NEW ORLEANS — On June 4, more than 85 entrepreneurs graduated from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses at Delgado Community College, pushing the total number of local program graduates higher than 670.
The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses partnership with Delgado Community College, which marked its eighth anniversary in 2019, is dedicated to helping small businesses create jobs and economic opportunity. This year’s group of graduates join more than 8,400 business owners across the country who have benefit from the program.
The graduation ceremony took place at the Delgado Community College City Park Campus in Isaac Delgado Hall’s Timothy K. Baker Theatre. Delgado interim chancellor William S. Wainwright, vice chancellor for Workforce Development Arlanda J. Williams, and program executive Director David B. Payton addressed the graduates.
“Each graduate of the Delgado Community College program deserves recognition for a substantial time commitment dedicated to completing a rigorous training program that has repeatedly proven to help grow businesses,” said Payton. “We are proud to honor more than 85 business owners whose lives and companies have been transformed because of their investment in themselves, in their businesses and in the local economy.”
Over the past year, business owners who took part in the program represented such industries as construction, manufacturing, food service, retail and transportation. Together, these businesses employ more than 1,600 people and represent over $111 million in revenues.
During the program, participants received practical business and management education, business support services and access to capital to help their businesses grow.
The 10,000 Small Businesses program reports that graduates consistently grow their revenues and create jobs at rates that outperform the broader economy. Nearly 70-percent of participants report increasing their revenues and 48-percent report creating new jobs just six months after graduating. In addition, the program maintains a 99-percent graduation rate; 85 percent of graduates are doing some form of business with each other.
A $500 million investment by Goldman Sachs and the Goldman Sachs Foundation supports the project in partnership with Babson College, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and Delgado Community College. Local partners in New Orleans include the City of New Orleans, Greater New Orleans Inc., Hope Enterprise Corporation, Louisiana Small Business Development Center and several local and regional area chambers of commerce.
Prospective applicants to the program typically should be in operation for at least two years, have a minimum of $150,000 in revenues, a minimum of four full-time employees and a desire to grow their businesses.
