Photo of yesterday’s State of the State Address, from governor.nebraska.gov.
In his annual State of the State Address yesterday, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman unveiled his budget and plan for the next year and beyond. Included in this budget were a number of incentives and programs aimed at further improving Nebraska as a place to start and grow businesses.
The so-called “Talent and Innovation Initiative” includes four key proposals:
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- Create the Nebraska Internship Program – Programs to increase student internships
- Create the Business Innovation Act – Grants to spur research and business innovation
- Create the Site & Building Development Fund – Spur development of industrial and commercial properties
- Create an Angel Investment Tax Credit – Incentives for high-growth investments
Most exciting is the fourth component – a proposal for an Angel Investment Tax Credit. Such a credit would provide an incentive for angel investors in Nebraska to invest more dollars in high-tech and other startup enterprises across the state. The proposal is for $5 million annually to be available as a credit back to investors.
While specifics of the Angel Tax Credits were not released, other states in our region have similar programs to spur local angel investment. To give you a sense of how this works, just this past year, Minnesota passed a $12 million per year tax credit for angel investments (See Tech.MN: “Minnesota legislature passes historic angel tax credit“). Under that plan, certified investors can claim a 25% tax refund for the money they invest in eligible startup companies. The startups themselves must also go through a certification process, to ensure they meet the specific criteria of the plan. The hope is, of course, that this credit would spur more investment, and thus more venture and startup activity overall.
All of the components of the Talent and Innovation Initiative were draw from earlier studies across the state, including the Batelle study (view as PDF), and the Innovation and Entrepreneurial Task Force. The latter is an initiative spear-headed by Invest Nebraska to study the state’s current entrepreneurial landscape, and to make suggestions on how to improve these initiatives across the state.
For more details on the Governor’s plans, see the full press release: “Gov. Heineman Delivers State of the State Address.”
