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Source: The Hour, Norwalk, Conn.存倉Sept. 04--WESTPORT -- U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, meets on a regular basis in Washington D.C. with representatives from Fairfield County's large corporations. Small businesses and startup companies do not have the personnel to meet face-to-face the congressman regularly, so Himes took some time Tuesday morning to sit down with several local entrepreneurs to hear their concerns and suggestions."The big corporations in my district -- GE, UBS, Sikorsky -- they have a dozen people in DC who are in my office regularly," Himes said. "I regularly try to work on their behalf because they are important employers in my district. But I'm inviting you to do this, too. If you see legislation that is going to hurt your business, please tell me about it. Or if you think there is a good idea for, say, the next Jobs Act, I want to hear about it."Himes met with eight owners of startup companies and two innovation center representatives in a conference room at 21 Charles St. in Westport in recognition of "Startup Day." Himes heard concerns such as the difficulty of obtaining financing, the lack of local manufacturers and developers, and the challenges of using local food sources.Himes said he sees a big future in crowdfunding as a way for startup companies to access capital. Crowdfunding, or crowd-sourced fundraising, is networking and pooling money, most often using the Internet, to support efforts, such as startup companies. The JOBS Act of 2012 mentions crowdfunding as it refers to many small investors supporting a company. By law, crowdfunding must be done through portals or brokers."You are required to crowdfund either through a portal or a broker, which is a good thing, otherwise you'd have wild West chaos," Himes said. "My sense is that you are going to have portals and brokers who cater to verticals, such as food, or even one that caters to women-owned businesses. I really think successful crowdfunding is going to happen around communities of interest and that brands are going to develop. I think it's going to open some doors for some of these businesses to succeed."Crowdsourcing is often seen as a better way of raising funds than bank loans or outside investors.Susan White, co-founder Tur迷你倉 Swim, said she couldn't find a manufacturer in the United States to make her seamless, anti-chaffing swimwear. White said she has a long history with the apparel industry."We couldn't get an American manufacturer to even talk to us as startup," White said.She said manufacturing has done a "flip-flop" in the last 20 years. U.S. manufacturers would take small orders, but now will only take huge orders for a production run. Now small orders need to be outsourced overseas.Dana Noorily and Julie Gaines, co-founders of OATS Granola, manufacture their products in New Jersey. They said they want to get their resources locally, but that is becoming increasingly difficult as local prices rise. Manufacturing is also a challenge in Connecticut, they said. OATS Granola will open a cafe and restaurant in Westport later this fall."The sense of local is something we love, but we can't afford to do it as much as we would like," Gaines said. "We'd like to use more local sources."Janis Collins, a startup company adviser with Stamford Innovation Center, said there is still a feeling among women entrepreneurs that "women don't take money from outside sources. That's an issue we're trying to figure out."Another of the women business owners said she felt talked down to when discussing her business with a male investor.Howard Steinberg of the Westport Innovation Hub said that is a common perception of investors, but they treat both genders equally."Sometimes it's not a gender bias, it's just arrogance," he said. "Investment money can be arrogant."Christina Balotescu, a founder of 360Alumni in Westport, played host to the event and appreciated Himes's time and input."Government is really trying to help, but in the end it comes down to grit and determination and identifying people who can support you and your business," she said.Himes said he was happy to spend time with the entrepreneurs."We spend a lot of time talking about jobs and this is a room full of people creating jobs," Himes said. "It's really important that I listen and think about what I can to help these businesses succeed."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Hour (Norwalk, Conn.) Visit The Hour (Norwalk, Conn.) at .thehour.com Distributed by MCT Information Services自存倉