After surveying the chaos otherwise known as Fall elections, I can confidently conclude one thing: I don’t think Democrat gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton is scoring a lot of votes from the business community, especially the important lifescience industry. So that leaves GOP nominee Tom Emmer and Independence Party favorite Tom Horner vying for lifescience votes.

Forget “One Life to Live” or “As the World Turns.” If you want a real soap opera, look no farther than the University of Minnesota. One week after MedCity News first reported that University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL) and the school’s medical device fellowship program were close to a deal to establish MDC Launch Pad, an incubator for companies created by the fellows, the university’s top technology transfer official is opposing the project.

One of the more intriguing races in Minnesota this fall concerns state District 40B in Bloomington, outside of the Twin Cities. There, Republican newbie Sanu Patel-Zellinger is challenging longtime Democrat incumbent Rep. Ann Lenczewski.Patel-Zellinger is unlikely to unseat Lenczewski- you don’t get re-elected five straight times without knowing what you’re doing. But Patel-Zellinger’s campaign could [...]

Come August 1, Minnesota’s shiny, new $60 million angel tax credit will be open for business. Now if only Wall Street cooperated.Fueled by fears of an European debt meltdown, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Tuesday dropped more than 250 points to below 10,000 before recovering to close at 10,043. The index is down more than [...]

The Minnesota House and Senate Monday overwhelmingly approved a five-year, $50 million tax credit designed to spur early-stage investment in high tech start-ups, including biotechnology and medical devices.Minutes after the House passed a jobs bill, which included the angel credits, 112-20, the Senate followed suit, 58-3. The lopsided vote capped an epic, seven-year struggle to [...]

Passing an angel investment tax credit in Minnesota is not important just for the dollar amount but to signal to investors in the Midwest, and indeed the rest of the country, that our state is a serious place to do business; that we are ready to embrace (finally) a commonly accepted way to spur investment [...]

Ativa marks the debut of TCA-II, the group’s second investment fund, which hopes to distribute an estimated $2.5 million to 15 companies over the next two years.