shooting through the roof. A new white paper from CEOs for Cities predicts that things aren’t likely to get much better. The study, by Joe Cortright, suggests that the “new calculus of higher gas prices may have [...]

Government agencies need to embrace new models of innovation, according to a new report sponsored by the IBM Center for the Business of Government. The study presents a review of new innovation models—dubbed network-based collaborative innovation—that have been pioneered by leading firms such as Procter & Gamble, 3M, and others. This approach links organizations to [...]

The annual Washington Technology listing of the nation’s top government information technology (IT) contractors has been released. As in the past, the listing is heavy with household names like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman, this year’s top three firms. The latest listing includes an interesting retrospective comparing this year’s list to the first in [...]

A new study sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) assesses the impact of the ARC’s Entrepreneurship Initiative. This effort, which operated between 1997 and 2004, was the first Federal program that explicitly sought to invest in and support local entrepreneurship development efforts. Overall, the program invested $47 million into various projects, and these investments [...]

Ernst & Young’s latest assessment of the global biotechnology industry was released last month. 2007 was a very good year for the industry. In Europe and the Americas, financing levels—with more than $29.9 billion raised—were the second highest annual totals on record. Venture financing also reached an all time, and global biotechnology firm revenues topped [...]

Many states, localities, and even the Federal government, through the Small Business Administration (SBA) have created a new post of the Small Business Ombudsman. This individual or office exists to serve as a troubleshooter and advocate for small businesses who face unfair regulatory burdens or who are facing other challenges when it comes to interacting [...]