When the rubber meets the road - when we've connected and incubated Lexington's best economic opportunities - our business leaders still need cold, hard cash.  We can have the world's greatest talent, the most advanced systems, but without real capital we are essentially daydreaming.

And historically, Lexington's venture capital climate is quite small.  In 2008, for instance, just $68M was invested in Fayette County, compared to $690M invested in Austin, Texas in 2007.

And since Lexington NEEDS to expand our entire economy (note that Austin is ranked America's #1 economy by the independent Milken Institute, while Lexington is #161, out of 200) new capital systems are required.

Enter the Entrepreneurial Investment Fund (EIF).  Think TIF (used extensively around the U.S. to encourage real estate development) but for high-end business development.

While a new term here, it's not new around the United States or world.  In places like Australia, Canada, the UK - plus Delaware, Pittsburgh and New Jersey - mechanisms called "Innovation Investment Funds" are growing in popularity.

A Lexington E.I.F. can work in a variety of ways, but one simple way is to incentivize private investment by offering tax breaks to venture capitalists.  An example - if you're a millionaire, Lexington could encourage you to invest in a Lexington-based TAO Agency or Starborn Healthcare Solutions by offering you tax breaks (maybe property tax breaks, income tax breaks, etc...) for investing real cash into those young companies, helping them grow and succeed.

Then, as TAO and Starborn succeed, you the investor are rewarded (like with any successful investment) but Lexington is ALSO rewarded - with expanding businesses creating NEW jobs.  And as TAO or Starborn expand, they too can be encouraged (even required) to reinvest back into Lexington.

A total win-win-win, if executed properly.  Private businesses win, investors win, Lexington wins.

Yes, it's a new step for Lexington (heck, we were one of the last cities in the entire country to even approve a simple TIF project like the Distillery District) - but it's a NEEDED step.  The data, since 1990, clearly proves it.