10,000 Small Businesses co-chairs Lloyd Blankfein, Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg and Jack Dorsey participated in a panel discussion at the program's milestone celebration in New York City.
Contact: Cesar Canizales
214-378-1859;
ccanizales@dcccd.edu
For immediate release — July 20, 2016
Sidebar
(DALLAS) — In June, the Goldman Sachs
10,000 Small Businesses program celebrated a milestone when the 20th class (or cohort) from LaGuardia Community College in New York City graduated — the school where the program got its start. More than 30 alumni from around the nation participated, and they were invited to attend a panel discussion that included
10,000 Small Businesses co-chairs Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs; Warren Buffett, investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; Michael Bloomberg, CEO of Bloomberg L.P.; and Jack Dorsey, founder and CEO of Twitter.
Two Dallas-area entrepreneurs, Quincy Roberts, owner of Roberts Trucking Inc., and Tom Browning, co-founder of Foot Cardigan, attended the celebration in New York, where they received advice from the “Oracle of Omaha,” as Warren Buffett is sometimes called, and other panelists. The Dallas County Community College District is the education partner for
10,000 Small Businesses in that area.
Houston entrepreneur and
10,000 Small Businesses graduates Janice Jucker, co-owner of Three Brothers Bakery, and Maria Rios, president and CEO of Nation Waste Inc., a waste removal company, also participated in the festivities. Both business owners completed the program through Houston Community College.
The roundtable discussion coincided with a USA Today
op-ed written by Blankfein, Bloomberg and Harvard University economist Michael Porter; it outlined the biggest challenges that small businesses face today, including securing capital, managing regulations, finding employees with the right skill set, and accessing technology.
Thousands of Businesses Have Benefitted
Foot Cardigan and Roberts Trucking Inc. are two of the more than 6,100 businesses Goldman Sachs has helped since the program’s launch in 2009, according to
a study the financial firm published (PDF - 7.54MB).
The report stated that alumni of the
10,000 Small Businesses program grew revenues by an average of 47 percent within six months and 90 percent within 18 months of graduating from the program. At 30 months, graduates achieved revenue growth of 106 percent. The study also showed that 74 percent of graduates had experienced revenue growth within a year and a half of attending the program, a higher rate than 45 percent of small business owners in the U.S. who reported revenue growth in 2015.
In addition, the entrepreneurs reported a job creation rate of 21.5 percent after six months and 47 percent 18 months after graduation. After 30 months, that figured jumped to 115 percent. Six months after graduating from the program, 48 percent said they had hired new employees, and 56 percent reported the same after 18 months. In 2015, 22 percent of business owners in America added jobs.
The
10,000 Small Businesses program has been implemented at 14 locations across the U.S., from California to Massachusetts, and in the United Kingdom. Business owners who participate encompass a broad field of industry, from technology firms to retail to hospitality and many more, according to Goldman Sachs.
Opportunities for North Texas Businesses
Cristin Thomas, executive director of the Goldman Sachs
10,000 Small Businesses program at DCCCD, said 96,000 small businesses in North Texas could benefit from the program. Thomas noted that Texas ranks fifth in entrepreneurial growth among the largest states, according to
a report from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (PDF - 15.37MB). As a result, thousands more businesses across the state also could participate in the program.
The program was brought to Dallas in 2014 by Dr. Joe May, DCCCD’s chancellor. Classes are taught at DCCCD’s Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development near downtown Dallas. For more information about the 10,000 Small Businesses program at DCCCD, contact Thomas at
cjthomas@dcccd.edu.
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Main article:
10,000 Small Businesses Program Helps Dallas-Area Businesses Reach for the Stars as It Celebrates a Milestone