SSTI Digest

Angela Kreps is the first president of the year-old Kansas Bioscience Organization.

Jerry Lonergan, president of Kansas, Inc., is resigning effective April 1. A bill to dissolve the state's policy and planning organization passed the Kansas Senate last week.

Kenneth Lynn has been appointed president of KCCatalyst. Lynn formerly was a consultant to biotechnology companies assisting in technology acquisition, strategic planning, and commercial development.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius named Howard Fricke to serve as secretary of the state's Commerce Department.

The board of directors of Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center (MAMTC) has appointed Lavon Winkler as its new president and CEO.

A minimum $500 million 10-year investment to encourage biotech and entrepreneurship may soon become a reality for Kansas. With Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' approval of the Kansas Economic Growth Act, Kansas will set in motion a variety of new programs to encourage research, innovation and technology commercialization.

Much of the state's multimillion-dollar initiative is carried by its biotech element. A newly-created Kansas Bioscience Authority will oversee and administer the investment, with the goal of recruiting 25 eminent and 35 rising star scholars at state universities. The independent public agency also will provide funds for developing lab space and equipment to conduct biosciences research.

Flanked by the Kansas Senate President and House Speaker, Republican legislators unveiled on Tuesday a two-pronged agenda to encourage entrepreneurship and biotechnology across the state. 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.

An interesting and unique element of the plan is the allocation of the tax revenues received from the Kansas bioscience sector over the next decade to pay for the state's increased investment in helping grow the industry. Similar to Tax Increment Financing models used to cover the cost of site-specific infrastructure costs for local economic development projects, the Emerging Industry Investment Program outlined in the Kansas Economic Growth Act identifies the relevant SIC/NAICS codes that would be included in the pool of funds earmarked for the bioscience initiative.

Jerry Lonergan is Kansas Inc.'s new president.

A group of Kansas City bi-state community development organizations, led by KCCatalyst and the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (KCALSI), released a report Friday that illustrates Kansas City’s bi-state life sciences initiative and lays out how the region can become a national and global center for life sciences research and commercialization.

The report, A Guide to Life Sciences in Greater Kansas City, serves as a basic primer on the nature of the life sciences industry today and the potential role it can play in the economy of greater Kansas City’s bi-state region. One of the report’s direct purposes will be to market and promote the bi-state region’s life sciences initiative to the bi-state region and across the country. The KCADC, for example, will use this report in all of its national marketing efforts to recruit life sciences-focused companies and jobs to the bi-state region.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius made public on Wednesday the details of a statewide economic revitalization plan designed to stimulate and strengthen the Kansas economy. Included in the plan are several items that could help boost tech-based economic development (TBED) in the state:

The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC), the state's lead corporation to promote advanced technology economic development, has developed a new investment program to help early-stage technology companies get the capital boost they need.

KTEC's Technology Commercialization Seed Fund (TCSF) is intended for companies that have developed technology products or processes and are preparing for a venture investment. Established July 1, the new fund emphasizes technology commercialization and complements KTEC’s existing Applied Research Matching Fund, which is intended for companies still in the product development phase.

“TCSF allows us to help companies that are farther along than companies we’ve invested in in the past,” said Michael Peck, KTEC vice president of investments and portfolio management. “Companies that are eligible for a TCSF investment will have other investors ready to co-invest with KTEC.”

Tim Witsman recently resigned as president of the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce to pursue other opportunities in the community. Witsman headed the area's lead economic development agency for 15 years.