HARRISBURG — A group of state House Republicans announced this week a package of bills designed to support and promote startup initiatives across the commonwealth.

The bills aim to capitalize on Pennsylvania’s many assets, including talented, hard-working people and valuable geographic location. The commonwealth cannot afford to miss any more opportunities to Silicon Valley, New York or other start-up friendly areas, they said.

There are a total of eight bills being sponsored by Reps. Mike Armanini, R-DuBois; Valerie Gaydos, R-Moon Township; Aaron Bernstine, R-Ellwood City; Marla Brown, R-New Castle; and Michael Stender, R-Sunbury.

Armanini has three bills as part of the package. The first would designate March 18 to 24 as “Commonwealth Startup Week” in an effort to highlight the many startup businesses that call Pennsylvania home.

Armanini’s second proposal would integrate the philosophy of the commonwealth to move at a faster rate to capitalize on new opportunities in the startup world by establishing a task force on Startup Venture Opportunities. Comprising startup and venture founders, the tax force would play an integral part of growing startup initiatives across Pennsylvania.

Armanini has a third bill that would establish a Venture Capital Ecosystem Development Program, which would provide grants and technical assistance to universities, local governments and non-profit organizations. The program would provide seed funding for outreach efforts and allow startups to promote themselves and hone their efforts to secure additional funding.

“Pennsylvania’s economy and way of doing business can often be compared to a slow-moving vessel, which takes forever to ‘turn’ and travel with the wind in its sails,” Armanini said. “We need to strike a balance between a haphazard method of growth and our current over-cautious approach.”