DEED

Devices & Diagnostics

Last call: $6.8M of Minnesota angel credits still up for grabs

With less than four weeks left in the year, Minnesota has awarded about 38 percent of the $11-million worth of angel investor tax credits available for 2010. Since launching the program in July, the state has granted about $4 million in tax credits to investors who funded startups ranging from solar energy to drugs to cancer treatments and diabetes, according to figures released this week by the Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Policy

In Minnesota, economic ignorance is an equal-opportunity employer

People often lament that Republicans and Democrats can't accomplish anything because they have nothing in common. Nonsense. I think Republicans and Democrats can't accomplish anything because they do have something in common: some politicians in both parties are equally clueless about how to promote high-tech innovation that creates high-paying jobs.

News

First in line for Minnesota’s angel tax credits

Minnesota’s angel tax credit program debuted last week, which means you can now regularly check who made the cut. Go to the state Department of Employment and Economic Development’s (DEED) angel website, scroll down to the bottom of page and click on the links under “Lists of Certified Businesses, Investors and Funds.” Investors (individuals or […]

Policy

Minnesota angel tax credit era finishes its first week

Minnesota officially opened its angel tax credits program on Monday and here are the first week’s totals: The state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), which is administrating the credits, received 17 certification applications and one requesting the actual credit. The agency has already granted six certifications. Hmm. Is it my imagination or does […]

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Policy

Minnesota angel investment tax credit to launch in late July

The wait is nearly over. Minnesota’s newly passed $60 million angel investment tax credit will officially debut the week of July 19.  That’s when the state Department of Employment and Economic Development  (DEED) will start accepting applications from investors and start-ups hoping to be certified for the program. “DEED is developing and testing the back […]

Devices & Diagnostics

I-Q Corridor is the stuff of dreamers. Oh, but what a dream!

Ever heard of the I-Q Corridor? Unless you’re an economic development geek, probably not. The concept, first penned in a little-noticed Wisconsin Technology Council white paper, envisions an economic superhighway of sorts connecting the Twin Cities, Madison, Wis. and Chicago along interstates 90 and 94. The “I” stands for ideas, innovation, investment, intellectual property while […]

News

10 things you need to know about Minnesota’s angel tax credit

Battle-weary proponents of Minnesota’s historic $60 million angel tax credit had a simple message for the state’s entrepreneurial community: Now that we passed the darn thing, you better use it! “We’ve passed the baton onto you,” Sen. Kathy Saltzman (D-Woodbury) told the audience who gathered in Eden Prairie Monday to learn about the tax credit. […]

News

Angel investment tax credit hits bureaucratic snag

Investors rejoiced when Minnesota finally passed a five year, $50 million angel tax credit. Only one problem: the state’s largest angel group will be largely shut out. Under a last minute provision inserted into the bill, investors participating in angel deals through individual retirement accounts and family trusts will not be eligible for the tax […]

Hospitals

Minnesota seeks its own “Third Frontier”

Fresh from passing a landmark angel investor tax credit, Minnesota lawmakers are advancing a bill that would, in time, radically alter high-tech economic development  in the state by concentrating authority in a single public-private entity. The proposed Minnesota Science and Technology Authority, modeled after programs like Third Frontier in Ohio and The Ben Franklin Technology […]

News

MOJO/minnesota: The mojo is the mission

Aside from sharing the same first letter, “mojo” and “Minnesota” are words that don’t seem to carry a lot in common, though that may soon change. The state is home to 19 Fortune 500 companies, a world-class hospital and research center in Rochester and SPAM–what else do you need? But the land of 10,000 lakes […]

News

Angel tax credit reshapes Minnesota’s innovation culture

The $50 million angel tax credit passed by the Minnesota legislature Monday will no doubt provide much-needed early stage capital for young start-ups. But the law’s biggest benefit may not be dollars and cents, but rather how outsiders see Minnesota and how Minnesota sees itself. By passing the bill quickly in the legislative year and […]

News

Former Pawlenty aide now university champion. Not as weird as you think.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the state’s top research university are not exactly close allies. At The Collaborative’s annual venture capital conference last year, Pawlenty criticized the University of Minnesota for being unfriendly to business just minutes before  university spin-outs were to pitch investors. University sources say Dan McElroy, commissioner for the Department of Employment […]