What do the following companies – Chemosynergy, of Providence, Cyberkinetics, Inc., of Providence, Medical Monitoring Technologies, Inc., of Providence, Pan Pacific Pharmaceuticals, of Lincoln and ProThera Biologics, of Providence, have in common? They all benefited from investments by the state’s Samuel Slater Technology Fund – and they all provided a solid return on that investment.
The best news is that the companies mentioned above represent but a small sampling of the success of the Slater Fund, a program that came to life in 1997.
To date, some 59 emerging companies have received some level of Slater Center backing and several of them have in turn attracted outside venture capital investment.
In 2001, for example, the Slater Center for Biomedical Technologies invested $741,036 in eight biotech startups working to address a wide range of medical needs, from enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy to restarting motor function for people with spinal cord injuries and neurological disorders.
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At the time, the center also reported that four other firms in which it had previously invested had raised a collective $50 million in private capital over the previous 18 months – a return of 30-to-1 on the state’s investment.
Fifteen companies affiliated with that particular Slater Center program had in fact attracted $8 million in federal grants and loans.
We offer these concrete examples because the Samuel Slater Technology Fund program has arrived at a critical juncture. The Rhode Island Economic Policy Council, which oversees the program, would like to see the state invest $4 million in the program for the next fiscal year. In the five years of the program’s existence, the governor’s budget has funded it with $3 million each year.
Gov. Lincoln Almond has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Slater Center program since its inception. But so far he has not given any indication as to how much money he plans to include for the program in the budget he will soon present to the General Assembly. He is grappling with a $70 million state budget shortfall and has many difficult decisions to make. But this shouldn’t be one of them.
We strongly urge the governor to give the Slater Center program the money it is requesting. Yes, these are difficult financial times. But the Slater Centers program has demonstrated an ability to make a return on investment – even in bad times.
This is no time to back away from a winner.
