White House Office Hours: Jumpstart our Business Startups (JOBS) Act

Note: This live session of Office Hours has concluded. Check out the full question and answer session below or at Storify.com

Earlier this month, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act making it easier for small businesses and entrepreneurs to obtain much needed access to capital.  Tomorrow April 20^th at 3:30 pm EDT join us for a special session of Office Hours with Todd Park, Assistant to the President and U.S. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) who will answer your questions about how the JOBS Act will help Main Street small businesses and high-growth enterprises to raise capital from investors more efficiently, and allow small and young firms across the country to grow and hire faster. You can ask your question on Twitter using the hashtag #WHChat.

The President believes that our small businesses and startups are driving the recovery and job creation and the JOBS Act includes new ways to encourage small business and startup investment by allowing for “crowdfunding,” expanding “mini-public offerings,” and creating an “IPO on-ramp” consistent with investor protections.

• Allowing Small Businesses to Harness “Crowdfunding”:  The Internet already has been a tool for fundraising from many thousands of donors.  Subject to rulemaking by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), startups and small businesses will be allowed to raise up to $1 million annually from many small-dollar investors through web-based platforms, democratizing access to capital. 

• Expanding “Mini Public Offerings”:  Prior to this legislation, the existing “Regulation A” exemption from certain SEC requirements for small businesses seeking to raise less than $5 million in a public offering was seldom used.  The JOBS Act will raise this threshold to $50 million, streamlining the process for smaller innovative companies to raise capital consistent with investor protections.

• Creating an “IPO On-Ramp”:  The JOBS Act makes it easier for young, high-growth firms to go public by providing an incubator period for a new class of “Emerging Growth Companies.” During this period, qualifying companies will have time to reach compliance with certain public company disclosure and auditing requirements after their initial public offering (IPO).  Any firm that goes public already has up to two years after its IPO to comply with certain Sarbanes-Oxley auditing requirements.  The JOBS Act extends that period to a maximum of five years, or less if during the on-ramp period a company achieves $1 billion in gross revenue, $700 million in public float, or issues more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in the previous three years

Have a question about the JOBS Act? Wanna know more about crowdfunding? Join us this Friday, April 20^th at 3:30 p.m. EDT, for a session of Office Hours on Twitter with Todd Park, Assistant to the President and U.S. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) . Ask your question now using the hashtag #WHChat.

Here’s how White House Office Hours work:

• Ask your questions now and during the live event on Twitter with the hashtag #WHChat
• Follow the Q&A through the @WHLive Twitter account
• If you miss the live session, the full session will be posted on WhiteHouse.gov and Storify.com/WhiteHouse

So, stop by for Office Hours at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 20^th with Todd Park and be sure to follow @WhiteHouse on twitter for the latest news and more opportunities to engage.