Ibrahim Ajami, the CEO of ATIC, told me that government and business leaders had identified semiconductors as a core business to compete, part of a long-range 2030 plan to transition the economy from oil and gas business to high technology and to build its own chip foundries.

FORBES: Intel And Globalfoundries To Create 2,400 Tech Jobs In U.S.

During phase two of their project, currently slated for mid- 2012, Range plans to expand production at the Soperton plant and transition from a methanol to a mixed alcohol catalyst.

FORBES: Diminishing Expectations from Range Fuels

Medicare reform was a dominant issue in the 2012 campaign, as Democrats sought, unsuccessfully, to tar Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for their promising and thoughtful plan to transition future retirees into a competitive bidding system in which seniors could choose among a range of public and private insurance plans.

FORBES: A Look Back at Year Two of The Apothecary at