In the United States today, small businesses constitute about one-half of the private economy in terms of output and jobs, but they receive almost no investment from the nation’s pension funds or from mutual, hedge, venture, or any other kind of investment funds. In a well-functioning financial system, roughly one-half of the investment should go to roughly one-half of the economy.
We begin the evening with a presentation about one of the primary causes for this market failure: the legal barriers to raising capital that disproportionately burden small businesses.
Next we discuss some cutting edge strategies that have been used to overcome these barriers.
We conclude with a discussion of legislative changes needed to address the barriers to capital-raising for small business and the formation of a working group to move the agenda forward.
Participants include:
Thomas Greco, Author of The End of Money and the Future of Civilization
John Katovich, President of Katovich Law Group, Presidio School of Management Professor, and Chief Legal Officer of the Boston Stock Exchange
Don Shaffer, President and CEO of RSF Social Finance
Leslie Christian, President and CEO of Portfolio 21 Investments
Derek Huntington, President of Sonoma County Go Local
Mike Leung, Worker Cooperative Credit Union Organizer
Jenny Kassan, Managing Director of Katovich Law Group and President of Community Ventures
Organized by Katovich Law Group katovichlaw.com
