{"244561":{"#nid":"244561","#data":{"type":"news","title":"ECON Student Featured in Research Journal","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThird year Economics student Michael de la Guardia recently had an article published in \u003Cem\u003EThe Tower\u003C\/em\u003E, the undergraduate research journal at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u0026nbsp; His article was entitled \u201c An Analysis of Georgia\u2019s Venture Capital Exodus and Related Legislative Efforts.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Tower\u003C\/em\u003E is an interdisciplinary research journal for students at Georgia Tech and aims to showcase undergraduate achievements in research, inspire academic inquiry, and promote Georgia Tech\u2019s commitment to undergraduate research endeavors.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlways having been interested in the areas of economic policy, de la Guardia hopes to pursue a career in a related field.\u0026nbsp; During his time at Tech, he has worked on a presidential campaign and two congressional campaigns.\u0026nbsp; Last spring he worked as an intern in the House Majority caucus Office at the State Capitol and will be a legislative aide at the Capitol in spring 2014.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough busy with academics and an impressive work experiences, he still finds time to volunteer.\u0026nbsp; De la Guardia is a Young Life leader at Whitfield Academy, Chairman of the College Republicans at Georgia Tech and chairs the alumni fundraising efforts at Mt. Pisgah Christian School.\u0026nbsp; Young Life is a high school ministry and mentorship program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy did you choose to focus on this area of research?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring my internship at the State Capitol, many interesting bills came through the Majority Office.\u0026nbsp; One of the most important was a bill originally carried by Rep. Peake, the Invest Georgia Fund.\u0026nbsp; It attempted to address a huge problem in Georgia, our inability to attract venture capital dollars and keep start-ups in the state.\u0026nbsp; I view this as one of the key issues concerning the continued growth of Atlanta.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; I decided to research more on the background of this bill and look at why Georgia was and continues to lose so many start-ups to other states.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow was the research experience?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt was a great learning experience.\u0026nbsp; I received a great deal of help and gained a lot of knowledge from the members of the House Majority Office, Georgia Tech\u2019s Department of Government and Community Relations and a number of lobbyists at the capitol.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are some of your findings?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI found that Georgia has indeed experienced an exodus of companies receiving venture capital, primarily start-ups and high tech firms.\u0026nbsp; Firms like these represent well over $1 billion of VC investment moving out of the state in the past decade.\u0026nbsp; I also learned a key factor leading to this problem in a lack of a high tech cluster or what I deemed a lack of a \u201cstart-up ecosystem\u201d in the state.\u0026nbsp; Unlike many other states, most start-ups in Georgia are not embedded in the community and have no ties to the larger high-tech corporations through board members and other networks.\u0026nbsp; This makes it much more likely for them to leave the state.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is significant about this project?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis project deals with one of the major problems facing Georgia\u2019s high-tech industry today.\u0026nbsp; It also concerns itself with an important piece of legislation that just passed through the State Capitol.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow might your findings be used?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI hope these findings can be used to promote more legislation like the Invest Georgia Fund and draw attention to some already successful programs like Georgia Tech\u2019s ATDC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow do you think this experience will help you in your future career?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis experience allowed me to gain a greater depth of knowledge about venture capital and public policy, which I can use in my future career.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThird year Economics student Michael de la Guardia recently had an article published in \u003Cem\u003EThe Tower\u003C\/em\u003E, the undergraduate research journal at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u0026nbsp; His article was entitled \u201c An Analysis of Georgia\u2019s Venture Capital Exodus and Related Legislative Efforts.\u201d\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27778","created_gmt":"2013-10-11 09:33:13","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:05","author":"Kelly Billings","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-10-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-10-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"244571":{"id":"244571","type":"image","title":"Michael de la Guardia","body":null,"created":"1449243722","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:42:02","changed":"1475894921","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:41","alt":"Michael de la Guardia","file":{"fid":"197881","name":"michael_de_la_guardia.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/michael_de_la_guardia_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/michael_de_la_guardia_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4704375,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/michael_de_la_guardia_0.jpg?itok=CPEnoFX3"}}},"media_ids":["244571"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKelly Billings\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecruitment \u0026amp; Retention Advisor\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Kelly.billings@econ.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}