Goldman Sachs Launches 10,000 Small Businesses Program in St. Cloud to Empower Local Entrepreneurs

(KNSI) – St. Cloud was selected as the site for Goldman Sachs’s announcement of the first push of the 10,000 Small Businesses program into the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

It now operates in seven states and plans to expand to 13 more in the next five years. Since its inception, Goldman Sachs says it has helped 16,000 small businesses graduate, increase their revenue and create more jobs in their communities.

Jake Judd/KNSI News

The company’s foundation has teamed up with St. Cloud Technical and Community College to bring the three-month program to the state to help small mom-and-pop shops grow and become more profitable. The first class of 32 cohorts started meeting on Wednesday, and they include Jules’ Bistro Owner Donella Westphal, who has operated the popular downtown St. Cloud restaurant since 2017. She’s most excited about networking with other small buissnes owners who share her challenges. “I’m also really looking forward to the intention and the space and time that this program is going to offer me to really put an action plan together for some of the ideas that have been rumbling around in my brain for the past couple of years.”

She heard about the $100 million program through the Initiative Foundation and was approved after a rigorous application and interview process. Westphal says the interactions with others in the group are giving her good vibrations. “The energy is just really incredible, and I just feel so lucky to have been selected and to meet such amazing entrepreneurs from across the state. We’re all really excited to be part of this, and we’re already learning from each other.”

She hopes the program will lead to some big announcements in the future. Westphal told KNSI News that she has a specific idea for growth and wants to focus on that for the next three months.

___