Durango Herald - Colo. Dems: Keep the Cash Flowing for Jobs

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By Joe Hanel

Colorado's top three Democrats have offered their advice to President Barack Obama for the jobs plan he will release Thursday.

Promotion of high-tech businesses and access to loans for small businesses figure heavily in their recommendations.

Sen. Michael Bennet convened a group of 22 business leaders to develop the plan this year. The effort resulted in a 26-page report called "Colorado Competes."

Bennet, Sen. Mark Udall and Gov. John Hickenlooper forwarded the report to Obama, who will address Congress on Thursday about his plan to increase jobs.

Their letter coincides with an unwelcome Labor Day weekend surprise that the economy added no net jobs last month and unemployment is expected to remain above 9 percent for the next year.

"We believe that the "Colorado Competes' report serves as a good template for a serious discussion on how we can spur innovation and put our country back to work," the trio said in the letter to Obama.

The group focused on aerospace, biotechnology and clean energy. It also identified a common complaint for startup businesses -- access to cash dries up at crucial times.

"We consistently see good ideas fail because they do not have the support they need to make it all the way through development, commercialization and manufacturing of product," the report said.

Obama's plan is expected to contain a continued payroll tax cut for workers, tax incentives for businesses to hire new employees and an "infrastructure bank" to promote government and private investment in transportation projects, according to leaks of the plan reported in the national media.

Diane Dimeff, a member of Bennet's committee, said she thinks her group's report has the potential to help Colorado and the country.

"I'm very hopeful for the suggestions that were made by the committee being acted upon," said Dimeff, executive director of eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship.

Nationally, the government could loosen regulations on aerospace companies and make it easier for foreigners who go to college in the United States to stay here and start companies, the report said.

The federal government should also reform the patent system so innovative companies can make money on their ideas faster, the report said.

"It takes an enormous amount of time because of the regulations and the process," Dimeff said.

And finally, Congress should simply pass a budget, Dimeff said. Typically, Congress passes budgets many months after the deadline, which plays havoc with small, private technology firms that depend on federal contracts.

"It really ties the hands of many, many companies and puts employment at risk in small businesses. In some cases, it puts their whole company at risk," Dimeff said.

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