Dick Kelsey had been keeping a close eye on a Congressional proposal to make it easier for young companies to raise capital, and his Reno-based SunScience Corp. had a pitch ready for investors less than two weeks after President Obama signed the measure into law.

SunScience last week began offering shares directly to the public to raise money for development of its software to manage renewable energy systems.

The company's offering to the public shares at 50 cents each, with a minimum investment of $5,000 wouldn't have been possible before a bipartisan vote of Congress and the signature of President …