Connecticut jobs bill gives tax credit to angel investors

A wide-reaching jobs bill recently passed in Connecticut will give a significant tax credit to angel investors and establish a $15 million loan pool for small businesses in the state.

Qualifying angel investors will receive a personal income tax credit up to $250,000 for backing an entrepreneur working to start a corporation in bioscience, information technology, clean technology or another emerging sector.

"Doing this sends the message that we are serious about investing and job growth in high technology," Michael Nicastro, president and CEO of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, told the Hartford Business Journal.

The $15 million loan pool will provide loans o fup to $500,000 for small businesses and nonprofit organizations with less than 50 full-time employees.

Officials say the bill will help provide the early stage investments that many emerging companies need to expand and grow. The Hartford Business Journal says that while venture capitalists invested $127 million in Connecticut companies in the first quarter of 2010, more than 95 percent of that funding went to later-stage companies.<img title="" src="http://feeds.directnews.co.uk/feedtrack/justcopyright.gif?feedid=3052&itemid=19793907" alt="ADNFCR-3052-ID-19793907-ADNFCR" />