Copyright © 2012, The Oklahoma Publishing Company
There’s a new report out this month from the Center for Public Policy Innovation (CPPI) that hits a bull’s-eye in identifying key issues and important policy and regulatory changes that would benefit the nation’s startups and small businesses.
“Restoring U.S. Competitiveness: Creating Jobs and Unleashing the Potential of Small Business Through Technology and Innovation” is the outgrowth of CPPI’s Public Policy Forum in December, a coming together of industry, academic and government leaders to discuss what it will take to accelerate the creation of startups in the U.S.
The report was all about access: access to capital, to modern technology and to global markets. It adds fuel to the Startup Act, a bipartisan bill to accelerate the creation of startups, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate in December.
The Startup Act makes permanent a full capital gains tax exemption for any gains in the sale or exchange of investments held in Qualified Small Businesses for five years. It opens the door for reform to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which created significant administrative and financial barriers to initial public offerings (IPOs) for startup companies.
The Startup Act also authorizes a corporate tax credit of up to $5 million for qualified small businesses in their first taxable year of profit, followed by a 50 percent corporate income tax exclusion in the two succeeding taxable years.
The act also provides STEM entrepreneur visas to attract master’s and Ph.D. graduates in science, technology, engineering or math.
Let me make a bold assertion: Startup businesses are good for everyone. They create net new jobs and even entire new industries. They attract much-needed STEM talent. They provide opportunities to export goods and services into the global economy. Innovation fosters innovation. Startups contribute to an ecosystem where bright people with innovative ideas can learn how to be successful entrepreneurs.
Regardless of our individual interests or political beliefs, it should be easy for everyone to sing in near harmony on this one. There aren’t too many economic initiatives you can say that about.
Tom Walker is president and CEO of i2E Inc., a nonprofit corporation that mentors many of the state’s technology-based startup companies. i2E receives state appropriations from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. Contact Walker at i2E_Comments@i2E.org.
DID YOU KNOW? Businesses with fewer than 20 employees spend 36 percent more per employee to comply with federal regulations.
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