ANN ARBOR ? The Michigan Venture Capital Association said it supports Gov. Jennifer Granholm?s proposed $2 billion bond issue that would be used to create up to 72,000 new jobs in life sciences, alternative energy and other promising technologies.
But the Association said Granholm?s Jobs for Michigan Fund is politically complex and challenging.
?The Governor’s choice of a voter approved bond vehicle is a viable means of providing both the financial and political support such an initiative requires,?? the Association said in a press release. ?If the money raised via such a funding is intelligently invested in promising Michigan business opportunities, the MVCA believes the proceeds of these investments can be used to repay the debt obligations and thus be a win-win situation for the emerging Michigan companies and the Michigan taxpayers.?
The Association said it is prepared to do what it can to help the State achieve such an outcome.
Granholm, when she introduced the legislation, said the investments will follow what the state has done the past five years in investing in the Life Sciences Corridor. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, not the state, reviews proposals for those grants so the investment decisions aren’t based on politics or the state picking winners or losers, she said.
The money would help to attract top scientists and researchers to state universities, attract more federal dollars for research and development, invest in basic and applied research and help give more startup technology businesses the resources they need to grow, she said.
The money would be repaid with some of the tobacco settlement money now going to the Life Sciences Corridor, as well as by the return on equity the state would get from some of the investments and by general fund dollars, if necessary.
