Arizona Technology Report Arizona Technology Council: The Voice of the Technology Industry
In This Issue Public Policy…Page 2 SciTech Festival…Page 4 Job Fair…Page 6
Who We Are The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona’s premier trade association for science and technology companies.
Phoenix Office
One Renaissance Square 2 N. Central Ave., Suite 750 Phoenix, Arizona 85004 Phone: 602-343-8324 Fax: 602-343-8330 info@aztechcouncil.org
Tucson Office
The University of Arizona Science and Technology Park 9040 S. Rita Road, Suite 1150 (near I-10 and Rita Road) Tucson, Arizona 85747 Phone: 520-382-3281 Fax: 520-382-3299 tucson@aztechcouncil.org
President’s Message In addition to serving as president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, I recently began a two-year term as chairman of the Technology Councils of North America (TECNA), which is comprised of nearly 50 technology councils representing more than 16,000 member technology companies throughout the United States, Canada and Finland. There is much to do in my new role as I work to build lasting partnerships for the group. Some of those partners can be found on Capitol Hill as TECNA urges lawmakers to endorse public policy that can benefit our farreaching industry. One issue is research and development (R&D) tax credits designed to stimulate R&D activity Steven G. Zylstra, President and CEO, of U.S. companies by Arizona Technology Council reducing their after-tax costs. Companies that qualify for the credit can deduct 20 percent of qualified research expenditures above a base amount from their corporate income
Management and Staff Steven G. Zylstra
Deborah Zack
Don Ruedy
President and CEO
Senior Director, Membership Services
Executive Emeritus, Tucson Office
Leigh Goldstein Vice President, Operations and Events
Jennifer Ayres
Justin Williams
Director, Membership Services
Executive Emeritus, Tucson Office
Anne Rody
Alex Rodriguez
Director, Finance and Administration
Director, Tucson Office
Jeremy Babendure, Ph.D.
Merry Lake Merrell
Don Rodriguez
Director, Arizona SciTech Festival
Editor
Director, Marketing and Communication
Ron Schott Executive Emeritus, Phoenix Office
aztechcouncil.org
Nov. 2013 – Feb. 2O14 aztechcouncil.org
taxes. Because it isn’t permanent, we have to advocate to extend the R&D tax credit on an annual basis. We already are working to convince Congress to make it a permanent tax credit so we don’t have to go back and fight for it every year or two. We’ve also been working with Congress and the IT trade association CompTIA on a bill called the Startup Act. It would allow companies that are pre-revenue and heavily investing in R&D while earning federal R&D tax credits to apply those credits against their payroll taxes when they don’t have any income taxes. Another area of focus is patent reform. Members face many patent issues, including patent trolls who are not adding any value to society. When a company wants to take its product to the marketplace, it can’t even though it developed the original concept because someone has patented around the company. TECNA also is working with CompTIA to create a State of the Industry report. The idea is to create individual state reports that will measure things like employment growth, R&D investment both by corporations and universities, patents — all components of an innovation ecosystem. TECNA is going to aggregate all those state reports into a national report to help enlighten our elected officials in Washington on the importance of the technology industry in the U.S. Yes, all of this effort ultimately adds value to membership in our group. But as important, it boosts the value of a major segment of our economy so we all have the chance to live better lives.
Doug Reid Director, Arizona Innovation Institute
A r i z ona T e c h no l o g y R e p o r t
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