Group seeks $48.8 million for tech sector
BYLINE: Ken Dey, The Idaho Statesman, Boise
Nov. 22--A group tasked with advising the governor on how to boost the number of high-paying science and tech jobs in Idaho recommended Tuesday a package of incentives and funding to encourage growth in the industry.
Meeting in Boise, the Governor's Science and Technology Advisory Council said it will recommend that Gov. Jim Risch ask the Legislature for $48.8 million in new state money to stimulate the tech sector.
The larger funding requests in the package include $25 million for an Idaho technology stimulus fund, $10 million to improve broadband service in Idaho, $10 million for the first year of a five-year technology investment tax credit, and $2 million to help market Idaho as a science and technology state.
Risch spokesman Brad Hoaglun said Tuesday that Risch has agreed to seriously consider the entire package, but wasn't convinced completely on the need for the $25 million stimulus fund and asked for examples of how the money could be spent.
At Tuesday's meeting, Council Chairman John Grossenbacher, the director of the Idaho National Lab, said the presidents of Idaho's three universities offered an example of how the $25 million could be allocated.
Under the proposal, $9 million would be split equally among the state's three public universities to recruit new faculty. Another $9 million would be used to upgrade research facilities at the universities.
The remaining $7 million would help fund research and improve collaboration with the universities and the Center for Advanced Energy Studies at the Idaho National Laboratory and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Boise.
Grossenbacher stressed that the examples didn't guarantee these ideas would be funded. That would be up to the Legislature.
Nonetheless, several council members raised concerns, fearing too much money was directed at education.
Council member Ed Strong, director of operations at Seminis Vegetable Seed Co. in Nampa, said some legislators might view the universities' $25 million proposal as a "money grab."
But Boise State University President Bob Kustra said that if Idaho wants to expand its science and technology industry, it needs to start with better funding at the university level.
"If Idaho is going to move forward in the areas of discovery and invention and count itself among the states that have achieved notoriety, it will be through the development of intellectual talent and the intellectual property that comes from the universities," Kustra said.
To comment, contact reporter Ken Dey at kdey@idahostatesman.com or 672-6757.
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