Information compiled by the New Hampshire Innovation Commercialization Center (NH-ICC) and confirmed by the Kaufmann Foundation reveals a powerful but little-known reality of economic development: From 1977 to 2010, start-ups accounted for nearly all net job creation in the U.S.

As companies mature, job creation levels off and declines with operational efficiencies. But the natural progression of tech-driven start-ups is to gain traction, hire like crazy, and then surge in revenue.

Start-ups, by their very definition, create new jobs where none existed before. They exploit untapped market opportunities and innovate new solutions. They are rocket ships screaming into the unknown, bringing entrepreneurial employees with them for the ride.

So, you want more jobs? Spark more start-ups!

At last count, more than 39,000 New Hampshire residents remain unemployed, with many thousands more underemployed in low-wage, part-time service jobs. Thousands of our university grads await their first business opportunity. Many community college students are training diligently for jobs that don't yet exist.

Meanwhile, a 2011 study by the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy demonstrated that the high-technology and smart-manufacturing sectors generate the highest average salary in New Hampshire — $62,000 a year, 40 percent higher than the state's overall salary average.

We love to promote our favorable tax climate and highly educated workforce. Our universities are world-class, and produce both innovative research and talented, tenacious graduates. With these assets, the Granite State should be a natural magnet for innovative entrepreneurs looking to launch high-tech ventures.

Yet, during the past three years, our tech start-up scene has been largely dormant, with a very few notable exceptions.

The ingredients for a powerhouse tech scene are waiting to mix. We have entrepreneurs with ideas, highly skilled and available workers, and a burning need for more jobs. So what's missing? New Hampshire lacks enough of the essential rocket fuel that propels most high-growth tech start-ups toward greater job creation — early-stage seed capital.

In the past three years, we've seen exactly zero meaningful early-stage angel or venture capital deals. Once a national leader in attracting funding, our tech start-ups are starved for capital at the exact moment when we need job creation most.

With nearly a dozen promising tech-driven companies housed at our center in Portsmouth and looking for precious early-stage rocket fuel, we're committed to overcoming this roadblock. A recent initiative spearheaded by the NH-ICC intends to change the math, and help these crucial dollars flow to New Hampshire again.

Last year, NH-ICC advocated for state legislation enabling the state Business Finance Authority to leverage federal monies to attract more seed capital. A bipartisan coalition passed the Innovation Business Job Growth Program Act, which empowers the BFA to “promote investment in qualified venture capital funds by guaranteeing or insuring portions of the principal of investments in such funds.”

The BFA is currently accepting proposals from qualified venture capital funds and prospective limited partners to make the best use these guarantees. Submissions are due by Feb. 10, and the RFP is available from the BFA at www.nhbfa.org.

Investing in early-stage tech-companies as a path to job creation is a proven and cost-effective way to quickly create high-paying jobs in New Hampshire. It's time to get precious capital off the sidelines and/or away from the glitzy Silicon Valley and Cambridge scenes, and put to work here in the Granite State.

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Mark Galvin is the co-founder and managing director of the New Hampshire Innovation Commercialization Center (www.nh-icc.org). He is a seasoned start-up executive with more than 28 years of experience in the telecommunications and networking industries, serving as president and CEO of PRI in Salem (acquired by Xircom in 1995), RAScom Inc. in Salem (acquired by Excel Switching in 1999), Cedar Point Communications (currently operating in Derry), and Whaleback Systems (currently operating in Portsmouth).
PRI, RAScom and Cedar Point were each recognized recently by Inc. and Entrepreneur magazines as among the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. (#95, #51 and #2, respectively).

Galvin was named Boston Business Journal's 2004 Telecom All-Star and was a finalist for the 2003 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. He was named among New Hampshire Most Influential in 2012 by Business NH magazine.

He is also adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship at the Whittemore School of Business at the University of New Hampshire, Durham.

ICC backs funding, development for ‘disruptive innovation' in NH