Bill would boost nanotech

A House committee approved a bill that would help lay the financial groundwork for a joint public-private nanotechnology venture in Minnesota.

HF3911, sponsored by Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee), would appropriate $250,000 to the Department of Employment and Economic Development for a project that seeks to boost the state’s nanotechnology sector and make it an economic catalyst for related industries. The House Biosciences and Emerging Technology Committee approved the bill March 11 and referred it to the House Finance Committee.

The money would go toward finishing the design work for a Minnesota Center for Nanotechnology — a proposed nonprofit corporation that would coordinate nanotech initiatives around the state, with the goal of promoting industrial and academic research and stimulating economic growth.

Darrel Gubrud, president of MN Nano, which is spearheading the effort, said that Beard’s bill is part of a larger, long-term program that would involve up to $10 million per year in state funding for a variety of nanotechnology research and development initiatives.

Beard called nanotechnology “the next big thing,” and said that while the economic benefits of investing in such technologies would not be immediately tangible, the long-term impact of creating new high-tech jobs would be significant.

“We’re looking at things that are down the road that are going to play out very handsomely for our kids and grandkids,” he said.

Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL-Mpls) asked Beard why the state should choose to invest its limited resources in nanotechnology over other high-tech fields like genomics. Beard said that nanotechnology “deals with a host of disciplines” and would help spawn commercially viable technologies in other sectors like bioscience and medicine.

A companion bill, SF3632, sponsored by Sen. Julie Rosen (R-Fairmont), awaits action by the Senate Business, Industry and Jobs Committee.