Wisconsin may be facing a $2.5 billion budget gap, but that?s no excuse for failing to make the investments required to improve the economy. A growing economy ? producing jobs, income and tax revenue ? is the best way to close any budget gap as well as offer expanding opportunities to residents. That?s the spirit in which lawmakers should consider proposals to shore up one of Wisconsin?s glaring weaknesses in the competition for economic success ? a scarcity of money to bankroll young businesses. Dane County?s thriving biotechnology business community, much of it based on ideas from UW-Madison research, is an example. In fact, UW-Madison makes Wisconsin a prime candidate to generate the ideas and entrepreneurs to be matched with venture capital. The university annually ranks among the top five universities in the country in attracting research dollars.
Office of Strategic Communication