DES MOINES — Gov. Tom Vilsack said at a press conference Monday he has signed a legislation that will help spur business start-ups.

“This is the next step in transforming Iowa’s economy,” Vilsack said. “We have improved our business climate by making key programs more attractive to investors. When we expand opportunities for those who are willing to devote their own resources to growing our state, we lay a solid foundation for transforming our economy.”

According to a press release from the governor’s office, the House of Representatives version, “extends the available 20 percent tax credit to investors for funding qualifying Iowa businesses or seed funds.”

This legislation joins the Senate version, which the governor signed earlier in the session and eliminated “the five-year redemption period for the tax credits so Iowa’s law would be in line with other Venture Capital programs” in other states, according to the news release.

At the same conference, Mike Blouin, director of Iowa Economic Development and former congressman, awarded a $175,000 grant to help create a central Iowa business accelerator, a partnership program that combines efforts between several central Iowa agencies, including the Greater Des Moines Partnership, ISU Research Park, Ames Economic Development Commission and DMACC.

Under central Iowa’s new accelerator, small and start-up businesses will have mentors available to them that can help focus companies’ marketing and business plans, Blouin said.

Steve Carter, who attended the conference representing both ISU Research Park and the Ames Economic Development Commission, said the new accelerator is a systematic approach to develop more resources for companies.

“It will be a visible point of access for companies to find the resources they need to grow and expand those resources available to Iowa businesses,” he said. “There will be an office in Des Moines where entrepreneurs can go and have their business or business ideas assessed.”

Carter said the grant money being offered by the Iowa Department of Economic Development will be given over a three-year period and matched by the agencies within the partnership — resulting in a total of $350,000. The details regarding how the money will be dispersed have not been worked out, he said.

Tina Hoffman, communications director for the Iowa Department of Economic Development, said the central Iowa accelerator is the eighth such program in the state; others are located in Davenport, Waterloo, Mason City, Cedar Rapids, northeast, southeast and southwest Iowa.