America's Leading Innovators & Job Creators Support H.R. 3606, the JOBS Act
As leaders of the US start-up and high-tech economy, we are writing today to urge Senate passage of H.R. 3606, the JOBS Act. This measure, supported by the Administration, and passed by the House of Representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin of 390-23, seeks to modernize the nation’s capital formation rules and provide for a transition into public company regulatory compliance for emerging growth companies. Doing so will allow these companies to grow, create jobs, and to ultimately reach their full economic potential.
Over the last decade, the ability to access the public markets through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) has become elusive for many companies due to a variety of market and regulatory factors. While market conditions have not helped the number of IPOs, neither have the unintended consequences of several policies aimed at curbing serious abuses within the capital markets system. These policies were necessary at the time and remain so today, but when applied broadly, they have harmed the ability of smaller companies to go public.
The legislation recognizes the different stages of high growth companies and will provide diverse tools to help America’s innovative young companies access needed capital during their key formation stage, allowing them to continue to grow and hire. Given that IHS Global Insight has estimated 92 percent of a company’s job growth occurs post IPO, we cannot hope to broadly and sustainably revitalize job creation if we cannot revitalize the capital markets for emerging growth companies.
While we do not believe there is one silver bullet to solve the capital markets crisis, progress in the right direction can and must be made. Allowing smaller companies access to the public markets with some measure of relief from many of the regulatory burdens intended for larger entities, will help pave the path towards more IPOs and ultimately more U.S. jobs. The proposals contained in the JOBS Act support that principle.
On behalf of all the communities working to support the nation’s entrepreneurs and start-ups, we urge your support for this critical legislation.
James C. Greenwood, President and CEO, Biotechnology Industry Organization
Bob Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer, NASDAQ OMX
Mary Dent, General Counsel, SVB Financial Group
Shawn Osborne, President & CEO, Tech America
Duncan Niederauer, Chief Executive Officer, NYSE Euronext
R. Bruce Josten, Executive Vice President, Government Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Dean Garfield, President & CEO, Information Technology Industry Council
Mark G. Heesen, President, National Venture Capital Association
Steve Case, Chairman and CEO, Revolution LLC; Co-Founder, America Online
Carl Guardino, President & CEO, Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Rey Ramsey, President & CEO, TechNet
