Senator Coons went to the Senate floor this afternoon to lay out an idea he’s been working on to help entrepreneurs and the leaders of young businesses to grow their companies by investing in research and development.
The Research and Development Tax Credit has helped incentivize innovation at established businesses for 30 years, which is why Chris is such an ardent supporter of the credit and has twice introduced legislation to make it permanent. The problem is, young companies that aren’t yet profitable can’t benefit from the tax credit.
So how can the federal government help those businesses grow and create jobs?
Chris’ idea would create a tradable version of the R&D Tax Credit. Innovative young companies looking to expand their research and development efforts would be eligible for this “innovation credit,” which they would then be able to sell to a bigger, more established company. The bigger company gets the tax credit, while the young company gets a cash infusion.
It’s win-win.
In his remarks Monday afternoon, Chris talked about two innovative Delaware companies that might be able to utilize such a tradable credit like this — Elcriton in New Castle and Evozym in Newark. You can watch the speech above or click here to read the full transcript.
The Senator is eager for feedback on the idea, and invited other legislators and business leaders to weigh-in and help shape the idea before he introduces it as legislation. You can share your own opinion on the idea by clicking here.