Business & Tech
O'Malley Touts State Investment in Tech
Governor says $75M program will close gap between research and commercialization of new technology.
Standing in front of a ballroom full of technology and biotechnology leaders and professionals Tuesday, Gov. Martin O'Malley touted his state-run capital venture program as a step forward for Maryland.
The General Assembly approved the program, known as Invest Maryland, in the final moments of the 2011 legislative session, reducing it from a $100 million fund to $75 million. The money will invest in young technology companies in the state. If the company succeeds, the state will receive returns on its investment, but if the company fails, the state could lose that capital.
O'Malley (D) championed the fund because he sees a disconnect between the amount of technological research done in the state and the commercialization of those technologies, from which the state can reap the rewards of development and tax revenues.
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"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has named Maryland one of the top two best states in America for innovation and entrepreneurship," O'Malley said in his speech. "The Kauffman [Foundation] New Economy Index names us in the top three. We rank, by some of those same places like the Kauffman [Foundation], 37th in terms of commercialization of that research."
O'Malley hopes his Invest Maryland program will begin to close the gap.
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Lawmakers passed the program along party lines. Republicans said the program was too risky during tough budget times. The funding comes from auctioning off tax credits to insurance companies, up to $100 million.
The crowd was gathered in the Bethesda North Conference Center for the Tech Council of Maryland's annual Tech Awards. The Tech Council named O'Malley Advocate of the Year in 2010, and has been supportive of his effort to get Invest Maryland up and running.
Earlier in the day, the governor signed more than 230 bills, including a controversial measure allowing Maryland high school graduates to pay in-state tuition at Maryland colleges regardless of their immigration status. But at the tech awards, O'Malley emphasized his signing of other bills, including a biotech tax subsidy and the Commission on Cybersecurity Innovation and Excellence, again positioning himself as a governor who sees into the future and embraces the risk.
