Startup America Partnership to Aid Small Businesses

One of Washington’s top 10 most used phrases since the economic down turn has been “small business growth”. Politicians routinely cite statistics such as 65% of all newly created jobs come from small business. They also talk about the fact that an economy will not recover until small business activity recovers to the levels it once was.

Washington appears to not only be saying it, but they’re backing it up with action as well. In January of 2011, the Startup America Partnership was created in order to help ideas become a business. Politicians understand that small business growth requires more than a verbal commitment. It requires access to credit as well as education for those new entrepreneurs who are looking to take the risk of opening a new business.

The Kauffman Foundation, one of the nation’s largest non-profit organizations dedicated to helping small businesses and entrepreneurs make their business prosper is spearheading this initiative. Their goal is to increase the number of firms with high growth potential, celebrate entrepreneurism as one of the oldest pastimes and a core part of the American dream, and finally encourage more people to follow their dreams and become small business owners.

To do this, The Federal Government in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation is encouraging the nation’s largest businesses to offer financial and logistical resources to aide small business growth. Some of those businesses include:

Facebook- Facebook will offer educational events called Startup Days in 12 to 15 cities across the nation. These events will focus on using new technologies as well as networking opportunities.

Intel, Hewlett Packard, and IBM- These companies have committed a combined $354 million in startup funding and education to small business owners.

SBA- The United States Small Business Administration has committed $2 Billion of matching private sector funds. These funds will be used to lend more money at highly competitive rates to qualifying business owners.

The White House- The White House is proposing a permanent tax cut that will remove the capital gains tax for investments in to your small business

The Startup America Partnership will not provide direct funding to business owners. Instead, it aims to connect business owners with larger businesses and foundations like those listed above. The program is still in its infancy and consequently, the details of how the program will function still remain unclear but what is clear is that The Federal Government is committing to aiding America’s small business owners in achieving their American dream.