John Kerry: “in addition to introducing a bill to reauthorize the Small Business Investment Company, SBIC, program, Senator Snowe and…”

“in addition to introducing a bill to reauthorize the Small Business Investment Company, SBIC, program, Senator Snowe and I are introducing a bill to extend the New Markets Venture Capital, NMVC, program. The Securing Equity for the Economic Development of Low Income Areas Act of 2007, or the SEED Act, is important to states like Massachusetts and Maine. Both of our States are home to pioneers in the field of development venture capital, which uses the discipline of traditional venture investing to focus on economic development in low-income areas. We know the benefits of this type of investment and believe the model should be expanded to other parts of the country. Our support is not new. In my case, I was the sponsor of the Community Development and Venture Capital Act of 1999, which created the New Markets Venture Capital program. Its purpose was to stimulate economic development through public-private partnerships that invest venture capital in smaller businesses located in impoverished rural and urban areas or that employ low-income people. Both innovative and fiscally sound, this program was built on two of the Small Business Administration's most popular programs.”