AUSTIN, Texas — Raising money is always a major hurdle for small businesses, and developing new ways to overcome that hurdle is vital. That will be the theme Nov. 30 when The University of Texas at Austin’s Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, Growth and Renewal in the McCombs School of Business hosts the Securities and Exchange Commission’s annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation.
The forum will provide a platform to highlight perceived unnecessary impediments to small businesses when they try to raise money and will address whether the impediments can be eliminated or reduced. The hope is to develop recommendations for government and private action to improve the environment for small-business capital formation.
“We are very pleased that the SEC has chosen to come to Austin and asked The University of Texas and the Herb Kelleher Center at the McCombs School of Business to facilitate this dialogue,” said Jay Hartzell, dean of the McCombs School. “The forum is an excellent opportunity for stakeholders from across the region to meet with the SEC to discuss how to accelerate and encourage small-business formation.”
The morning session of the forum will feature a panel discussion exploring how capital formation options are working for small businesses, including small businesses in Texas. Following the morning panel discussion, participants will work in groups to formulate specific policy recommendations.
“The annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation provides the opportunity to hear directly from small businesses about their experiences interacting with investors and our regulatory system in a very important segment of our capital markets,” said Jay Clayton, chairman of the SEC. “As a hub for innovation, Austin is a fitting place for this discussion. I look forward to the forum’s recommendations and will carefully consider them as we work to fulfill the SEC’s mission.”
The forum will begin at 9 a.m. and will be open to the public. It will be held in the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center on the UT Austin campus. The opening remarks and panel discussion will be webcast live. The breakout group sessions will not be webcast, but they will be accessible by teleconference for those not attending in person. Anyone wishing to participate in a breakout group either in person or by teleconference must register online by Nov. 27.
Online registration is available here.
“The Herb Kelleher Center looks forward to hosting the forum and bringing together the SEC with investors, entrepreneurs, academics, students and local regulators involved with the robust new business and startup scene,” said Luis Martins, director of the Herb Kelleher Center. “We strongly encourage everyone interested to take advantage of this unique opportunity to engage with the commission.”
Information on the panel participants and the full agenda for the forum will be announced in November and will be available on the forum webpage.
Members of the public are invited to suggest recommendations for topics to be discussed at the forum by calling the SEC’s Office of Small Business Policy at 202-551-3460.
