A few months ago, state-funded tech start-up engine Innovation Works was bracing for budget cuts. Fortunately for it, the brunt of the cuts arising from the new state budget will be swallowed by the group's governing board, the Ben Franklin Technology Authority. The authority's budget was slashed $2.8 million, to $50.2 million, the state Department of Community and Economic Development said.

Innovation Works' $6.9 million budget allocation held steady. Still, the Hazelwood-based group let go of four unidentified support staffers at the end of June, but officials at the state and the agency said that the layoffs had nothing to do with the funding. "We are trying to put as many resources as we can into companies," said spokeswoman Terri Glueck.

Staff changes, according to one source, were to be expected since Rich Lunak, Innovation Works chief executive officer, took the helm in January. Lunak likes his staff to be lean and mean, and the shrunken team leaves more room to be spent on funding local tech companies, say insiders.

Folks, the wake-up call came yesterday. Albany, N.Y., which someone reminded me "is no garden," just put together a $600 million deal, creating a public-private semiconductor research consortium centered around its local university, the University at Albany in New York. It's called International Venture for Nanolithography, or INVENT, and has the backing of $400 million from the state of New York as well as private support from such companies as Infineon Technologies AG and Micron Technology Inc.

It's a high-risk, high-reward strategy that includes new buildings, research dollars and top-notch researchers in hopes of luring more companies to set up shop in a region thriving with activity and money. Albany's ultimate goal, sources say, is to have a chip fabrication plant built in the region, producing tons of jobs.

The obvious question: Why can't Pittsburgh do this, especially since a group of Albany officials visited the city two weeks ago to check Pittsburgh's renowned approach to tech-based economic development? Albany's success happened, sources said, because New York state ponied up hundreds of millions to lure tech powerhouses such as International Sematech, a group of computer chip makers, to set up research centers. Both Florida and California also have taken this approach. Florida is spending $500 million to get Scripps to build its biotech research hub in the state's southern end, and California is spending $300 million a year to help fund the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. With Pennsylvania's research strengths in a number of sectors, including medical devices, robotics, and nanotechnology, it could happen here, too, if the state is willing to invest.

Dorseyville-born, New Castle-raised Arden Bement, who heads the Washington, D.C.-based National Science Foundation, was in town Wednesday for coffee and rubber eggs with a small clutch of tech executives. The group, which included the government relations teams from both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, and representatives from Monroeville-based RJ Lee Group Inc., Robinson-based Bayer Corp. and Strip District-based Seagate Technologies, spent most of the morning talking about using money and manpower to get more girls and boys interested in science, math and engineering while they are in their formative secondary school years.

Software and Services provider Ariba Inc.'s stock closed down 79 cents, or 12 percent, yesterday at $5.87 after the company posted steep third-quarter losses. For the three months ended June 30, Ariba's loss widened to $288.7 million, or 52 cents a share, from $7.6 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier. Ariba blamed the loss on $5.1 million for amortization of intangible assets, $3.4 million for stock-based compensation and $247.8 million for goodwill impairment and $34.6 million for restructuring and integration costs from past mergers. Excluding these items, the companies non-GAAP net income was $2.2 million, or 3 cents a share, which beat analyst estimates of 1 cent a share.

Next Wednesday, check out RedZone Robotics on the History Channel's "Modern Marvels Series," which will discuss the history of sewers and how they've evolved from ancient Rome to today. The program will showcase RedZone's robotic technology that scours sewer pipes in search of leaks and decay. This isn't Lawrenceville-based RedZone's first turn in the spotlight. Carnegie Mellon University professor Jon Cagan used the rehabbed company as a case study in his new book, "The Design of Things To Come."