Washington, D.C. — TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, today joined a host of partner organizations representing a diverse cross-section of the American economy in issuing a new report offering policy recommendations for economic growth and job creation by helping more companies go and stay public.

“The U.S. is now the 11th most innovative country in the world, and policymakers need to take a long, hard look at why that is and pursue policies that put us back on track to be number one again,” said TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore. “A strong startup economy is the key to the future, and policymakers should focus on making the U.S. the most attractive place in the world for anyone to start a company, grow it here, and take it public.

“When companies decide to go public, significant job growth and investment opportunities follow. In fact, research over the past half-century shows that public companies experienced 92 percent of their job growth after going public,” added Moore. “These policy recommendations will help ensure that the positive economic activity associated with companies going public is not being deterred by burdensome laws and regulations. We encourage Congress and the administration to come together in a bipartisan manner to move forward on these policy recommendations and help usher in a new wave of job creation, investment, and innovation across the U.S.”

Motivated by a shared concern that the decline in the number of U.S. public companies has inhibited opportunities for American families and businesses, TechNet and its partners from across the business community — a coalition that proved instrumental to the passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act in 2012 — joined together in support of nearly two dozen concrete recommendations for enabling IPOs.

The recommendations fall into five categories:

  • Enhancing the JOBS Act;
  • Encouraging more research of emerging growth companies (EGCs) and other small public companies;
  • Improving certain corporate governance, disclosure, and other regulatory requirements;
  • Financial reporting; and
  • Tailoring equity market structure for small public companies.

The full report, “Expanding the On-Ramp: Recommendations to Help More Companies Go and Stay Public,” is available here.

In addition to TechNet, the coalition of groups involved with the report include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Venture Capital Association, Nasdaq, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Equity Dealers of America, and American Securities Association.