Meehan Continues Focus on Jobs and Economy with Entrepreneurs and Investors
June 24th
June 23, 2010
Contact: Pete Peterson, (215) 990-8928
Meehan Continues Focus on Jobs and Economy with Entrepreneurs and Investors
DREXEL HILL, PA – Pat Meehan, the Republican candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District continues his campaign’s focus on job creation and economic development issues, meeting yesterday with entrepreneurs and investors who provide financial support to new startup companies.
“Studies of census data have shown that since 1980 nearly all net job creation in the United States has occurred in firms less than five years old,” said Meehan. “If you take out the jobs created by ‘new’ firms, the United States would have a negative net employment growth rate in all but a handful of years. In 2007, about two-thirds of the 12 million jobs created were generated by these new, young companies.”
“Credit and capital is the oxygen for new and young firms,” said Meehan. “The federal government has to be extremely careful about the messages it is sending to investors and entrepreneurs. The uncertainty Congress has created on tax policy, treatment of capital gains and new government regulations is making it more difficult for new start-ups to find willing investors. We need to return certainty to our economy while providing incentives for early stage investing. We need to support new innovations that will create jobs, not kill them.”
Seventeen leaders in the technology community, experienced and new entrepreneurs, and angel investors took part in the free-wheeling, round table discussion held at the University Science Center in Philadelphia.
Topics of discussion included government policies that protect and reward innovation; accelerating technology transfers to the private sector; attracting talented entrepreneurs from overseas to create jobs in the United States; encouraging early stage investing in start-up companies; increasing our educational system’s emphasis on math and science; tax policies that allow U.S. companies to be competitive in the global economy; and reform of a number of government funding programs for new and small businesses.
“The members of the technology and investing community provided insights into a range government programs and policies in terms of what is working, what is not, and what is hindering growth,” said Meehan. “Too often the policy proposals coming out of Washington do not focus enough on the real world experiences of job creators.”
Meehan noted that banks as a practice do not invest in early stage technology companies where their only asset is largely intellectual capital.
“We need to provide incentives for angel investors to commit money to the early stages of a company’s development,” said Meehan. “In many cases, having access to that investment is what can make or break a start-up. We can help provide this seed money by providing a capital gains tax break to investors who invest in a business at the outset by making the potential return more lucrative. This will provide an incentive to invest in start-ups, helping create new jobs and enabling our companies to be more competitive in the global marketplace.”
About Pat Meehan
A former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the former District Attorney of Delaware County, Pat Meehan has a proven record of rooting out government waste and corruption, prosecuting tough criminal cases, and implementing innovative new programs to make our communities safer. As U.S. Attorney, Meehan helped coordinate the region’s terrorism preparedness and response, held manufacturers responsible for illegally discharging hazardous materials into the region’s waters, and established a group to crackdown on predatory lending. Pat, his wife Carolyn and their three sons Patrick, Jack and Colin, reside in Drexel Hill, Delaware County. For more information, please visit www.meehanforcongress.com.
