Press Release

Folsom – Today, Congressman Ami Bera (CA-7) met with local entrepreneurs from startups to discuss ways to encourage local business growth in Sacramento County on Startup Day Across America in Folsom. Startup Day is a national effort to celebrate the ingenuity and entrepreneurship taking place right in our backyard by connecting elected officials with the startups in their communities to learn about the challenges new companies face and help generate support for startups across the country. Congressman Bera was joined by innovators from several local startups, including Locable, New Wallet, Pondera Solutions, and Tallac. Velocity Venture Capital, a Sacramento area organization that helps startups get off the ground, partnered to host the event.

“I’m proud to participate in Startup Day Across America and am particularly proud of the progress Sacramento County is making to support startups and encourage them to grow and thrive in the 21st century economy,” said Bera. “This is an invaluable opportunity to bring together public and private stakeholders from our region to learn from one another about how we can cultivate and support startup growth and job creation.”

Congressman Bera has worked closely with the business and startup community to find ways to support their efforts through hosting small business workshops to connect businesses with federal and local resources, inviting the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration to meet with local businesses, and by personally touring businesses throughout the district. He is also a strong advocate of increasing investment in infrastructure, research and development, and looking for innovative ways to make capital accessible for entrepreneurs.

“We are enthusiastic about having an exploratory discussion about innovation, technology and policy in the Sacramento Region with Congressmen Bera,” said Jack Crawford, General Partner at Velocity Venture Capital.

“As a startup that has incubated and grown here in the Capital, it is nice to see Congress taking interest in supporting tech companies like ours in the region,” said Pat Bumpus, VP of Marketing for New Wallet.