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Kentucky Funds Crowds

9/1/2014

 
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California and New York have dominated the entrepreneurial and crowdfunding race in the States, but almost out of nowhere, the southern state of Kentucky, who was ranked second to last in the entrepreneur ranking in 2008, is now in fourth place according to the State Entrpreneurship Index (SEI). An outstanding and promising achievement for the small state.  Recent reports from the state indicate that more Kentuckians have started their own business, and the number only appears to be growing. 


In response to the growing number of entrepreneurs and small businesses in the state, Steve Rigg, Kentucky’s elected representative, has announced he is planning to bring new crowdfunding legislation into effect in order to provide more funding options for the growing number of entrepreneurs in his state. At this point in time, the General Assembly won’t reconvene until January 2015, but the proposed bill is currently already up for discussion.

Steve Beshear, Kentucky’s governor, describes the current attitude towards crowdfunding:

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Over the past several years, this administration has focused on developing innovative programs and offering dynamic services to help these growing companies every step of the way. Even though this is a significant jump, I’m not surprised we’re producing great results. Kentucky is a tremendous place to grow a business.” “These studies are further proof that our citizens already have the drive and know-how necessary to state their own business.” “I’m proud we’ve taken several steps to help that along, such as expanding the angel-investor tax credit this year and creating a state office dedicated to entrepreneurialism, but there is always room to do more. My bill is the next logical step.”

Kentucky’s bordering state of Indiana has also been active on the crowdfunding front, since July, the state now permits individual investors to fund up to $5,000 (at a time), as well as enabling aspiring entrepreneurs to raise up to $2 million through a crowdfunding platform. The bill has many built-in safeguards for investors. For example, investors will be protected from fraud and in the event that business plans miscarry.  
While states are battling it out to be the crowdfunding capital of the country, the US and UK are competing to hold the title of the world's crowdfuning leader (link here). 

Thus far, a total of twelve states have made regulatory frameworks for investment crowdfunding. Around the same amount of states are in the position of creating legislation, as many politicians and businessmen see the crowdfunding opportunity a promising method of boosting economic activity. Just as Kentucky jumped from the 49th place to the 4th place in the SEI ranking, might this happen with the states that are now implementing crowdfunding legislation? 

References:

Hurst, S. (2014). Kentucky Announces New Crowdfunding Bill. http://bit.ly/2014/08/47707-kentucky-announces-new-crowdfunding-bill/

Photo Image Credit: LuAnn Swawder. https://bit.ly/p/ed7PyR



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About the author - Jasmien Cels
Jasmien is currently studying a bachelors in Business Studies from Cass Business School in London while interning at Crowd Valley. Originally from Belgium, she grew up in Switzerland, Ethiopia, USA, and Japan. 
She is very passionate about the start-ups, entrepreneurship, technology, and travelling; she aspires to one day become an entrepreneur.





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