The United States appears to have taken the small business and startup route to bolster its employment generation initiatives. A White House release on December 8, 2011 announced that the US Small Business Administration (SBA) is moving ahead with its proposed $One Billion innovation fund for startups. The White House also hosted the first board meeting of Startup America, a private initiative led by major entrepreneurs and corporations such as Steve Case of AOL and Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn.
The White House release said:
“Today, we’re announcing $2 billion in public and private resources to help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Now it’s time for Congress to do its part. It was encouraging to see members of both parties in the House come together to pass legislation that will help small businesses get ahead, and I’m calling on the Senate to do the same. But America’s small businesses can’t wait for these important tools to grow and hire faster,” said President Obama.
The highlight of this initiative is that the members of the Startup America which includes major corporations in the US has pledged to give away software and other services free to startups to the tune of $One Billion.
For the US this comes in as a timely action since it is grappling with the highest unemployment rates ever. The US has also seen over 29 per cent of its unemployed citizen without ajob for over an year, according to a UN report. The total world job deficit will be 64 million by 2012
Looks like micro and small businesses will be contributing majorly across the world.
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