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Michigan governor names technology steering committee that will help award grants to promising high-tech companies.

The state’s efforts to chase down new jobs continued Monday with the naming of a steering committee that will help award grants to promising high-tech companies.

By Kathy Barks Hoffman, The Associated Press

Gov. Jennifer Granholm said the Technology Tri-Corridor Steering Committee she created through an executive order signed Monday will help the Michigan Economic Development Corp. establish guidelines for awarding state dollars to applicants.

"We do want to create fertile ground for those coming out of universities to think they could be the next Bill Gates," Granholm said at a news conference. She added that she hopes the high-tech initiative persuades more of the state’s engineers and scientists to stay in Michigan rather than leaving for jobs elsewhere.

The state has set aside $25 million this fiscal year for startup companies and other high-tech ventures in the fields of advanced automaking technology, homeland security and life sciences. Some of the money is from private investors.

Since the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor was created in 1999, more than 70 new companies have brought about 400 new jobs to Michigan, a Granholm spokeswoman said. About $190 million has been awarded to the companies, leveraging $4 billion in venture capital and other private sector investment.

"We’re comfortable that the strategy of creating companies is working," Granholm said. She declined to say how many new companies or jobs may be created in Michigan through the next round of incentives, noting it depends on the applications received.

Richard Sloan of Sloan Ventures, a Birmingham venture capital firm, is one of the 19 people from state government, universities and businesses named to the steering committee. He sees Michigan as poised to capitalize on the push for new high-tech development.

"This is a very fertile marketplace to be fostering innovation," he said. "We have great opportunities here."

Michigan’s unemployment rate has been at 7.4% for the past three months. State economists said last week that Michigan must add jobs if it wants to see the economy recover and tax revenues increase enough to keep the state solvent.
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-10-21-michigan-techcos_x.htm

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