Bioscience conference set for Worthington

Posted at 10:26 AM on March 18, 2011 by Mark Steil
Filed under: Southwest Minnesota

Representatives in the bioscience industry, a big, diverse field that is growing in importance, will gather early next month for a conference at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Worthington.

The industry covers everything from medical devices to genetic advances in crop production. Among the headliners at the Worthington conference will be Steve Burrill, who's developing the Elk Run BioBusiness park in Pine Island, just north of Rochester.

The bioscience industry is "doing well" in Minnesota, a state that has the right mix of industry, academics and workers to move ahead in the field, said Faegre & Benson patent attorney Sean Solberg, who has attended the past six bioscience conferences in Worthington.

Solberg said the networking opportunities at conferences like the one in Worthington are an important part of the industry's growth. Some of the companies and institutions scheduled to be at the April conference are Medtronic, Thurston Genetics, Tenex Health and the University of Minnesota.

The conference, set for April 7 and 8, is open to the public.