Minnesota’s angel tax credit has helped loosen investors’ checkbooks to the tune of $30 million so far, including more than $10 million for medical-related startups.

With less than four weeks left in the year, Minnesota has awarded about 38 percent of the $11-million worth of angel investor tax credits available for 2010. Since launching the program in July, the state has granted about $4 million in tax credits to investors who funded startups ranging from solar energy to drugs to cancer treatments and diabetes, according to figures released this week by the Department of Employment and Economic Development.

People often lament that Republicans and Democrats can’t accomplish anything because they have nothing in common. Nonsense. I think Republicans and Democrats can’t accomplish anything because they do have something in common: some politicians in both parties are equally clueless about how to promote high-tech innovation that creates high-paying jobs.

In the end, Matt Kramer’s departure from the University of Minnesota was a lot more low key than his hiring less than a year ago.With great fanfare, the school had hired Kramer in July 2009 to run what was then known as the Academic and Corporate Relations Center. The university had good reason to crow: [...]

Minnesota’s angel tax credit program debuted last week, which means you can now regularly check who made the cut.Go to the state Department of Employment and Economic Development’s (DEED) angel website, scroll down to the bottom of page and click on the links under “Lists of Certified Businesses, Investors and Funds.”Investors (individuals or those belonging [...]

Minnesota officially opened its angel tax credits program on Monday and here are the first week’s totals:The state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), which is administrating the credits, received 17 certification applications and one requesting the actual credit. The agency has already granted six certifications.Hmm. Is it my imagination or does that number [...]

Can’t we just all get along?Tim Mahoney and Tim Mulcahy share a lot more than their first names and initials. The two men have been allies on everything from angel investment tax credits, the creation of the Minnesota Science & Technology Authority and the need for Minnesota to more fully convert its formidable research assets [...]

The wait is nearly over.Minnesota’s newly passed $60 million angel investment tax credit will officially debut the week of July 19. That’s when the state Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) will start accepting applications from investors and start-ups hoping to be certified for the program.“DEED is developing and testing the back office systems [...]

Ever heard of the I-Q Corridor? Unless you’re an economic development geek, probably not.The concept, first penned in a little-noticed Wisconsin Technology Council white paper, envisions an economic superhighway of sorts connecting the Twin Cities, Madison, Wis. and Chicago along interstates 90 and 94. The “I” stands for ideas, innovation, investment, intellectual property while the [...]

Battle-weary proponents of Minnesota’s historic $60 million angel tax credit had a simple message for the state’s entrepreneurial community:Now that we passed the darn thing, you better use it!“We’ve passed the baton onto you,” Sen. Kathy Saltzman (D-Woodbury) told the audience who gathered in Eden Prairie Monday to learn about the tax credit.var page_count = [...]