#Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: SB-1099
AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR A RESEARCH FACULTY
RECRUITMENT AND HIRING PROGRAM BY THE UNIVERSITY OF
CONNECTICUT TO ENCOURAGE THE CREATION OF NEW BUSINESS
Title: VENTURES.
Vote Date: 4/22/2021
Vote Action: Joint Favorable
PH Date: 4/20/2021
File No.:
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee
REASONS FOR BILL:
The purpose of the bill is to allow State Bonding for the University of Connecticut to start a
Research Faculty Recruitment and Hiring Program. The purpose of the program is to hire
faculty with demonstrated excellence in their field who are interested in research and turning
their discoveries into new technologies, products and the creation of new companies in order
to expand the University's entrepreneurial ecosystem to help fuel the State's economy. The
State Bonding also allows for related faculty compensation and construction and equipment
costs.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
None Expressed
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Tom Katsouleas, President of the University of Connecticut
Mr. Katsouleas testified that state investments have been instrumental in the dramatic growth
of UConn and are largely responsible for UConns meteoric rise to its place among the top 25
public universities in the nation as evidenced by the U.S. News & World Report rankings. He
testified that more than 38,000 students applied to UConn last year for 6,000 spots and the
University welcomed its most diverse freshman class ever, including 175 valedictorians and
salutatorian and that the University is proud that nearly 73% of our in-state graduates and
22% of our out-of-state students stay in Connecticut after graduation, where they go on to
live, work and contribute to their local communities. He noted that 149,000 UConn alumni are
currently working in Connecticut and that UConn is currently home to 51 new startups and
132 companies have been part of their Technology Incubation Program (TIP) since 2003. He
stated that start-ups raised over $463 million in private equity and created 208 jobs last year.
In 2020, our faculty also filed 102 invention disclosures and were issued 25 patents. He
closed by stating that this bill goes a long way to providing resources to higher education in
the state that is geared towards building a state-wide entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Carl Lejuez, Provost- University of Connecticut
Mr. Lajuez testified that this proposal works to support our efforts to expand resources for
research commercialization; have great potential for increasing our research and
development (R&D) base; and provide career opportunities for our talented graduates while
supporting the State with a more skilled workforce. They, at the University believe that their
aspirations to compete nationally as a regional economic hub will be successful as the
FACULTY + RESEARCH = JOBS formula kicks in.
Mr. Lajuez testified that UConn is eager to partner with the state on the Faculty Innovation
Hires initiative because faculty innovators are able to create new and sustainable business
ventures in the shortest time possible. As part of this approach, the University is requesting
additional resources to support faculty as they begin to develop new business ventures
based on their discoveries.
Included in Mr. Lajuez's testimony was a copy of the Universitys Faculty Hiring Plan which
was approved by UConns Board of Trustees on February 26, 2020 which required the
University to create a blueprint for hiring faculty interested in research that meets societal
needs or the commercialization of discoveries, innovations or technologies with the ultimate
goal of generating long-term economic growth for our state. He stated that the plan was
developed prior to the COVID-19 crisis and the resulting financial challenges and that the
University is now facing unprecedented revenue losses and emergency expenditures that
threaten its core financial stability. While they had hoped to begin working on implementing
this plan in FY21, their ability to do so in the midst of this current budgetary situation may be
limited. However, hiring excellent research faculty as this bill aims to do continues to be his
top priority.
Dawn Hocevar, President & CEO of BioCT
Ms. Hocevar testified that while the bioscience industry in CT is continuing to grow it is critical
that the University of Connecticut be able to invest in faculty recruitment in order to increase
the pipeline of bio startups every year which in turn will help fuel economic growth and help
Connecticut as a viable cluster of innovation. Ms. Hocevar testified that the key economic
drivers for a sustainable bio ecosystem/cluster are as follows: Academic Centers of
Excellence- innovation to commercialization/Startups Access to Financing Talent
Entrepreneurs Lab Space Startups are the lifeblood of innovation. She noted that currently
there are two main sources of commercialization in Connecticut, Yale and the University of
Connecticut.
She stated that Connecticut's neighboring states have grown their bio clusters with multiple
academic centers that collectively spin out hundreds of startups each year and CT must
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increase commercialization to be competitive- this proposal seeks to help achieve this goal
for the State.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
None expressed
Reported by: Dawn SIlveira Date: 4/29/21
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Statutes affected:
Raised Bill:
FIN Joint Favorable:
File No. 670: