- An SBA matching fund program that will commit $1 billion to an impact investment fund for growth companies located in underserved communities and $1 billion to an early stage investment fund to target the $1 million to $4 million financing rounds for potential high-growth companies
- The permanent elimination of the capital gains tax on the sale of certain small business stock held for more than five years
- A conference in March convened by the Department of Treasury to explore access to capital for small and medium sized entrepreneurs.
- The launch by the SBA and the Department of Energy of a mentorship program for clean tech start-ups
- The launch by the Department of Veterans Affairs of two new incubators to assist veterans in starting high-growth businesses. One will be online and the second in Wisconsin.
- An expansion of DC-to-VC summits on investing in healthcare technologies
- $12 million from the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to support the i6 program
- The launch of the “Startup America Partnership” which is an alliance of top entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, community colleges, universities, foundations and more to support entrepreneurship in the United States. This entity soon will convene an Entrepreneurship Action Summit.
At CompTIA, we’re investigating the specifics of this proposal. The focus on access to capital and simplification of burdensome taxes is a move in the right direction. In fact, last year we strongly lobbied for similar assistance for tech firms, including:
- A $10 billion “Growth Capital Initiative” to support promising, small technology companies
- Enhancing small business participation in the federal procurement process by adding a five-percent component goal for growth tech companies
- Successful changes to the Financial Reform Bill (S. 3217, “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010) that assure continuing investment in small tech firms by angel investors
- A small business lending pilot program for providers of health IT that would authorize a new three-year pilot program in which the SBA would make loans to small businesses that provide health IT services and systems to eligible medical professionals
- Repeal of the new Form 1099 reporting requirements, which disproportionately affect small businesses – in both additional recordkeeping and compliance costs
- Extension of the §179 small business write-off (as much as $500K, $2 million cap) for equipment, including technology expenditures
- Extension of bonus depreciation deduction to 100 percent which will allow businesses that exceed the $2 million cap for a §179 write-off to expense 100 percent of qualified assets using first-year bonus depreciation
We hope that the Startup America initiative will lead to some of the improvements we have sought. Nevertheless, we want to ensure that regulations being developed in order to roll out these provisions do not exclude our industry. Stay tuned for more information and let us know what you like and do not like about this initative.
