It looks as if potential investors for new companies in Wisconsin are shaking off the recession. Wisconsin Technology Council President Tom Still said there are surprising facts about new startup companies and the numbers of jobs they create. “Study after study . . . have shown that almost all jobs in the United States are created by companies five years old or younger,” Still said. “In other words, new companies are the ones that are out there creating the jobs.”
So how’s Wisconsin doing in creating and encouraging those new companies? Still calls the environment a good one. “Now, our performance metrics over time have not been as good as they should be, but right now we’ve got a lot of the tools in place to move ahead,” said Still. “There are investor tax credits in Wisconsin that really are relatively new; they’re only about five years old. They’ve led to a fivefold increase in the amount of ‘angel investments’ that have taken place in Wisconsin.”
The Technology Council’s Early Stage Symposium, held this week at Madison’s Monona Terrace, brought together entrepreneurs and investors. “We had 500 people who took part in the conference over the course of two days, which is a record number. There were 75 investors who were here, which is also a record number,” said Still. “The investors are starting to come out from under the recessionary rock, so to speak, and really getting back into the game.”
What sorts of industries are attractive to investors looking to put money down, to develop jobs in Wisconsin? “Biotech, and especially medical biotech, is a big sector, there’s no doubt about it,” Still explained. But he added that advanced manufacturing and information technology are also big. “Information technology in Wisconsin at this point employs about three times the number of people that biotech does. That doesn’t mean biotech’s not a strong and thriving sector, but information technology is so pervasive.”