Senator Jerry Moran Helps to Unveil Startup Act 2.0

We first heard about Senator Jerry Moran's (R-Kan.) stance to help support entrepreneurs and foster innovation and technology throughout the Midwest (and beyond) at The Gigabit Challenge Finale back in January.  And last week, Senator Moran joined Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) along with Steve Case (President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness) and Robert Litan (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation) to unveil Startup Act 2.0.


Startup Act 2.0 is a bipartisan legislation aimed at jump-starting the economy through the creation and growth of new businesses.  The legislation sets out to prove the critics wrong: Congress can get something done during an election year by coming together to strengthen the economy and create jobs. 


According to a press release that was sent out last week, the Startup Act 2.0 will do the following: 


Startup Act 2.0 picks up where the JOBS Act left off by doing more to create an environment in which entrepreneurs can succeed. Research has shown that for close to three decades, companies less than five years old have created almost all of the net new jobs in America—averaging about 3 million jobs each year. Startup Act 2.0 creates new opportunities for America-educated, entrepreneurial immigrants to remain in the U.S. where their talent and ideas can fuel growth and create American jobs. The bill also alleviates regulatory burdens that make it more difficult for businesses to expand and create jobs. Finally, Startup Act 2.0 makes changes to the tax code to encourage investment in startup companies.


Startup Act 2.0 builds upon the original Startup Act introduced by Sens. Moran and Warner in December, and it has been strengthened by including widely-supported provisions of S. 1866, the AGREE Act, introduced by Sens. Coons and Rubio in November. Many of the principles included in Startup Act 2.0 are based on the research and analysis of the Kauffman Foundation, and are supported by President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

For more information about Startup Act 2.0, watch the video below: 

President Barack Obama: "Let's Meet the Moment, Let's Get To Work"

Last night, President Barack Obama spoke on the American Jobs Act--an act that unveiled a $450 billion jobs program of tax cuts and new government spending aimed at energizing the country's stalling economic recovery. 

"The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple; to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working." -- President Barack Obama

If you missed the President's address to congress last night, you can view it here:

President Obama addressed the U.S.'s drive toward entrepreneurship and startup businesses throughout the speech.  Some of our favorite quotes are below:

"Everyone knows that small businesses are where most new jobs begin." - President Barack Obama

"Pass this jobs bill and we can put people to work rebuilding America." - President Barack Obama

"We now live in a world where technology has made it possible for companies to take their business anywhere. If we want them to start here and stay here and hire here, we have to be able to outbuild, and outeducate and outinnovate every other country on Earth." - President Barack Obama

"We are also planning to cut away the red tape that prevents too many rapidly-growing startup companies from raising capital and going public." - President Barack Obama

"We need to look for ways to work side-by-side with America's businesses which is why I brought together a jobs council with leaders from different industries who are developing a wide range of new ideas to help companies grow." - President Barack Obama

"Yes, we are rugged individuals; yes, we are strong and self-reliant.  And it has been the drive and the initiatives of our workers and entrepreneurs that has made this economy the engine and envy of the world." - President Barack Obama

"We are tougher than the times we live in and we are bigger than our politics have been. So let's meet the moment, let's get to work." - President Barack Obama

Written by Allison Way
@AllisonThinkBig

Ron Bloom's Manufacturing Strategy Promotes Innovation and Ingenuity

Written by Allison Way, writer and videographer for Think Big Partners.


In a recent study done by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, it was found that 78% of Americans believe that manufacturing is important to the nation’s economic prosperity. But just saying that manufacturing is important is an understatement. Manufacturing is vital to the development and sustainment of the U.S.’s high standard of living. In today’s economy, manufacturing’s presence has shrunken dramatically—from a gross domestic product of 30% in the 1950s to 11% in 2010. Because of this dramatic drop, manufacturing jobs dropped from 19.2 million to 11.6 million since 1980, when globalization was booming and free trade agreements were prevalent. Clearly, something needs to be done.



Ron Bloom has been appointed by Barack Obama to
solve today's manufacturing problem.

Ron Bloom, a Harvard M.B.A. with vast experience on Wall Street, within the United Steelworkers, and with the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, has been appointed by Barack Obama to tackle America’s manufacturing problem. By invigorating the private sector initiatives in certain industries, applying a more restrictive approach on trade policy, and rewarding domestic production, manufacturing will, once again, provide research and development, well-paid jobs, and increasing exports for America.

Unwilling to accept manufacturing’s decline, Bloom is reworking various strategies. While workers call for a more expansive government role in manufacturing (like that of China, Germany or Japan), others believe that it is the government’s role to direct banks to lend to particular companies would suffice. Bloom, however, has a strategy of his own, different than that of the “China strategy".

In the long run, Rom Bloom is all about innovation. “I am deeply afraid that if you lose the ability to make things,” he said, “all the intellectual activity involved in innovation and design will over time erode as well.” With the implementation of a new manufacturing strategy that thoroughly analyzes the nation’s industrial base, small businesses, entrepreneurship, and innovation all have a better chance to increase.

In the New York Times, journalist Keith Bradsher notes that “The Obama administration, modest as it is, is nevertheless ‘huge’ in comparison with previous administrations, which generally accepted the proposition ‘that manufacturing’s decline was inevitable in a mature, service-oriented economy.’”

Innovation is what can turn this economy around. Barack Obama has stated, “We see a future where we invest in American innovation and American ingenuity; where we export more goods so we create more jobs here at home; where we make it easier to start a business or patent an invention; where we build a homegrown, clean energy industry – because I don’t want to see new solar panels or electric cars or advanced batteries manufactured in Europe or Asia. I want to see them made right here in America, by American workers.”

As entrepreneurs, we can only hope that manufacturing in America will grow so that we can launch our new small businesses and help to benefit today’s economy and the high standard of living. We can continue to hope that Ron Bloom’s manufacturing strategy will not only provide more entrepreneurial ventures with more achievement in the American Dream, but also that the 42,400 American factories that have closed down since 2001 will be up and running once again.

President Barack Obama in Kansas City to Congratulate Smith Electric Vehicles for Thinking Big!

Barack Obama has landed in Kansas City, and only two minutes from Think Big Partner's new location in the Crossroads District of downtown.

Obama is in town to raise money for Carnahan’s Senate campaign. However, he is making many pit stops along the way. Among his stops is the Kansas City Marriott for the ActBlue luncheon as well as the Folly Theater for a “grassroots reception”. Additionally, Obama is stopping by Smith Electric Vehicles for a tour and to talk to employees about the current economy.

Smith Electric Vehicles, a Kansas City-based company, found a great need in today’s less than thriving economy and planet; environmentally-friendly transportation. With the development of a vehicle that reduces noise and emissions, SEV quickly became a company dedicated to improve the economy as well as the environment. SEV makes proven electric vehicles that dramatically reduce noise and deadly exhaust all while cutting energy and maintenance costs. Overall, the company has helped to spur economic growth, promoted the notion of green energy, helped Americans save money, and lessened our dependency of foreign oil.

So if you’re near the Downtown Kansas City area and happen to see a couple of limousines drive by, do not be alarmed if it’s our very own President making his way through the streets of Think Big’s beloved home, and straight towards SEV’s headquarters.

And a big congratulations to Smith Electric Vehicles for improving the economy, saving the planet, and of course, for Thinking Big