Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

If you are heavily involved in the sector known as technology-based economic development, chances are you have interacted with Dan Berglund, President and Chief Executive Officer of SSTI. He has led the organization, first known as the State Science and Technology Institute, since its founding in 1996.

Berglund wrote in the most recent edition of the SSTI Weekly Digest that he had informed the organization’s Board of Directors of his desire to step away from the leadership duties. As such, SSTI has now launched a national search for a successor, and that job description can be found here.

“I have been involved in this field that has become known as tech-based economic development (TBED) for almost four decades, both speaking for and to the field as the head of SSTI for the last 28 years,” he wrote. “TBED was largely a new field when I started in it in 1985, but even then the hallmarks of the field were evident.” He said they included:

• We were learning from each other, happily sharing information across state lines to make our work better;
• We worked to evaluate our programs and the impacts they were having, so we could improve our outcomes;
• The beneficiaries of the work were at the table designing the programs and putting their money into the efforts as well; and
• As economic and societal conditions changed and program evaluations were conducted, we changed our approaches to respond.

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