Forget the elk. Bring on the horses!
The proposed Elk Run BioBusiness Park in Pine Island may get millions of dollars in state money from an unlikely source: Cantebury Park in Scott County, one of the two state’s two horse racing tracks.
Under a proposal pitched by Racino Now, a group led by former Republican State Senator Dick Day, $15 million of the estimated $100 million in annual revenue generated by adding slot machines to Canterbury Park will go to bioscience and medical technology development, including “attracting bioscience and high technology jobs to Elk Run Park and University of Minnesota Research Parks.”
Not sure if the “University of Minnesota Research Parks” refers to either the school’s planned Biomedical Discovery District or the Minnesota Science Park. I’m not even sure if Steve Burrill, the San Francisco-based investor backing the Elk Run project, even supports the Racino proposal.
Even if Burrill did, I doubt he would say so publicly. Everyone would like more money but gambling is a politically explosive issue and he needs all the support he can muster in St. Paul.
The BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, which strongly backs Elk Run, is also staying mum.
“We don’t know enough about the pros and the cons of the bill to take an official position,” said CEO Dale Wahlstrom.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
One thing is for sure. Racino supporters really want this bill, which faces stiff resistance in the legislature. In addition to biosciences, the bill gives $15 million a year to agricultural and rural development, childhood education, and the state’s general fund, and $40 million to a new Vikings Stadium.
And that’s just for starters. Racino Now Executive Director Chris Johnson says the $100 million a year figure is a “conservative” estimate.
Will the cash strapped state bite?
