North Carolina Senate: We Urge You to Pass the NC JOBS Act of 2013 Now

A Letter to the North Carolina Senate Leadership

Senator Berger
Phil.Berger@ncleg.net
Office: 919-733-5708

Senator Gunn
Rick.Gunn@ncleg.net
Office: 919-301-1446

Senator Meredith
Wesley.Meredith@ncleg.net
Office : 919-733-5776

Senator Rabon
Bill.Rabon@ncleg.net
Office: 919-733-5963

Senator Rucho
Bob.Rucho@ncleg.net
Office: 919-733-5655

Senator Pate
Louis.Pate@ncleg.net
Office: 919-733-5621

Senator Brown
Harry.Brown@ncleg.net
Office: 919-715-3034

Senator Tillman
Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net
Office: 919-733-5870

Senators:

I am Mark Easley of the NC JOBS Act of 2013 team. HB680enables a new way to finance startups and small business in North Carolina using investment crowdfunding. The bill passed the NC House with broad bipartisan support by a vote of 103 to 1 on June 20^th. It is vital that we pass this bill this session, and I am asking for your support to do that now.

Last week I dropped off a handout with the most up to date information to each of you or your assistants which explains the need for the bill, the support it has from the NC startup and small business community, frequently asked questions about the bill, key features and benefits of NC JOBS, and the text of the bill itself. You can find the same information and more details with links to supporting information on our NC JOBS Act blog at www.jobsnc.blogspot.com.

Today I would like to explain the magnitude of the opportunity we will be bypassing if the Senate does not act on this bill now.

Why is it Important?

North Carolina needs to grow our economy and create jobs. The North Carolina Legislature under your leadership has done excellent work this year to improve the business climate through your bold actions in reforming taxes, reforming regulation, and creating a fiscally sound budget, and I commend you for your work in these areas.

The NC JOBS Act may be the next most important piece of legislation available to help with economic growth and job creation. Startups and small business are the engines of job creation, and this bill will allow many more to get funding than would otherwise happen over the next four years. If everything goes as planned, we will have our supporting regulations in place from the Secretary of State Securities Division and will have our crowdfunding platform partners and legal infrastructure in place before the end of this year. That means we will be able to investment crowdfund NC small business startups throughout 2014 and beyond. In addition, our team has a meeting with Commerce Secretary Decker and her team on August 12^th to begin working on the implementation details so that we can get this program off the ground all across the state as soon as possible.

Crowdfunding Works!

The Crowdfunding industry is on fire, having raised over $2.7B in 2012 alone. These crowdfunding campaigns are helping companies create new products, add new services, create new jobs, and grow the economy. North Carolinacan be on the leading edge of this trend by passing HB680. We would be the third state to have an investment crowdfunding exemption, and the first to pass one by legislative action.

But we are not creating this from scratch. Investment crowdfunding has already been legal and in operation for over 2 years in the UKand Australia, and is rapidly spreading around Europe and Asia. Our team has built on the successful models that are already in operation elsewhere. Investment crowdfunding is already a spectacular success in areas where it has been implemented.

Additionally, there is a very real opportunity cost of HB680 not being expeditiously passed. Something you may not know: A single platform in the UK, FundingCircle, has investment crowdfunded about $18 million for more than 180 businesses last month alone, and about $193 million for more than 2,000 businesses since inception. Another UK site, Crowdcube, has 36,000 registered investors, and 54 companies have raised $13.9M so far. Investment Crowdfunding works! But that’s not even the best thing… Investment crowdfunding is a fundamentally more efficient and equitable way to raise capital. We want to bring this same level of success to North Carolina as soon as possible.

We Have the Right Team!

We are fortunate that we have the right team in place here in North Carolina to make a safe, fair, and effective investment crowdfunding exemption and industry a reality. Our NC JOBS Team is made up of local investors, entrepreneurs, and crowdfunding experts. We are not professional lobbyists, but we are citizen supporters representing the interests of the North Carolinastartup communities and small businesses around the state. We have seen first hand how difficult it can be for new and small business to find financing in this economy, and we are firm believers that crowdfunding can be a major solution to this problem. Representative Tom Murry is the lead sponsor in the house, and he did a great job putting together the rest of the team, including experts from the Secretary of State’s Securities Division and the NC Bar Association Securities Committee. This allowed us to craft the legislation in a way that uses the best features of the existing exemptions, and adds some investor protections that make it fair and safe for both North Carolina small business and North Carolina investors. We are proud of the work we have done, and we thank all the team members for their efforts.

We Have Lots of Support!

North Carolina startups and small business all across our state stand to benefit greatly from NC JOBS. So the startup and small business communities are the biggest supporters of NC JOBS.

We have gotten lots of support for our approach from industry experts around the nation. Please see the blog for links to posts and news stories from Forbes.com, crowdfunding.org, Triangle Tech Talk, several very influential crowdfunding legal sites, TheCrowdCafe, and more.

We will also be getting support from some of the major crowdfunding platforms that are planning to open up operations here in North Carolinaand help us make this a reality. One major platform has already announced their support and intention to open up a crowdfunding oriented accelerator in the Triangle, and we are in discussions with several more major crowdfunding platforms.

We also have support from the North Carolina Technology Association, which represents 600 technology companies all around the state. And we will be working with organizations like the Council for Entrepreneurial Development to provide information and education to the small business and startup communities.

The success of our NC JOBS Act intra-state crowdfunding bill also will positively shape and provide a model for other states to follow. We have already had inquiries from 4 other states (Texas, Washington State, New Mexico, and Indiana) about what we are doing and what is the best way they can proceed with intrastate crowdfunding. The eyes of the nation are on us.

The Time is Now!

As you can see, we have lots of momentum going for NC JOBS and investment crowdfunding in our state, and we don’t want to lose that!

In summary, investment crowdfunding is a a very good idea whose time has come, and North Carolina can show some real leadership in this new style of financing for small business. The North Carolina House agrees by a vote of 103 to 1. I am confident that our pro-growth and pro-jobs North Carolina Senate does too.

I know you have been doing some heavy lifting over the last 6 months, but I am asking you push forward one more time and to pass this bill now so that we can get going on this wonderful opportunity. Please let me know what I can do to help.

Thank you for your efforts.

Best Regards,

Mark Easley

NC JOBS Act of 2013 Team