Biotech conference gives Wisconsin rave reviews - but for how long?

The BIO 2006 convention in Chicago has been a great success for our state so far according to reports over the last couple of days in the Wisconsin State Journal. Industry leaders are cheering Wisconsin's investment in the biotechnology field. That invest could all be for nothing if Rep. Mark Green gets elected governor.

Republican candidate for governor, Rep. Mark Green has a long history voting to restrict stem cell research. In Congress Rep. Green voted against a bipartisan bill that would expand federal funding for stem cell research. He also has repeatedly said he opposes spending taxpayer money on stem cell research, and voted in 2001 and 2003 in support of House Republican bills that would restrict stem cell research. Why should anyone expect that he would act differently as governor of Wisconsin?

Governor Doyle hit the nail on the head with a comment he made to industry leaders at the conference.

"We have in our grasp in Wisconsin a chance for something that only comes along once in a few generations."

And four years with Rep. Green as governor not supporting the biggest advance in the biotech industry will translate into other states taking the lead in the industry instead of Wisconsin. It would be a waste of the money already invested and an insult to the very generous donation made to the university to support the new Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery by John and Tashia Morgridge.

Yes the private donation does free up funding to work outside of the federal funding restrictions that Rep. Mark Green supports. But the only way our state will truly be able to take the lead in this industry is for the state to fully support it in every way it can. Other states like California are working hard to be the state everyone looks to for biotechnology and are hoping and praying we will make an error, like electing a governor that doesn't support stem-cell research, so they can surge ahead.

Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, said in the State Journal article that a major medical products company is looking to set up a fund to make side-by-side investments in Wisconsin biotechnology companies with local venture firms. They declined to be named at the time. They are probably waiting to see if our state is going to be fully committed to the biotechnology market by electing a governor that supports the industry.

Governor Doyle is firmly committed to making Wisconsin the leader in stem cell research. He proposed a large state investment into biotechnology and has also directed the Department of Commerce to provide $5 million to recruit and fund new stem cell companies in Wisconsin. He is looking toward building the new economy for Wisconsin now.

The state's biotechnology industry produces 20,000 jobs and $5 billion to our economy already. With the right governor at the helm, the sky is the limit.