Maryland has long been a bastion of biotech companies lining the sides of the 27o corridor. However, recently, some not so firendly taxes have forced some to move their headquarters out of the region.
Apparently Governer O’Malley has taken notice and is putting in some measures to curb that tide. According to a story in the Washington Post today, the Governer outlined a plan to
invest $1.1 billion in the state’s bioscience industry over the next decade or so, expanding tax credits, bolstering stem cell research and providing new support for start-ups.
O’Malley is looking to leverage more funds through the Federal government with the hopes of generating thousands of new jobs in the next 12 years.
Under the multi-prong initiative outlined by O’Malley, the state would double its biotech investment tax credit next year and then double it again within the next five years, leading to an increase of $24 million.
Maryland would invest at least $20 million each year into stem cell research, one of the three largest state stem cell funds in the nation, O’Malley said.
He pledged to help new companies establish themselves by investing $60 million and increase incubator space for startups by 50 percent.
The state should also invest $300 million into life science facilities, he said.
There are some other provisions to help startups out of university research and also some equity investment in new and established start ups as well. This looks to be a fairly ambiious plan by the Governer, one that hopefully pays dividends to all of us in the local techology fields.
