Contact: Laura Smith, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2162
Addresses Wisconsin Science and Technology Symposium
GREEN BAY – Governor Jim Doyle today accepted a special award from the WiSys Technology Foundation in honor of his leadership in support of university system research and the state’s bioscience industry. The Governor accepted the award at the 3rd annual Wisconsin Science and Technology Symposium in Green Bay, which brings together researchers, industry, entrepreneurs and investors from across the state.
“In the last seven and a half years, we have paved the way for groundbreaking research, created new jobs, invested in new companies and built industries that will lead Wisconsin into the future,” Governor Doyle said. “With the work of our great researchers and companies, Wisconsin will continue to be a leader in bioscience – bringing innovations from the lab to the marketplace.”
Since taking office, Governor Doyle has helped make Wisconsin a world leader in bioscience. Bioscience in Wisconsin is an $8.7 billion industry with 400 companies and 34,000 employees and is now the fastest growing segment of the Wisconsin economy, with an annualized growth rate of nearly 7 percent.
Governor Doyle has worked hard to spur creation of risk capital in Wisconsin, including investor tax credits, the formation of the Wisconsin Angel Network and the Wisconsin Venture Fund to help facilitate deal flow, investor exchanges and network creation. The Governor expanded the investor tax credit law, raising the cap on tax credits for angel investments from $1 million to $4 million; tripling the annual pool of angel credits; and allowing angel investors to claim the entire 25 percent credit on their investment in the first taxable year.
In May, Governor Doyle signed the CORE Jobs Act building on his Accelerate Wisconsin plan by creating and expanding a number of tax credit programs for angel and venture capital investments. When combined with advances from his last budget, the CORE Jobs Act increases the amount available for angel and venture tax credits from $6.5 million to more than $40 million annually – more than a 600 percent increase. The bill also strengthens successful programs for manufacturing, research and development, and worker training.
Under the Governor’s leadership, Wisconsin is also now a world leader in groundbreaking bioscience research. The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, being constructed in the heart of the UW–Madison campus, will be a hub for interdisciplinary research. The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at UW-Madison received a $125 million U.S. Department of Energy grant 2007 to advance basic research on plant-derived sources of clean bioenergy. The Wisconsin Genomics Initiative is a historic collaboration among Wisconsin’s three academic medical centers and the state’s major urban university to meet important scientific and public health needs. The Chippewa Valley NanoSTEM Initiative, a collaboration between UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout, and the Chippewa Valley Technical College, provides education and training for emerging technologies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The NanoRite Innovation Center in the Chippewa Valley, the first of its kind in the region, offers unique business incubation services to Nanotechnology start-up businesses.
