Nebraska Global Managing Principal Steve Kiene and Vice President Tom Chapman traveled to Washington D.C. on February 5 to attend the Startup America Partnership meeting with various White House officials.
Kiene and Chapman were invited as representatives of Startup Nebraska, along with Startup America representatives from nine other states, to present their strategies, needs, and concerns about improving small business and entrepreneurial environments. Representatives met with Karen Gordon Mills, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration; Todd Park, U.S. Chief Technology Officer; Thomas Kalil, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank.
Kiene and Chapman discussed how Nebraska is focused on creating statewide partners to strengthen businesses from traditional sectors (such as agriculture and transportation), and help get startup businesses in non-traditional sectors (like software and technology) off the ground.
“Face time with senior White House officials gave us a great opportunity to express the challenges Nebraskans face in building new companies. We discussed needed improvements to financing, reform of US patent law, changes in education, and our strategies for building companies the Nebraskan way,” said Kiene.
The trip also afforded opportunities to not only share what’s happening in Nebraska but to learn about the challenges and successes experienced by others from across the country.
“Going to Washington, D.C. is always interesting because you get the opportunity to hear about what is happening both in the political sphere and also, through Startup America, in so many other regions within the country,” said Chapman. “I think that both Steve and I were excited to hear about the efforts around the country particularly in Indiana and Iowa – the other two Midwestern states that presented.”
Chapman added, “It was wonderful to meet so many of our country’s leaders from Karen Mills, the head of the Small Business Administration to Steve Case, the founder of AOL, and his wife Jean, the CEO of the Case Foundation. These leaders provide such tremendous insight and access to opportunities for Nebraska Global and its companies.”
Follow-up discussions are taking place in the near future and the response from the White House has been encouraging.
