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Dayton
Business Journal
Obama launches
entrepreneur program
by Kent Hoover, Washington Bureau Chief
Monday, January 31, 2011
Barack Obama’s administration launched a two-pronged Startup America
program to boost high-growth entrepreneurship in the U.S.
The initiative, announced Monday, includes government programs as well
as private-sedctor efforts to train, mentor and fund entrepreneurs.
The private-sector efforts will be coordinated by the new Startup
America Partnership, chaired by Steve Case, cofounder of AOL Inc.
(NYSE: AOL) and CEO of Revolution LLC. Initial funding for the
partnership will come from Case’s foundation and the Kauffman
Foundation, a Kansas City organization that promotes entrepreneurship.
U.S. businesses, led by Intel Capital and International Business
Machines (NYSE: IBM), also announced today that they would invest a
total of $400 million to help entrepreneurs start and grow their
companies.
The partnership will replicate community-based programs that already
are helping entrepreneurial companies grow, expand entrepreneurship
education programs and increase commercialization of university
research.
The Obama administration, meanwhile, announced a series of government
programs aimed at boosting entrepreneurship:
• The president proposed permanently eliminating capital gains taxes on
long-term investments in small businesses. That break currently is in
effect for small business stock that is issued this year.
• Over the next five years, the Small Business Administration will use
$1 billion to match investments made by Small Business Investment
Companies in clean energy companies, and in companies located in
underserved communities, such as inner cities and rural America. The
SBA also will match $1 billion in private capital raised by SBICs for
early-stage investments, which is aimed at helping high-growth
companies that need $1 million to $4 million to cross the infamous
“Valley of Death.”
• The Treasury Department plans to simplify the rules for New Market
Tax Credits so this $5 billion program will be used for investments in
small businesses s well as real estate projects.
• The Commerce Department plans a $12 million i6 Green program that
will reward communities with novel strategies to promote the
development of clean energy technologies.
• The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will offer entrepreneurs the
option of paying a little extra to get fast-track approval of patents,
which will help companies seeking venture capital.
• The Department of Energy will team with the SBA to provide funding to
four private-sector mentorship programs that will support an additional
100 clean energy startups across the country.
“Entrepreneurs speak to what’s best about America, and in their drive
and innovative spirit — in their willingness to take a risk on a bold
idea — we can see the future,” President Barack Obama said. “We can see
how America will compete and win in the 21st century global economy.”
The U.S. currently leads in “pure, raw innovation,” said Energy
Secretary Steven Chu, thanks to its unmatched research institutions,
national labs and creative entrepreneurs.But, he said, “the U.S. can’t
take technology leadership for granted.”
Case said he was pleased that Obama “has made supporting and
celebrating entrepreneurs a major priority of his economic strategy.”
“The story of America really is the story of entrepreneurship,” Case
said, starting with William Bradford, the Pilgrim leader who took a
chance on starting over in a new country.
Entrepreneurship not only enables Americans with an idea and a strong
stomach to accomplish great things, it also creates jobs. Startups are
responsible for most of the net new job growth in this country,
according to the Kauffman Foundation.
More than half of Fortune 500 companies started during a recession or
during a bear market, said Gene Sperling, chairman of the president’s
Council of Economic Advisers.
“This is the exact right time to have a Startup America initiative,” he
said.
Read the story in Dayton Business Journal
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