After catching up on some news this evening, I was appalled to learn how lacking the oversight is on the Government stimulus money that I feel like we were duped into in the first place. CNN reports how a company in Tennessee was given $16 million of this federal warchest to do something useful, yet did not create one single job. In fact, the money was used to do some soil remediation in Ohio – not even in Tennessee! CNN also reports a bunch of money was given to Massachusetts company Aggregate Industries, who happens to be the same company who allegedly provided sub-par concrete to the Big Dig project (the largest civil project in the history of the U.S.) – so after the lies, cover up and lawsuit from the State, a big fat stimulus check arrives in the mail.
More capital needs to be accessed easier for the start-ups and small businesses to dramatically improve the economy.
Where is the funding for the start-ups?
I firmly believe that what will get us out of this economic slump is the start-ups and small businesses in this Country, not bailouts to companies who are “too big to fail” and prove over and over again that they can not manage their money properly. The problem is that I don’t see any programs devoted to funding some of the small start-upst to develop new products, software or other intellectual property. Sure, in Texas we have the ETF, or the Emerging Technology Fund, and I’ve even looked pretty closely at that program, but there’s enough red tape in that thing to go around the Equator. It’s really not an attractive option for smaller start-ups like Pear Analytics. The SBA program also has it’s limitations and hurdles. Not too long ago I read in the local newspaper that a cap had been reached on the amount of loans available for small business. That’s enlightening. No more money there. Small start-ups like us can really only turn to friends and family, or angels for cash. A bank probably won’t give us a line of credit, so they’re useless (even though I thought that’s why they were given bailout money in the first place).
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