Kerry Calls on Govt- Expand opp. for women, minorities in venture capital

[_dynamicdems]

Kerry Calls on Government to Expand Opportunities for Women, Minorities in Venture Capital Program

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Today Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), ranking member on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, called on the federal government to expand participation of women and minorities in the Small Business Administration's venture capital program. During President Bush's tenure, the percentage of venture capital investments through the SBA's Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program in firms owned by women and minorities has remained unacceptably low.


"Small businesses cannot rely solely upon loans to build their businesses. They need venture capital to help grow their businesses, create jobs and contribute to the economy," said Kerry. "There is a growing gap between the amount of venture capital available to small businesses owned by women and minorities compared with other small businesses, and we have to fix that."

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060216/pl_usnw/kerry_calls_on_government_to_expand_opportunities_for_women__minorities_in_venture_capital_program310_xml
According to a study conducted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, less than 1 percent of the $250 billion in venture capital dollars invested annually nationwide is made available to meet the needs of the country's 4.4 million minority business owners. Although women own approximately 40 percent of all businesses in the United States, they receive less than 5 percent of all venture capital investment.


"One way to solve this problem is by getting