Long Beach Community College is now accepting applications for its second year of partnership with Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program, a $500-million investment aimed at helping entrepreneurs create jobs and grow their businesses.
Small business owners that meet the criteria for the program–which includes having four or more employees, being in business for at least two years and having annual revenues between $150,000 and $4 million–can apply for the chance to be admitted to the program, which is administered through Long Beach City College.
The owners selected will be awarded a scholarship to experience curriculum that helps business owners develop skills needed to grow their businesses and develop tailored business plans.
{loadposition latestbusiness}Alumni of the program include Fred Johring, who owns Golden State Express Inc., a green trucking company that services both the port of Long Beach and Los Angeles, and Miguel Guajardo who operates El Camino Construction & Engineering Corp. and was also awarded the inaugural Shaun Lumachi Rising Star Award earlier this year.
Both Johring’s and Guajardo’s businesses demonstrated growth after participating in the 10,000 Small Businesses program. Since starting the program, Johring says he has hired 17 new full-time employees and watched the revenues of Golden State Express Inc. increase by 28%. Guajardo secured his first public-works contract and increased his revenues by 135%.
Long Beach is one of 13 cities in the country that Goldman Sachs has partnered with in an effort to spur growth in the small-business sector. According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses have accounted for 64% of net new jobs in the past 15 years, they hire 40 percent of high tech workers and produce 13 times the amount of patents per employee than larger firms.
The deadline to apply for this year’s cohort is August 5 at 5PM. An information session will be held at Long Beach City College July 30 at 11AM with an application workshop scheduled to be conducted August 2 from 9:30AM to noon. A copy of the application and a full list of key dates for the program can be viewed at www.socal10ksb.com.
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