State lawmakers this legislative session have proposed bills to give startups a venture-capital boost. For some, that raises the question of what role our cash-strapped state government should play in the private sector.

It’s a question that gets a lot of attention from the team at CSU Ventures, a group that helps commercialize technologies developed by academics at Colorado State University. Finding funding for startups represents a “key bottleneck” faced by the organization, CSU Ventures Vice President Tim Reeser said.

Reeser argues that government should participate as much as any other group. After all, governments generate revenue from successful businesses and job-creation, not to mention the benefits of new technology.

“You look at the value of research and the impact on human life of a lot of things we’re working on: whether it’s in the life sciences space or energy space, it has a significant greater-good impact,” he said. 

Government help is especially important today as venture capital firms nationwide have halted investments or closed their doors, resulting in fewer dollars for technology startups in Colorado, Reeser said.

While