Lynch touts placement on tech index

After the Milken Institute released its 2008 State Technology and Science Index, Gov. John Lynch (D-Hopkinton) issued a press release trumpeting New Hampshire's ranking of ninth place nationwide for being friendly to high technology industry. The state ranked 12th in last year's index.

Lynch used the occasion to recap the variety of tech friendly initiatives that he enacted during the previous term, including the Research and Development Tax Credit - passed last year - and reinstating the job training program, which has spent $800,000 since last winter training 1,300 employees.

New Hampshire was ranked fifth in "Research and Development Inputs," which measures various measures of spending on a per-capita basis. But Milken ranked New Hampshire 18th in the "Technology and Science Work Force" category, which is determined by the concentration of high-technology workers in the general population.

"The number of high-tech jobs in New Hampshire continues to grow each year. We must ensure we are taking the necessary steps to foster that growth - and that's exactly what we're doing," Lynch said in the statement.