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Business executives reacted positively to a new proposed private-public partnership designed to boost venture capital investment in Maryland, though some are expressing more caution.

"It could be helpful," said David Mott, former CEO of MedImmune of Gaithersburg and general partner of venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates, which has offices in Chevy Chase and Timonium.

Mott was among the panelists at a forum Tuesday attended by about 300 business, academic and government officials at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, where Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) announced the initiative.

"I need to see the details to see exactly how it would work," O'Malley said. "But funneling more investment dollars to companies makes a lot of sense."

The program, called InvestMaryland, sounds "very exciting" and will be useful to companies under the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, said Dean Chang, director of Mtech's ventures and education programs. The institute is a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, and includes a technology business incubator.

"The Maryland Venture Fund is one of the places where we send our technology companies to seek funding," Chang said. "Any effort to improve the current investment climate is appreciated."

The program could help create thousands of jobs by securing some $100 million in venture capital, O'Malley said.

"One of the many effects of the national recession is the drying up of venture capital — and that's something we are determined to counter," he said. "It will come as a shock to no one in this room our life sciences sector saw a 26 percent decrease in venture dollars during the first quarter of this year."

Under the program, which will be run by the Department of Business and Economic Development, insurance companies will be eligible for state tax credits, which they would invest into the state-funded Maryland Venture Fund and private venture capital firms. The plan requires approval by the legislature, and state officials will craft a bill for the 2011 session.

Created in 1997, the Maryland Venture Fund has invested $51 million in more than 200 Maryland companies, and those investments have yielded $61 million in returns, according to the state. 

Maryland added 8,200 jobs in April and 28,600 in March, according to federal statistics. That was the largest two-month job gain for the state in at least two decades, state officials said.

Even with the job gains of late, the investment climate is still tough, Mott said.

"A lot of people need to see what will happen in the European markets," he said. In May, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index had its largest monthly drop in more than a year.