Center for American Entrepreneurship Applauds Re-introduction of the Start-up Act

October 5, 2017

For Immediate Release
2 minutes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – John R. Dearie, President of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, today issued the following statement regarding the re-introduction of the Start-up Act – bipartisan legislation to encourage and facilitate the creation, survival, and growth of new businesses in America:

“The Center for American Entrepreneurship (CAE) applauds the re-introduction of the Start-up Act, important legislation that addresses one of the most urgent policy challenges confronting the nation – a significant and prolonged decline in American entrepreneurship.

Recent research has demonstrated that start-ups are disproportionately responsible for the innovations that drive economic growth, and account for virtually all net new job creation. Alarmingly, recent research has also demonstrated that the engine of innovation and job creation is breaking down.

According to Census Bureau data, from 2000 to 2006 an average of 510,000 new businesses were launched each year. Since 2009, however, the number of new businesses launched annually has dropped to about 400,000 – meaning that the United States currently faces a start-up deficit of about 100,000 new firms each year.

In addition, research by economists Robert Litan and Ian Hathaway has shown that the number of new businesses as a percentage of all businesses has fallen near a 30-year low – and that this decline is occurring in all 50 states, in all but a handful of the 360 metro areas examined, and across a broad range of industry sectors, including high-technology.

Given the critical role that start-ups play as the principal source of innovation, productivity gains, economic growth, and job creation, such circumstances amount to nothing short of a national emergency. Addressing that emergency by reversing the three-decade decline in American entrepreneurship requires changes in public policy.

The Start-up Act, S.1877, would accelerate the commercialization of university research that can lead to new ventures, review and improve the regulatory processes at the federal, state, and local levels, and modernize a critical Economic Development Administration (EDA) program to promote innovation and spur economic growth. The legislation also creates both Entrepreneur and STEM visas for highly-educated individuals so they can remain in the United States legally to promote new ideas, launch new businesses, and create American jobs.

CAE thanks co-sponsoring Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) for their leadership. We look forward to working with the Senators, their Congressional colleagues, and the Administration to see the provisions of the Start-up Act enacted into law.”

Contact: Greg Lowman: (202) 862-5525

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The Center for American Entrepreneurship (CAE) is a nonpartisan policy, research, and advocacy organization whose mission is to engage and educate policymakers in Washington, and at state and local levels across the nation, regarding the critical importance of entrepreneurs and start-ups to innovation, economic growth, and job creation – and to pursue a comprehensive policy agenda intended to significantly enhance the circumstances for new business formation, survival, and growth.

For more information, visit www.startupsUSA.org

Follow the CAE on Twitter: @startupsUSAorg

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