10,000 Small Businesses

Goldman Sachs has an established track record through 10,000 Women and other initiatives that bring together people, capital and ideas to address social and economic challenges. Building on these efforts, Goldman Sachs is announcing 10,000 Small Businesses, a $500 million initiative that will unlock the growth and job-creation potential of 10,000 small businesses across the United States through greater access to business education, mentors and networks, and financial capital. It is based on the broadly held view of leading experts that a combination of education, capital and support services best addresses the barriers to growth for small businesses.

The program includes:

Practical Business and Management Curriculum for Small Business Owners
10,000 Small Businesses will contribute $200 million to program partners, including local community colleges, universities and other institutions, to provide scholarships to underserved small business owners and build educational capacity. A pragmatic, skills-based curriculum will include accounting, marketing, human resources management and other practical business skills. Leading business schools will contribute to national curriculum development, which will be tailored by community colleges to address the specific needs of local business owners. Business schools will also work closely with community colleges to expand their capacity to educate small business owners by training faculty and sharing best practices. After an initial pilot year, we will explore opportunities to extend the reach of the initiative through an e-learning platform and by delivering the program in multiple languages.

Getting Capital Flowing to Small Businesses
Goldman Sachs will invest $300 million through a combination of lending and philanthropic support to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). The investment will increase the amount of growth capital available to small businesses in disadvantaged communities and expand the capacity of the CDFIs to deliver enhanced technical assistance to small businesses. In addition, 10,000 Small Businesses will provide technical assistance to graduates of the program to help them access other sources of capital.

Goldman Sachs will identify and work in partnership with CDFIs that have strong management, small business lending growth potential and strong local public sector relationships and support. Graduates of 10,000 Small Businesses will be referred to CDFIs as a potential source of capital, technical assistance and business advisory services.

Providing Critical Support Services for Small Businesses
Small business owners, particularly those operating in disadvantaged communities, often face challenges accessing mentoring, networking and expert advice. While support services in each of these areas exist, the field is highly fragmented. A handful of pioneering programs, such as the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) e200, InnerCity Entrepreneurs and Pacific Community Ventures, have begun to integrate training with essential support services, but few have been able to achieve significant scale. These models demonstrate the value of the approach on which the 10,000 Small Businesses initiative will build.

Participating business owners will have the opportunity to take advantage of support offered by community colleges and similar institutions, partner universities and business schools and national organizations such as the National Federation of Independent Business, National Urban League and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Partner CDFIs, when possible, will also provide pre- and post-loan support services. As they have for 10,000 Women, the people of Goldman Sachs will volunteer their time and professional skills to help in a variety of ways, including mentoring, guest lecturing and serving on selection committees.