Making a big play in Iowa

Goldman Sachs picks Iowa for pilot project

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Goldman Sachs is expanding its successful 10,000 Small Businesses training program for people leading small businesses with a statewide effort in Iowa, the company’s first such effort on this scale. 

The financial firm runs a nationwide program that has catered to enrollees from all 50 states. And it tried its hand at a statewide program in Rhode Island, but that is a small state and a smaller effort than the one Goldman Sachs announced at the Iowa State Fair.

In an interview, Goldman Sachs Executive Vice President John Rogers said the new Iowa effort will be run with the help of faculty from Iowa’s community colleges, led by Des Moines Area Community College.

Rogers said Iowa’s plethora of small businesses and its tight job market are part of what made the state attractive for the new one-year effort. He praised the Midwestern work ethic and the strong constellation of small businesses here.

Goldman Sachs will help established businesses improve by training leaders in short bursts so they can then return to help improve revenues.

“We offer a curriculum that teaches very specific skill sets and helps existing business owners to focus on their planning, budget and associated skills,” Rogers said. “We’re not running a startup program. We’re helping existing entrepreneurs go to the next level of their own development.”

Goldman Sachs is also there to offer capital, though few seem to seek it. 

“We thought we would have the education component, and then people would take advantage of the capital we provide,” Rogers said. “Well, it turns out that almost everyone who went through the business or education component really wasn’t interested in the capital,” which they got elsewhere.

The program has been offered in 14 major metros, such as Houston, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia, and through a national program at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. “So what we want to do now is try the statewide experiment here,” Rogers said. 

So far, Goldman Sachs has helped 7,300 businesses out of the goal of 10,000, but it doesn’t plan to stop when that milestone is reached. Rogers said the program is mostly about serving the community and encouraging business growth globally. 

Why sign up for the free program? 

“So I think the important reason to sign up for this program is that we’re providing a proven curriculum that can help you grow your business,” Rogers said. 

Mary Sandry of Sandry Fire Supply in De Witt said her company’s revenues rose 45 percent through July from the time she finished the program in November.

“Not only did I learn to work on my business while I’m working in it, [the program] really taught me the significance and value of a small business and the overall economy,” Sandry said. 

James Deeds, managing principal at West Des Moines-based KCL Engineering, which designs heating and cooling and light systems for a variety of buildings from Hawaii to New York, said his enrollment in the program had lasting results. “In the two years since I went through the program, my company, along with the company we just spun off last year [construction management company Denovo], have doubled our head count and doubled our revenue.” 

Rogers said most of the attendees want to find a way to run their businesses most efficiently, and perhaps expand them — even, say, a coffee shop on Main Street with receipts in a shoe box. Some want to improve accounting or do some strategic planning. 

“I think for entrepreneurs the biggest thing that this curriculum helps them achieve is recognizing what you should be doing and how you’re empowering other people in your organization,” Rogers said.

What does Goldman Sachs get out of the program?

“I think what we get in return is, I think, a knowledge meant that we’re doing our part in America,” Rogers said. 

To apply, go to https://10ksbapply.com/

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