Investbx, the Birmingham-based Midlands stock exchange, has inspired a potential imitator in the USA.

A business professor in a university in Pennsylvania has announced a plan for a regional stock exchange covering seven counties in the south-east of Pennsylvania.

And Professor W Trexler Proffitt Jr, of the local Franklin & Marshall College, saw his recognised by the New York Times, which named his scheme as one of the top business ideas of the year in a feature last month.

The business lecturer said Investbx had been the model for his planned “LanX” exchange.

In an interview with the New York Times magazine, Prof Proffitt said: “The key here is local control. It’s an older conception of what finance is: You don’t trust people you can’t talk to.

“We’ve exported stock exchanges, but we’ve forgotten how to do it ourselves at home. Small businesses need funding options more than ever in today’s recessionary climate,” Proffitt told the magazine.

“Globalization has been advantageous, but we’re starting to see the sacrifices we’ve made,” he continued. “People are interested in figuring out how to connect to their local communities again.”

Mr Proffitt has just finished a research study on the stock exchange, which took in the West Midlands model set up by the Investbx founders.

He now plans to spend the next year trying to get local businesses and political leaders on board.

The LanX stock exchange would take in Lancaster, York, Berks, Dauphin, Lebanon, Cumberland and Perry counties in Pennsylvania,

Businesses would be able to sell up to 49 percent of their ownership to the public to raise capital. He expects the scheme would appeal most to small and medium-sized companies, like restaurants and clothes shops which aren’t big enough to use venture capital or angel investors

Investbx, based on Colmore Row, has floated two Midlands companies since it was set up in 2007.

The first was the Digbeth-based Teamworks Karting racing track.

Sue Summers, the chief executive of Investbx, said: “Setting up Investbx was a bold and innovative step and we are delighted it is being recognised as a proven model for helping SMEs to raise finance for growth.

“Despite the turmoil of global markets and the unprecedented economic climate, we successfully admitted our second company in Key Technologies in November, proving that there was still a community of investors in the West Midlands interested in supporting local companies doing well.

“This made people realise that Investbx had moved beyond a concept into a tested vehicle for addressing the equity gap. Advantage West Midlands’ sponsorship of the initiative has enabled the region to aspire to become a global benchmark that even the US wants to follow.”