Booming Business

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses yields success at SLCC

A national impact study from Babson College shows that the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program administered in Utah through Salt Lake Community College is among the more successful business education and training programs in the country.

Within six months of graduation, Salt Lake business owners who have completed the program outpace the national averages for revenue increases and job growth for their companies. Program research shows that 70.2 percent of participating businesses in Utah reported an increase in revenue within six months of starting the program, compared with 68 percent nationally. In that same time period, the report shows that 47.9 percent of business owners added jobs, compared with 46.2 percent nationally. In addition, the national impact study shows that 18 months after graduation, 76 percent of participants reported increases in their revenues and 57 percent reported creating net new jobs. Finally, the program has a 99 percent graduation rate and 84 percent of graduates are doing some form of business with each other.

“Salt Lake Community College is fortunate to be part of such an impactful program as 10,000 Small Businesses,” said SLCC President Dr. Deneece G. Huftalin. “The success of the program is evident in the numbers, a quantifiable portrait of a return on investment that reflects well on the local economy and on the state as a whole.”

Graduation Nationally, the 10,000 Small Businesses program started in 2009 and, with more than 125 partners and affiliate organizations, has helped nearly 5,000 small business owners through 25 United States and Great Britain sites and a national blended learning program. A $500 million investment by Goldman Sachs and the Goldman Sachs Foundation supports the project in partnership with Babson College and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. Local partners in Utah include the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Salt Lake Community College, Mountain West Small Business Finance, and the Utah State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Program graduate Angela Brown, editor and publisher of Utah-based SLUG Magazine, said she knew after being accepted as a 10,000 Small Businesses scholar that she would never be the same. And results soon followed. “Since completing the program, I have overcome my fear of asking for money,” she said. “I’ve taken out a line of credit. I have hired four new full-time employees and identified a revenue stream that will triple SLUG’s annual revenue over the next three years.” Brown was one of 93 scholars in three cohorts to graduate from the program in Utah in 2015. Combined, those businesses employ 1,611 people and represent a total of $145 million dollars in annual revenue.