LANSING ? Twenty-one highly recommended projects submitted to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. that didn’t make the first round of funding announced this month will still divvy up $35 million from the 21st Century Jobs Fund, MEDC President James Epolito said at a meeting of the Great Lakes Angels.
Those 21 proposals were among 82 that were rated as highly recommended by a peer-review process conducted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Earlier, the state said 61 of these proposals will receive slightly more than $100 million to help commercialize promising Michigan technology in the life sciences, advanced manufacturing, homeland security and advanced automotive materials sectors. But now the state has decided to dip into the next round of funding for the 21st Century Jobs Fund and award money to all these highly recommended projects, Epolito said.
?We may only have $70 million to award in round two,?? he told a couple dozen investors attending the Sept. 20 Great Lakes Angels meeting at a private setting in Bloomfield Hills. Epolito said the awards would be made after the Oct. 15 meeting of the Michigan Strategic Economic Investment and Commercialization Board.
The plan had been to award roughly $100 million in jobs funding in each of four rounds over the next two years from a pool of cash generated from the securitization of Michigan?s portion of the tobacco settlement. Now it looks like round two, which Epolito said would be announced soon, will be a little short of that goal.
Epolito didn?t shed any light on which of the unfunded proposals would get funded ? some 179 were screened from an original list of 505 submitted ? but some major high profile entrepreneurial support groups that did not receive money in the first round. Those include the Ann Arbor IT Zone, MichBio, Great Lakes Entrepreneur?s Quest and Ann Arbor SPARK. Only Wayne State University?s TechTown won funding.
The 21st Century Jobs Fund is a $2 billion, ten-year initiative proposed by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, approved by the Michigan Legislature, and administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to accelerate the diversification of Michigan’s economy.
The commercialization component of the initiative devotes approximately $800 million for competitive-edge technologies in the targeted sectors of life sciences, alternative energy, advanced automotive materials and manufacturing, and homeland security/defense.
Proposals approved include the following:
Life Sciences ? 25 proposals for $45.7 million
Alternative Energy ? 4 proposals for $8.9 million
Advanced Automotive Materials and Manufacturing ? 26 proposals for $37.3 million
Homeland Security/Defense ? 6 proposals for $9.3 million
Each of the awards will be administered by the MEDC with contracts that establish conditions and mileposts for receipt of funds. Contracts, individually tailored to each proposal, will be finalized by the MEDC’s general counsel in consultation with the Michigan attorney general.
The MEDC employs portfolio managers, similar to those of venture capital operations, who will oversee the progress of the projects. Award funding will be paid out incrementally as project milestones established in the proposal and contract are achieved.
