How to Spark More Entrepreneurship in America? This Rule Could Help
TerraCycle tom szaky Include USA
The Obama Administration just took steps to ease the process of starting a business in the U.S. if you're not American.
Call it Christmas in August--at least for some founders. The White House today, just unveiled a new proposal aimed at encouraging high-potential immigrant entrepreneurs to start up in the U.S.
The proposal, dubbed the International Entrepreneur Rule, would be administered by the Department of Homeland Security and would affect only entrepreneurs who, among other criteria, have received funding from qualified U.S. investors or institutions. Still, the program could lead to an uptick in new business creation, which in the U.S., has been falling for years.
According to a statement released today:
"America must remain a beacon for entrepreneurs like Tom Szaky, who left his home in Hungary following the Chernobyl disaster, and ultimately moved to the United States to study at Princeton University. In his sophomore year, he started TerraCycle in his dorm room with the mission of recycling materials previously viewed as unrecyclable. Today, the 150-person New Jersey-based company collects trash in 24 countries and two thirds of public schools in America, and recycles over one million pounds of garbage per week that would otherwise be in a landfill."
To gain approval under the International Entrepreneur Rule, which could go into effect by the end of the year if approved, entrepreneurs would need to show that their startup was founded in the last three years, as well as maintain at least a 15 percent ownership stake in the company. They also need to show high-growth potential--evidenced by successfully raising at least $345,000 in funding from a qualified U.S. investor or attracting grants of at least $100,000 from federal, state, or local governments.