Conn. Governor Signs $200M Bioscience Bill

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy on Sept. 4 signed legislation creating a $200 million bioscience innovation fund during a ceremonial event at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. The fund will make investments over 10 years through grants, equity investments, loans and loan guarantees to foster innovation in smaller companies.

Construction has been under way for the last year at the UConn Health Center to fulfill all aspects of Bioscience Connecticut – an $864 million Malloy initiative that the General Assembly approved in 2011. It includes $291 million worth of bonds to lure Jackson Laboratory of Maine to build a genomics laboratory in Farmington.

The 189,000-square-foot facility will house research laboratories, offices for scientists and administrators, conference areas to support scientific collaboration, and leading-edge genome analysis technology.

In the year following its groundbreaking last June, all aspects of Bioscience Connecticut have moved forward on time and on budget, according to Malloy.

State officials say the project has created about 700 construction and related jobs on the UConn Health Center campus in its first year, including higher-than-required averages for small and minority business participation and 82% of all work going to Connecticut-based contractors.

The number of construction jobs will rise significantly over three years, according to Malloy’s office.

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