Gov. Bill Ritter applauded Colorado’s bioscience sector Thursday, reconfirming some of his commitments to help expand the industry.
“Bioscience is one pillar of Colorado’s economic future,” Ritter said, speaking at the fifth Annual BioWest Conference and Expo, a two-day symposium on bioscience in the Rocky Mountain region.
The event, organized by the Colorado Bioscience Association, is being held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Denver and ends today.
He reiterated points of his 2008 economic agenda that would help serve bioscience and medical-device companies, including a $3.5 million proposal to aid technology transfer and product commercialization.
“We want to play some role to inspire bioscience in a significant way,” he said, adding that the state still faces “serious spending restrictions.”
Ritter said private-public partnerships are essential to building the sector.
“We have every reason to believe we can grow this industry,” Ritter said, noting that there’s no reason why Colorado can’t be a top-tier bioscience cluster.
The governor’s remarks were well received by BioWest attendees.
“He sounded really bullish on the industry,” said Kathy Kregel, director of the bioscience cluster in Larimer County.
She said the $3.5 million proposal could potentially help Larimer County tackle its biggest challenges — building high-end bioscience facilities that would encourage young bioscience companies to move to the area.
Kimberly S. Johnson: 303-954-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com
