Improving the Environment for Entrepreneurship

Innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial for creating new jobs and building our nation’s long-term prosperity. Research indicates that firms less than five years old have been responsible for all net job creation in the United States over the past 30 years – approximately 40 million jobs. But in the past decade, the environment for these high-growth businesses to thrive has become increasingly unfavorable, resulting in fewer new firms and fewer jobs created by the firms that were formed. In response, the White House, Congress and private sector have all been taking significant action to reverse these trends to support America’s startups, including the creation of the Startup America Partnership, the President’s Jobs Council’s working group on high-growth enterprises, and a flurry of recent pro-entrepreneurship legislation, such as the Startup Act.

On February 1, Brookings hosted a discussion with Steve Case, AOL co-founder and CEO of Revolution LLC, and Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), the co-sponsors of the Startup Act, recently proposed bipartisan legislation focused on reducing regulatory burdens, attracting business investment, accelerating the commercialization of university research, attracting and retaining entrepreneurial talent, and encouraging pro-growth state and local policies. The discussion focused on the Startup Act, the Startup America Partnership, the Jobs Council’s recommendations on increasing high-growth entrepreneurship and other strategies for creating jobs through improving the environment for entrepreneurs to start companies and expand existing businesses.

After the program, the speakers took audience questions.