White House and SBA Release Startup America "Progress Reports"

The White House released a "progress report" for Startup America—a White House and interagency initiative to "celebrate, inspire and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation." The report looks at public and private sector commitments in several key areas that will improve the environment for high-growth entrepreneurship. The report also provides status updates for current and future Startup America related initiatives.

According to the report, the Obama administration already has made several commitments and intends to make several more in five key areas:

• Expanding access to capital for entrepreneurs;
• Connecting mentors and entrepreneurs;
• Reducing barriers and making government work for entrepreneurs;
• Accelerating innovation from lab to market; and,
• Unleashing Market Opportunities.

The report provides specific examples and status updates of ongoing federals efforts (e.g., SBA's $1 billion Impact Investment Funds, the National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps, Economic Development Administration's "i6 Green" Challenge for Regional Innovation) in each of the five areas. Future initiatives that are intended for launch in 2012 highlighted include:

• SBA's $1 billion Early Stage Innovation Funds;
• U.S. Patent & Trademark Office's Enhanced Examination Timing Control Initiative;
• The Treasury Department's $5 billion in Tax Credits for Private Investment in Lower-Income Communities; and,
• Elimination of the Capital Gains Tax on Certain Small Business Stock.

The report also highlights several private sector commitments made by entrepreneurship and private sector leaders from across the country intended to educate the next generation of entrepreneurs, connect more entrepreneurs with mentors, foster more collaborations between startups and large companies and accelerate research breakthroughs from the lab to the marketplace. Similar to the section on public sector efforts, the report provides descriptions of private sector efforts in five key areas:

• Growing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for the Long Run;
• Inspiring the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs;
• Connecting Mentors and Entrepreneurs;
• Connecting Corporations and Entrepreneurs; and,
• Accelerating Innovation.

Notable organizations and entrepreneurs involved in private sector efforts include Jumpstart Inc., American Association of Community Colleges, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, the TechStars Network, AOL, Intel, Marc Ecko, IBM and Facebook. Read the report...

The Small Business Administration (SBA) also released a report that summarizes ideas expressed by participants during the eight "Startup America: Reducing Barriers" roundtable events and from an online suggestion portal. After hearing from "over 1,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and other participants across the entrepreneurial ecosystem in eight communities," five key theme areas emerged:

• People—identifying, hiring, retaining and developing a strong entrepreneurial workforce in America;
• Money—fostering an environment in which promising U.S. startups and high-growth firms can access the kinds of capital they need;
• Ideas—transforming more of America's discoveries and breakthroughs into commercial success ;
• Customers—ensuring that America's small firms can compete for customers, including U.S. Government contracts and export business; and,
• "Lean" Government — making the U.S. Government itself more customer-centric and nimble in serving our own entrepreneurs and high-growth firm.

Under each category, the report provides frequently cited barriers and potential solution ideas presented by participants. In total, the report provides a subset of over 200 distinct ideas to overcome barriers in the five theme areas. The SBA contends that the findings of this report will help guide what the government does to catalyze entrepreneurship and how the government carries out the Startup America's programs. Read the report...