Editor’s Note: The following is a summary of February 1 testimony by Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf; a link to the full testimony can be found here.

(Washington, D.C.) The federal budget deficit—although starting to shrink—remains very large by historical standards. How much and how quickly the deficit declines will depend in part on how well the economy does over the next few years. Probably more critical, though, will be the fiscal policy choices made by lawmakers as they face the substantial changes to tax and spending policies that are slated to take effect within the next year under current law. The pace of the economic recovery has been slow since the recession ended in June 2009, and CBO expects that, under current laws governing taxes and spending, the economy will continue to grow at a sluggish pace over the next two years. That pace of growth partly reflects the dampening effect on economic activity from the higher tax rates and curbs on spending scheduled to occur this year and especially next. Although CBO projects that growth will pick up after 2013, the agency expects that the economy’s output will remain below its potential until 2018 and that the unemployment rate will remain above 7 percent until 2015. Read the rest of this entry →

(Durham, N.C.) OIN today announced a remarkable increase in the size of its community of licensees during 2011 as licensees seized the opportunity to benefit from the value of the growing OIN community and the freedom of action enabled by OIN’s royalty free licensing program. During 2011, OIN’s community grew to over 400 corporate licensees, a more than 60% year over year increase. OIN licensees, which include founding members and associate members, benefit from the leverage provided by a patent portfolio dedicated to the protection of Linux and access to enabling technologies through OIN and shared intellectual property resources. Read the rest of this entry →

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) Tranzyme Pharma (Nasdaq:TZYM) today announced that it received an additional net $9.3 million in term loan proceeds through an amendment and restatement of its existing debt financing facility with Oxford Finance LLC and Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (Nasdaq:HRZN). Read the rest of this entry →

(Cary, N.C. & Columbia, S.C.) The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME) is pleased to announce its support of American Heart Month, a national observance annually held in February to raise awareness of the risk factors and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In the United States, one in three adults lives with some form CVD, which includes heart disease and stroke. In North Carolina, CVD causes 31 percent of all deaths every year according to “The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in North Carolina–July 2010 Update.” Heart disease and stroke are the second and fourth leading causes of death for men and women in the state. In South Carolina, CVD is the leading cause of death according to the Healthy People Living in Healthy Communities 2009 Report, the annual report of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Read the rest of this entry →

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) BlueStripe Software, a leader in application transaction management solutions, put the finishing touches on a profitable year, achieving revenues in 2011 that were 700% of the 2010 numbers. BlueStripe more than doubled its customer base, including new customers Bank of America, Russell Investments, Principal Financial, Cigna, Bechtel, and Jackson-Hewitt. Read the rest of this entry →

by Karen Mills
SBA Administrator

(Washington, D.C.) Today marks the one-year anniversary of Startup America, the initiative launched by the White House to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship across America. Here at SBA, we’ve spent the year helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses and create jobs across the country – creating blueprint for an economy built to last.  From launching mentoring programs to a record year of helping entrepreneurs and small business owners access capital through loan programs and Small Business Investment Company program, SBA has worked with the White House and other federal agencies to build a more supportive environment for entrepreneurship and innovation. Read the rest of this entry →

(Cary, N.C.) Industry Standard Research (ISR) today announced the release of two new reports focused on the biosimilar industry. “US Payers and Biosimilar Formulary Placement” and “Biosimilars: A View from the Pharmacy” expand the base of knowledge regarding biosimilar market dynamics. These reports look at how these two segments of the healthcare delivery system view, among other things, biosimilar pricing, formulary placement, pharmacy-level substitution, and clinical trial requirements. Read the rest of this entry →

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) The North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) is the digital highway allowing many North Carolinians to thrive in today’s globally interconnected society. The current expansion of connectivity and services on NCREN will benefit almost every citizen in every community throughout the entire state. Two federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grants totalling $104 million awarded in 2010 represent the largest known single investments in “middle-mile” broadband infrastructure in North Carolina history. The BTOP grants are funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed by Congress on Feb. 13, 2009 at the urging of President Obama, who signed it into law four days later. A direct response to the economic crisis, the Recovery Act had three immediate goals: create new jobs and save existing ones; spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth; and foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the long-term effects of the act are dire, with results that include a long-term 0.2 percent reduction in the GDP, an increase in budget deficits by about $825 billion through 2019, and “no long-term effects on unemployment.” MCNC officials have stated the design, construction, and operation of the broadband network being built via these federal taxpayer dollars could create more than 1,000 engineering/construction jobs. Read the rest of this entry →

(Morrisville, N.C.) Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: FURX) today announced that the European Commission endorsed the positive opinion adopted by the Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) on October 18, 2011 for Priligy™ (dapoxetine) 30 mg and 60 mg doses. Pending national approvals, the marketing authorization for the Priligy doses can be granted in the European Union Member States where the drug has not yet been approved, and also in Norway and Iceland. The indication for Priligy approved by the EC is the on-demand treatment of premature ejaculation in men between the ages of 18 and 64. Read the rest of this entry →

(Oxford & Fayetteville, N.C.) Fort Bragg and all other U.S. military posts worldwide are under a directive by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to substantially reduce petroleum consumption beginning with its non-tactical fleet, according to the Biofuels Center of North Carolina. The overall goal is to reduce consumption by 30 percent by 2020 using 2005 as the baseline year for comparison. Fort Bragg is on target to reduce non-tactical petroleum consumption by over 50 percent by 2013. In addition, the 2005 Energy Policy Act’s mobile source emission reduction targets can be met and exceeded with Fort Bragg’s fossil fuel reductions. The effort is driven by a Presidential Executive Order and specific Department of Defense directives to address the realization that fossil fuel dependence is a paramount national security and national economic security issue. Read the rest of this entry →

(Morrisville, N.C.) Montie Design, an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm, has expanded its product realization toolset with the purchase of a rotational molder. The new equipment allows the firm to produce prototypes of small rotationally molded parts and follow up with limited production runs of client parts. Read the rest of this entry →

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) ChannelAdvisor, a global e-commerce software provider that helps retailers sell more across online channels, today announced that Google General Manager for Enterprise Search Matt Eichner will join the line up for the 2012 Catalyst Conference, NewCommerce, a top networking event that gives attendees access to the VIPs of e-commerce. Eichner is one of several top industry leaders that will present at the three-day conference. NewCommerce will be held on April 16-18, 2012, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, and will host the industry’s boldest and most-respected e-commerce leaders and companies. Read the rest of this entry →