Burrill Boosts Midwest for BIO Conference

Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Co., a San Francisco investment firm, says the midwest is more than the land that you see under the wings of jets bound for the west coast or the east coast.

Today, Burrill shilled for the country's midsection in a statement released to boost next year's BIO show, which will be held in Chicago.

Now, we like Burrill. We met him about four years ago when he spoke to a venture capital group here in New York, and he has taken my phone calls for interviews -- usually based on his annual predictions and report on the biotech industry, which are quantitative, thoughtful, and useful. [See New Biology Economy, June 22, 2005]

And, we admire BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) as, well, an industry organization. As far as being media savvy, well, maybe next year they might understand that blogs are an important medium for the organization. This year, they really hadn't got a handle on how to deal with credible blogs and bloggers in issuing credentials for the BIO conference held in Philadelphia in June. (See New Biology Economy, June 10, 2005)We were not cleared to cover the hallways and the booths inside the convention center, so we worked the outside. [See New Biology Economy, June 21, 2005]

But back to Burrill, who qualified his support for bio in midwest:

"The Midwest's biotechnology parts are greater than its whole right now," he said. "The Midwest is not the first place people think of when considering centers of biotechnology excellence but it's really more of an awareness issue than it is a fact issue.”

Burrill said states in the area have targeted life sciences as a growth engine and some have established specific funds to invest in the life sciences.

Of course, they are not alone but way behind California with Silicon Valley, where bio is as big as IT, and its stem cell funding, as well as mature efforts in Seattle, Boston, DC, and North Carolina not to mention New York and India, as well as China.

Still, if we as a country would ever figure out that agriculture is really, really important, then midwestern companies such as Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Dow AgroSciences and Monsanto would be recognized for their very significant research spend. Regardless, they stand alongside the pharmaceutical companies in the midwest as well as the academic giants of life sciences in Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin.

"The Midwest has the ability to build on its existing strengths especially in the areas of agricultural biotech and in the convergence of the medical device, diagnostic and therapeutic companies,” said Burrill.

Now let's see if he moves his offices from San Francisco to Chicago.

Tags -- Burrill, BIO, Midwest