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It’s becoming more standard for institutional investors like pension funds to allocate money to venture capitalists.” If you couple that, he added, with the next generation of VC managers that will inevitably forget the lessons of their predecessors then the next boom will be larger than the last.

His proposal includes $760 million in bonds for projects in five key areas: higher education; economic development, housing and transportation; community safety; public services and preservation of existing infrastructure.

The plan calls for the state to invest at least $500 million over the next 10 years through a variety of new programs to encourage research, innovation and technology commercialization.

Until you have a wildly successful startup story … you’re always going to have a second-tier environment. A community needs organic growth and a large, successful story,”

Interest in advancing Oklahoma’s competitive position and economic livelihood through science and technology-based economic development may be at an all-time high.

A $1 billion fund to make Oklahoma "the research capital of the Plains," tax cuts to encourage companies to do business in Oklahoma and a 50-cent cigarette tax increase were part of the final EDGE plan presented to Governor Brad Henry.

This action is expected to improve linkages among economic and workforce development initiatives, streamline services now provided by programs in different departments, and ensure more efficient administration.

We’re seeing a fundamental shift," says Jim Koch, director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University. "Innovation is becoming a truly global phenomenon."

The detailed narrative of what happened over more than half a year in getting Geico to come to this area is worth examining in order to secure future successes.

The state is on track to spend more than $100 million a year supporting early-stage enterprises, with an eye to creating high-paid jobs and persuading research scientists to set up shop here. Experts say the Garden State has moved to the middle of the pack and is holding its own in competition with neighboring states.