The Obama Administration hosted a conference titled “Access to Capital: Fostering Growth and Innovation for Small Companies.”  The conference brought together policymakers, entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and other market participants to explore how both the public and private sectors can help promote access to capital at each stage of growth for a small company – from seed capital, to growth equity, to accessing the public markets.  

Also today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the approval of State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) applications from Connecticut, Missouri, and Vermont. The planned use of SSBCI funds by these states will help create new jobs and is expected to spur more than $534 million in additional small business lending. The SSBCI program, which supports state-level small business lending programs, is an important component of the Small Business Jobs Act that President Obama signed into law last fall. Read more.

Watch the conference.

8:30 AM EDT

OPENING REMARKS by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills

8:50 AM EDT
PANEL DISCUSSION: Pre-IPO Funding: Seed Capital, Angel Investors, Venture Capital, and Growth Equity
Moderator:  Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner

Panelists:

• Desh Deshpande, Chairman of Sparta Group and Member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE)
• Alex Laskey, President and Founder of OPOWER
• Ann Miura-Ko, Partner at Floodgate Capital and Lecturer at Stanford University
• Duane McKnight, Senior Partner of SYNCOM
• Joann Price, Co-founder and Partner at Fairview Capital
 

9:45 AM EDT
PANEL DISCUSSION: IPOs and Alternative Liquidity Platforms: Capital Market Access for Small Businesses

Moderator:  Scott Case, CEO of Startup America Partnership and Co-founder of Priceline

Panelists:

• Paul Deninger, Senior Managing Director at Evercore Partners
• Seth Goldman, Founder of Honest Tea
• Bob McCooey, Senior Vice President of New Listings and Capital Markets at NASDAQ
• Kate Mitchell, Managing Director at Scale Venture Partners and Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association
• Chuck Newhall, Co-founder of New Enterprise Associates

11:00 AM EDT
PANEL DISCUSSION: Accessing Credit Throughout the Lifecycle of a Small Company

Moderator:  Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills

Panelists:

• Michael Arougheti, President of Ares Capital
• William Bynum, CEO of HOPE Enterprise Corporation
• Greg Becker, President of Silicon Valley Bank
• Jessica Jackley, CEO of Profounder and Founder of KIVA

12:15 PM EDT 
WORKING BREAKOUT LUNCHES hosted by Senior Obama Administration Officials

Breakout Session Topics (these will not be webcast):

• Spurring Innovation: Transforming an Idea into a Business
  Hosts: Rosie Rios, Treasurer of the United States
  Aneesh Chopra, Associate Director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy
  Michael Mundaca, Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy
  Don Graves, Executive Director of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
• Capitalizing a Growing Company: Growth Equity and Debt Financing
  Hosts: Jake Siewert, Counselor to the Treasury Secretary
  Marie Johns, Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration
  Donna Gambrell, Director of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
  John Fernandez, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development
• Financing Small-Cap Companies: IPOs, Credit and Alternative Liquidity Platforms
  Hosts: Mary Miller, Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets
  John Bellows, Treasury Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy
  Jeffrey Goldstein, Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance
  Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council

2:10PM EDT

CLOSING REMARKS by Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council