MIXED SIGNALS in Tennessee data appearing in today's "Cyberstates" report from American Electronics Association. VCs invested $75.6M in Tennessee tech plays in 2007 (rank 30, after a 60% resurgence in 2007, after a laggard '06), versus $212M dropped here in 2001. Of course, Cali, Tex, Va and the other "usual suspects" still lead the AeA rankings of tech jobs, payroll, R&D and the rest. And, software services and engineering and tech services are still hot. VC's nationwide put $17B into tech in '07, and tech companies poured $75B into their R&D, nationally. The latest R&D figure for Tennessee tech firms, 2004 was $3.1B (rank 33). We Tennesseans came in a dignified 25th in numbers of high-tech jobs, but 48th in tech jobs as part of all private-sector jobs. (Our high-tech jobs were down 10.7% during 2001-06.) And, we came in a humble 35th in average tech wages. That reflects the fact that the differential between tech and general private-sector wages in Tennessee, while a wide 60%, is not as strong as the 87% average wage differential, nationally. We also ranked in the top 20 states for creating new tech firms, consistent with our reputation for startups of all kinds (entrepreneurial churn, as some say). Here's the AeA report (large PDF).
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