▁know ▁that ▁political ▁supp or ters ▁have ▁connections ▁to ▁fir ms ▁that ▁receive ▁fund ing . ▁ ▁One ▁such ▁rare ▁occurrence ▁was ▁Con ver gen ▁Life ▁Sciences , ▁now ▁called ▁Gen pre x . ▁ ▁The ▁CE O , ▁David ▁N ance , ▁was ▁a ▁don or ▁and ▁his ▁company ▁received ▁a ▁$ 4 . 5 ▁million ▁E TF ▁award . ▁ ▁Many ▁involved ▁in ▁the ▁E TF ▁process ▁firm ly ▁believe ▁the ▁imp lications ▁and ▁critic isms ▁of ▁the ▁press , ▁most ▁not ably ▁the ▁Dallas ▁Mor ning ▁News , ▁to ▁be ▁" in ac cur ate ▁and ▁ign oring ▁the ▁hundreds ▁of ▁individuals ▁around ▁the ▁state ▁that ▁freely ▁dev ote ▁their ▁time , ▁energy ▁and ▁efforts ▁to ▁the ▁process ▁to ▁ensure ▁that ▁Texas ▁is ▁pushing ▁the ▁techn ological ▁en velope ▁that ▁will ▁lead ▁to ▁scientific ▁break through s ▁and ▁a ▁stronger ▁economy ." ▁Despite ▁criticism ▁by ▁the ▁press , ▁a ▁majority ▁of ▁the ▁E TF ' s ▁ 1 4 0 ▁invest ments ▁since ▁ 2 0 0 5 ▁are ▁still ▁operating ▁as ▁of ▁February ▁ 2 0 1 3 . ▁ ▁Many ▁of ▁the ▁jobs ▁created ▁by ▁the ▁fund ▁have ▁been ▁outside ▁Texas ▁and ▁several ▁of ▁the ▁companies ▁have ▁left ▁the ▁state . ▁By ▁government ▁account ing ▁standards ▁the ▁fund ▁has ▁lost ▁$ 2 5 ▁million ▁so ▁far . ▁but ▁a ▁separate ▁valu ation ▁of ▁the ▁fund ▁for ▁legisl ators ▁produced ▁a ▁significant ▁gain ▁in ▁fund ▁value . ▁ ▁Texas ▁government ▁code ▁ 4 9 0 . 1 0 2