14 Jan Improving state's investment tax credits law is topic at Jan. 20 WIN-Madison meeting
Madison, Wis. – Wisconsin’s successful program to provide tax credits to investors in qualified early stage deals will the topic of a panel discussion at the Tuesday, Jan. 20 luncheon meeting of the Wisconsin Innovation Network in Madison.
The luncheon will be held at the Sheraton Hotel on Madison’s John Nolen Drive. Registration and networking begin at 11:30 a.m., lunch at noon and the presentation at 12:30 p.m. The cost is $25 for WIN members, $35 for non-members and included with WIN corporate memberships.
“Wisconsin’s investment tax credits: What’s working and what happens next?” will feature: John Neis, managing director of Venture Investors, LLC; Cheryl Gain, director of biotechnology initiatives at Thrive; Bill McCoshen, executive director of Competitive Wisconsin, Inc.; and Deven McGlenn, CEO of NeoClone, who credits the tax credits law for helping his company raise funding. Tech Council President Tom Still will moderate.
Wisconsin’s investor tax credits law, which took effect four years ago, has been cited as a national model – but improvements have been suggested by the Tech Council and other groups. With 25 percent credits spread over two years, the Act 255 investor tax credits program has helped to nearly triple early stage investments by angel investors and venture capitalists in Wisconsin companies. In 2007, reported early stage investments in Wisconsin reached $147 million, with the dollars spread over scores of deals in high-growth businesses ranging from advanced manufacturing to biotechnology to information technology.
To read the Tech Council’s 2008-2009 recommendations for improvements in the law, visit this web page.
WIN is the membership arm of the Tech Council, the independent, non-profit science and technology adviser to the governor and the Legislature. It has chapters in Milwaukee, Madison, Northeast Wisconsin, Central Wisconsin, the Lake Superior region and Western Wisconsin.