Viewpoint from OEDIT's Ken Lund: 'Building more investors is vital to Colorado’s economy'

Quoting from today's posting in the Denver Business Journal:

"Since January 2011, we’ve created 97,000 jobs and now have 2.4 million jobs in the state — prerecession levels. And we have the fourth-fastest job growth in the nation. We are continuing to successfully woo a number of industries and we’re enhancing our advanced industries with a 10-year, $150 million investment.

We are just missing one key piece of the economic pie: investors. Venture-capital investment is critical to the growth of successful startup companies...

...We’re working on creating more funding opportunities. OEDIT, in partnership with the Colorado BioScience Association and Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., established the Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor and Partnering Conference (RMLIPC) in 2009. Celebrating the third biennial conference on Sept. 19, RMLIPC will bring together more than 50 investors to Denver to showcase 30 regional startup companies in the biotech, diagnostic, medical device and pharmaceutical industries. The Rockies Venture Club, along with the Impact Angel Group, are working their connections with local angel investors and entrepreneurs."

Link to the OpEd piece authored by Ken Lund

About Ken Lund: Ken joined Gov. Hickenlooper as Chief Legal Counsel before taking the helm at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade in August 2011. Ken is focused on driving the state's economic recovery, ensuring that Colorado is the most pro-business state in the country and that Colorado remains competitive in the global marketplace.

Coverage Overview: Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor & Partnering Conference Announces Thirty Regional Companies for 2013 Presentation Lineup

Link to CNBC.com

Link to Yahoo! Finance

Link to Metro Denver News Center

Link to VancouverSun.com

Link to Silobreaker

SeafoodSource: 'McCowan honored for aquaculture work'

Quoting from the August 16th posting:

"The president of an Indiana-based aquaculture company has been honored with an award for work in his field.

Norman McCowan, the president of Bell Aquaculture, received the Agrivision Award this week, recognizing him as a leader of the agricultural community in Indiana."

Link to SeafoodSource.com

Audio Interview: 'McCowan honored with AgriVision Award'

Quoting from the August 15th posting by Meghan Grebner:

"Yesterday was Farmer’s Day at the Indiana State Fair. In recognition of his vision, innovation, and leadership, Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann presented Norman McCowan, president of Bell Aquaculture, the Indiana Agrivision Award.

McCowan says the honor is humbling. 'We’re in a niche sector, aquaculture, which is now a growing industry in Indiana,' he says. 'To be recognized was unbelievable. I’m very excited, it’s very exciting.' 

A recent Purdue Extension study showed that aquaculture is a growing contributor to Indiana’s agriculture economy. McCowan tells Brownfield he doesn’t see that slowing down any time soon."

Link to the Brownfield Ag News for America posting

Link to the mp3 interview

Seedstock: ' the greatest, most valuable web site' with startup profile of Bell Aquaculture from 2011

Why Seedstock? Example, per The Taste of Tomorrow:

"Seedstock is also a steady source of inspiring tales of smart aquaculture — they’ve profiled VCs focused on fostering enviro-friendly aquaculture, and fish farmers experimenting with ways of lowering feed conversion ratio, companies focused on improving quality and traceability for consumers.

Here are two examples — two great profiles of US-based farmers using recirculating aquaculture systems — one looks at SweetSpring Salmon, a producer of coho salmon, and the other focuses on Norman McCowan, a fish farmer who raises 2 million perch a year in the middle of the Indiana cornfields. (McCowan’s Bell Aquaculture, North America’s leading producer of yellow perch, reuses 99.8 percent of its water and converts leftover fish waste into a saleable product, organic liquid plant fertilizer.)

Check out Seedstock if you’re interested in becoming involved in sustainable food production. Their resource page includes a bunch of helpful links — aimed at entrepreneurs, students, job-seekers interested in aspects of sustainable agriculture. In brief, Seedstock bills itself as the resource on sustainable ag, we agree."

Link to The Taste of Tomorrow

Link to Seedstock's May 2011 posting "Startup Profile: Yellow Perch at Sea in the Cornfields of Indiana"

Coverage Overview: 'McCowan Honored with Indiana Agrivision Award'

Quoting from the August 15th Silobreaker: "Yesterday was Farmer’s Day at the Indiana State Fair. In recognition of his vision, innovation, and leadership, Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann presented Norman McCowan, president of Bell Aquaculture, the Indiana Agrivision Award." Link to Silobreaker

Quoting from August 15th Indiana Ag News: "Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann Wednesday presented the Indiana Agrivision Award to Jay County businessman Norman McCowan. The award recognizes a member of the Indiana agriculture family for demonstration, vision, innovation and leadership in their field." Link to Indiana Ag Connection

Quoting from the August 16th posting: "The president of Bell Aquaculture, Indiana, USA, Norman McCowan has won the Indiana Agrivision Award... The award recognises a member of the Indiana agriculture family for demonstration, vision, innovation and leadership in their field... McCowan received the accolade from Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann." Link to the Aquaculturists Blogspot 

Hoosier Ag Today: 'Aquaculture Pioneer Honored with AgriVision Award'

Quoting from the August 15th posting:

"The annual Agrivision Award presented by Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann recognizes an individual who has made a difference in Indiana agriculture. This year’s recipient has almost single-handedly build the state’s aquaculture industry from the ground up. Norman McCowan of Redkey, IN is the founder of Bell Aquaculture, one of the state’s oldest and largest fish farming operations... 

...McCowan told HAT Indiana is a great place to raise fish, 'We have a great source of water, a favorable tax structure, and a good permitting process that has allowed this industry to explode.' When McCowan started in 2005, there was very little in the way of resources, research, and even equipment to start such an operation. He credited Purdue and the soybean checkoff for helping the aquaculture industry grow the $500 million industry it is today, 'They have done a lot of work for us in developing new species we could produce and doing some of that core research that needs to be done.' Indiana Soybean Alliance Chief Executive Officer Jane Ade Stevens wrote, 'Norman McCowan has demonstrated vision in fish production, processing, research, economic development and the use of soybeans as a sustainable feed ingredient that is helping Indiana to be recognized domestically and internationally.'"

Link to Hoosier Ag Today

Indiana Public Media: 'Number Of Indiana Fish Farms Have Doubled Since 2006'

Quoting from the August 14th posting:

"Sales from fish farms in Indiana have more than quadrupled in the past six years from $3.5 million in 2006 to $15 million last year, according to a Purdue report released this week... 

...But there are still hurdles the industry must overcome before it can become a major market player. Quagrainie says raising fish requires a lot of capital investment, so staying in business can be difficult. 

Bell Aquaculture Sales and Marketing Director Jon Bennett an attest to that. The Albany-based company was founded in 2005, and he says it is had to find creative ways to cut overhead costs to remain profitable.

'Our company president has spent a tremendous amount of time in researching and developing certain processes,' he says. 'To accommodate, we have also partnered from several agencies to improve what we do and take in technology from other industries sources.'

That includes more efficient filtration systems and technology that reduces water use, which allows them to compete with producers around the world.

Link to Indiana Public Media

Indiana: 'Lt. Governor Ellspermann Honors Norman McCowan with Indiana Agrivision Award'

Quoting from the August 14, 2013, news release:

"Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann Wednesday presented the Indiana Agrivision Award to Jay County businessman Norman McCowan. The award recognizes a member of the Indiana agriculture family for demonstration, vision, innovation and leadership in their field.

'It is my privilege to recognize Norman McCowan with this honor,' Ellspermann said. 'The vision, team‐building and sense of service he has consistently shown is an asset to his business, his specific industry, the state and national agricultural sectors and his community. The efforts of citizens like Norman are what makes Hoosier agriculture such a great success story.'

McCowan, Redkey, IN, is president of Bell Aquaculture, a leading producer of farm‐raised fish that employs approximately 50 people. Nominations for him came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Indiana Soybean Alliance, among others."

Link to the full release online

Link to a pdf of the full release

Study: Aquaculture on The Rise in Indiana

Quoting from the August 13th posting:

"A Purdue University study suggests Indiana's aquaculture industry is growing. The report shows sales from the state's fish farms jumped from $3.5 million in 2006 to $15 million in 2012. The number of fish producers in Indiana increased from 18 to about 50 in the same time period...

...In 2011, Bell Aquaculture broke ground on a $5 million expansion at its Albany fish farm. At the time, the company said the added capacity would provide three million more fish per year."

Link to Inside INdiana Business

Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor and Partnering Conference Announces Thirty Regional Companies for 2013 Presentation Lineup

Denver, CO, August 12, 2013 – Thirty companies from Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Utah have been chosen to present at the 2013 Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor and Partnering Conference (RMLIPC), September 18-19, at The Ritz-Carlton in Denver, Colorado. The announcement is made by April Giles, President & CEO of the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA), on behalf of the RMLIPC Selection Committee, who says the presenting companies were selected from more than 60 applicants by a committee of investors and industry experts. 

2013 Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor and Partnering Conference Presenting Companies:

AmideBio, LLC - Boulder, CO - http://www.amidebio.com
Biodesix - Boulder, CO - http://www.biodesix.com
BioFusionary - Wheat Ridge, CO - http://biofusionary.com
Boulder Diagnostics - Boulder, CO - http://www.boulderdiagnostics.com
Convoy Therapeutics - Oro Valley, AZ - http://www.convoytx.com
DiscGenics - Salt Lake City, UT - http://discgenics.com
EndoShape - Boulder, CO - http://endoshape.com
ENDURX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - Oro Valley, AZ - http://www.endurxpharma.com
FitBionic - Boulder, CO - http://www.fitbionic.com
Lazarus Medical Technologies - Salt Lake City, UT - http://www.lazarusmedtech.com
Lineagen - Salt Lake City, UT - http://www.lineagen.com
MBio Diagnostics - Boulder, CO - http://mbiodx.com
MSDx - Tucson, AZ - http://www.msdx.co
Nasseo, Inc. - Peoria, AZ - http://www.nasseo.com
Neuro Assessment Systems - Littleton, CO - http://www.neuroassessments.com
Prima-Temp, Inc. - Boulder, CO - http://prima-temp.com
Regenesis Biomedical - Scottsdale, AZ - http://www.regenesisbio.com
Renaptys Vaccines, LLC - Aurora, CO - http://www.renaptys.com
Rocky Mountain Biologicals - Missoula, MT - http://rmbio.com
Sharklet Technologies, Inc. - Aurora, CO - http://sharklet.com
Sinopsys Surgical - Boulder, CO  - http://www.sinopsyssurgical.com
Surefire Medical - Westminster, CO - http://surefiremedical.com
SuviCa - Boulder, CO - http://suvica.com
Transverse Medical - Evergreen, CO - http://www.transversemedical.com
Ventria Bioscience - Fort Collins, CO - http://ventria.com
VetDC Inc. - Fort Collins, CO - http://www.vet-dc.com
Vivaldi Biosciences - Fort Collins, CO - http://www.vivaldibiosciences.com
Wasatch - Salt Lake City, UT - http://www.microfl.com
Xalud Therapeutics, Inc. Boulder, CO - http://www.xaludthera.com
Xenograft Corporation - Missoula, MT - http://www.ihimontanafoundation.org

The 2013 Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor and Partnering Conference – spearheaded by the Colorado BioScience Association in collaboration with associations in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico and Utah — will open with a reception at the Colorado Governor’s Mansion September 18th and follow with a full day of company pitch presentations September 19th. The keynote breakfast will include Kyle Lefkoff, founder and General Partner of Boulder Ventures, leading a conversation with the CEOs of Colorado's two premier publicly-traded pharmaceutical companies-Patrick Mahaffy, Founder and CEO of Clovis Oncology and Ron Squarer, CEO of Array BioPharma. The keynote lunch will be a presentation from Johnson and Johnson Development Corporation executive leadership. For more information and registration details, visit http://www.RockyMtnBioInvest.com

On Twitter, please use the hashtag #RockyMtnBioInvest for your tweets.

Link to the PitchEngine social media release