We are excited to share good news about the Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program. Yesterday, the General Assembly’s Joint Budget Committee (JBC) decided to preserve the program and maintain a significant amount of funding.

This is a victory for CBSA, our members and our life sciences ecosystem.

The decision to preserve the program during this period of severe budget cuts is welcome recognition of the life-saving breakthroughs our community develops, including our aggressive response to COVID-19.

Capital + Growth is a top priority for our community. The CBSA team worked tirelessly behind the scenes to protect the program, which is a critical source of non-dilutive funding for our companies and organizations.

The alternative considered by the JBC was to eliminate the program.

We asked you to share stories and communicate the value of the Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program. Thank you for your engagement and support. The committee received hundreds of emails as well as handwritten notes from our leaders. We know your stories of innovation and patient impact made a difference.

We are also grateful to our partners at the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) for their commitment to this program.

We recognize the severity of the budget crisis and the deep cuts to critical programs, including K-12 and higher education. We are confident health innovation will lead us to better days, with the testing and surveillance, critical treatments, and vaccines we need to end this global pandemic.