National Venture Capital Association Launches US Competitiveness Initiative-MAGNET USA to Focus on Strengthening America's Pull in Global Economy
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 27, 2006 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) today announced MAGNET USA (Maximizing America's Growth for the Nation's Entrepreneurs and Technologists), an innovation leadership initiative aimed at strengthening America's competitive position in an increasingly global economy. Born of the belief that innovation is the key driver of US competitiveness, MAGNET USA embraces four priorities for continued leadership -- a larger home-grown pool of mathematicians and scientists, the attraction and retention of the world's best and brightest talent, more robust basic research funding, and unfettered access to growth capital. MAGNET USA will support these priorities through public education programs, public affairs initiatives, focused political advocacy and thought leadership at the national and community levels.
"As arbiters of promising technologies for over fifty years, the venture capital community is uniquely positioned to provide insights into the state of innovation in the US relative to its global competitors and to make recommendations regarding how we can maintain our competitive edge," said Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association. "The present environment in the US is simply not as conducive to nurturing innovation as it once was for a number of economic, social and political reasons. Despite these challenges, NVCA believes that the global innovation lead is still America's to lose, and that the initiatives necessary to address these issues are not merely defensive, but also offer opportunities to increase US competitive leadership for decades to come. Opportunity is an irresistible force. We want to ensure there remains plenty of it in the US."
Education Lays the Foundation
Maintaining a culture of innovation in the US will undoubtedly require a larger home-grown pool of energized and creative mathematicians and scientists. The venture capital community is committed to communicating the opportunities afforded to math and science students in the United States as the VC industry was built by individuals with such backgrounds. MAGNET USA will include national communications programs and individual member involvement at the community level to increase the interest of K-12 students toward careers and future courses of study in mathematics and the sciences. The NVCA will also continue to advocate for legislation that enhances education in math and science for all students.
Immigration Fuels Innovation
America has been the magnet for the world's best and brightest innovative minds for more than 300 years. Today, foreign nationals remain the unsung heroes of American innovation and entrepreneurship where they play a critical role in the founding and building of great US companies. Yet, due to economic and political changes worldwide, the US must work harder to attract and retain foreign innovators or risk having to import from abroad technology that our system was responsible for helping to develop. MAGNET USA will seek to quantify the positive impact of foreign born nationals on the US economy and tell the stories of immigrant innovators and their contributions to the quality of life in America. The NVCA will continue to support legislative efforts to ease restrictions on the participation of foreign born nationals in the US innovation economy.
Research Primes the Development Pump
Basic R&D must remain a priority for government agencies, educational institutions, and corporations. A precipitous drop in this area among corporations and weakened output on the part of the government and university sectors threatens to choke America's innovation pipeline. Recently, venture- backed companies have filled the research gap by serving as the de facto R&D arms for larger companies, which ultimately acquire them. However, venture capital can not alone fill this void. Through its advocacy efforts, the NVCA hopes to increase government funding for federal basic research programs at the National Sciences Foundation and the National Institute for Standards and Technology. The Association will also work in critical related areas of public policy such as patent reform and access to Small Business Innovative Research grants.
Access to Capital = Access to Growth
The US capital markets system, which remains one of the most important competitive tools in attracting and nurturing innovation, must be protected from the ill-effects of over-regulation and over-taxation. For example, since the inception of the Sarbanes Oxley Law, it has been the NVCA's position that the law is the "right shape, but the wrong size". Its requirements burden younger, smaller companies -- the very innovators that are trying to make it to market -- and make the US IPO market less attractive than overseas markets. The venture capital industry will continue to encourage the implementation of policies that strike the right balance of transparency and opportunity for all investors.
"The goal of MAGNET USA is to provide a voice for competitiveness -- to put the venture capital industry in the forefront of calling for policies which will contribute to U.S. leadership in global innovation," said Robert Grady, managing director of the Carlyle Group and NVCA chairman. "At the exact time in history when many other countries are adopting the successful high growth model pioneered in the United States -- policies friendly to company formation, leadership in education and university research, support for free trade -- the United States is turning backward, or is at least at risk of retreating from its historical leadership position as the home of innovation. For all those who hope that the United States will remain a competitive and dynamic economy in the decades ahead, the time to speak up is now."
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) represents over 480 venture capital and private equity organizations. NVCA's mission is to foster the understanding of the importance of venture capital to the vitality of the U.S. and global economies, to stimulate the flow of equity capital to emerging growth companies by representing the public policy interests of the venture capital and private equity communities at all levels of government, to maintain high professional standards, facilitate networking opportunities and to provide research data and professional development for its members. For more information, visit www.nvca.org.
SOURCE National Venture Capital Association
CONTACT: Emily Mendell, NVCA, 215-520-8713, emendell@nvca.org; or Laura Gaumer of The Weiser
Group for NVCA, 917-406-7517, lgaumer@weisergroup.com
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