Utah proves magnet for venture capital. Edge: A business-friendly stance is cited as a factor giving the state an advantage

Mark Heesen listened Friday as preceding speakers talked about the need to lure more venture capital to Utah’s burgeoning technology sector.

Then the president of the National Venture Capital Association told leading state entrepreneurs they already had most of what today’s investors yearn for – smart, innovative workers, and a cultural and recreational environment that’s hard to beat.

"There are some very positive things we’re seeing in Utah," Heesen said at an afternoon venture capital seminar at the Governor’s Mansion. "Quality of life is an extremely important aspect" for a strong entrepreneurial base."

He compared a relatively smooth commute from a downtown Salt Lake City office to an affordable, spacious home to a trip of hours out of San Francisco to a "two-bedroom, $1 million" home in the suburbs.

"The people who are here want to stay here," Heesen said. "[That is] a very important distinction."

By Bob Mims
The Salt Lake Tribune

Full Story: http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_4026362

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Venture capitalists plug Utah industry

By Dave Anderton
Deseret Morning News

Utah’s venture capital community is light years ahead of states such as Florida and Tennessee but could improve in commercializing more ideas from its universities, according to Mark Heesen, president of the Virginia-based National Venture Capital Asso- ciation.

Heesen was in Salt Lake City Friday to join with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and other venture capitalists plugging the state’s growing venture capital industry.

In 2005, Utah captured $248 million in venture capital money, a 28 percent rise from $193 million raised in 2004, according to the MoneyTree survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Full Story: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,640193145,00.html