Thrive: Announces additional grant funding to bring more Wisconsin businesses to BIO 2010

Contact: Jennifer Smith, Dir. of Communications, Thrive, 608-443-1961 jsmith@thrivehere.org

Madison, WI Region–Thrive has been awarded $2,000 in the form of a Partnership Grant from Alliant Energy to put towards the Small Business Scholarship Program for the May 2010 International BIO Convention in Chicago.

This means that additional funding is now available to regional biotech companies in medical, medical device, agriculture, energy, or other sectors to participate in the convention’s One-on-One Partnering or company presentation forums. Companies that have attended in the past have noted these opportunities as some of the most valuable aspects of their BIO experience. These scholarship grants are provided by BioForward, the City of Madison, Thrive, UW-Madison CIBER, and now, Alliant Energy. Thrive is happy to be part of the coalition working to get more Wisconsin biotech companies to BIO 2010, and to help them gain more visibility to get the most from their experience once they are there.

Companies that have attended in the past have noted these opportunities as some of the most valuable aspects of their BIO experience. Last year, five Madison Region companies received scholarship grants. One grant recipient, Scarab Genomics, scheduled 27 one-on-one meetings; they remain in contact or have contracts with 15 of those companies today.

These one-on-one partnering sessions allow a business to schedule meetings in advance with targeted contacts and companies, a full 30 minutes of face-to-face with potential clients, distributors, or partners – a true opportunity at such a large convention.

This year, up to 12 awards of $750 to $2,000 each may be made to companies that apply by 4 p.m. Feb. 19. These reimbursement scholarships would be awarded in time for companies to qualify for early registration rates for BIO 2010, which are available through March 11. Visit http://convention.bio.org for more information on the BIO 2010 agenda and registration options.

To apply for a scholarship, a company must have operations in Wisconsin and the application should be submitted by the company executive. The company must take part in either the One-on-One Partnering or company presentation forum. Preference will be given to companies:

* Exhibiting a solid technology, a strategic approach to participation at BIO 2010, and financial need.

* Companies with fewer than 100 employees.

* First-time participants in the BIO Business Forum and companies that have not recently participated in the forum.

* Companies not receiving other financial support to attend BIO 2010.

For application materials and other BIO funding opportunities, visit http://www.bioforward.org/BIO2010.php. The Madison Region presence at BIO in the Wisconsin Pavilion includes Madison, Middleton, Fitchburg, Alliant Energy, MG&E, and Thrive.