Each May, Citi joins with organizations large and small to celebrate National Small Business Month, and acknowledge all that small businesses do for our communities and our country. This year, though, we are taking our support to the next level by funding the Partnership for Small Business Development.
This innovative new collaboration is a "grow your business" training program for minority- and women-owned small business enterprises to promote job creation, retention and growth. It actually replicates nationally a successful local program developed and supported by the Citi Foundation and Citi Community Development in partnership with Foundation for Small Business Development and Safeguard Properties.
As you may know, women- and minority-owned small businesses are powerful drivers of job creation. To this point, according to the United States Small Business Administration, 65% of the new jobs created in America between 1993 and 2009 were in small businesses, with minority-owned businesses leading the way. The Partnership aims to combine business development training with better access to contracting opportunities to help these enterprises grow and expand and create more jobs in their communities.
Through the Partnership, Citi's partners at the Women's Business Enterprise National Council and local chapters of the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council will certify more than 400 of Safeguard's subcontractors across the country by the end of the year. In addition, these small business owners will attend a two-day, 16-hour training session that will be offered in each of six cities -- Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, Las Vegas and New York City. Local members of the Small Business Development Center network, which is the largest network of its kind in the country, will conduct this training.
As passionate believers in small business, all of us at Women & Co. are excited about this collaboration and the opportunities it will afford to the business owners involved. For those of you who are business owners, what advice do you have for aspiring or novice entrepreneurs? How did you lead like a CEO? And, if you are looking for inspiration, read what seasoned entrepreneurs shared with me.
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