Articles from Goldman Sachs

As more than 2,000 small business owners from across the country prepare to travel to Washington, DC for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Summit, the largest gathering of small business owners in the U.S., new survey data shows strong optimism about their growth potential despite concerns about the economy. Seventy-eight percent of small business owners are optimistic about the current trajectory of their business, and 74% have plans to grow their business in the next year. This strong optimism persists despite uncertainty regarding a federal government shutdown, as 72% percent believe it’s important for Congress to find a bipartisan solution that avoids a shutdown. Of those who say it’s very or somewhat important, 62% note concerns that their customer demand will go down due to economic uncertainty and instability.

Media credentialing is now open for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Summit. To RSVP, please fill out this online form: https://forms.gle/UuXRdz3HBSMkPxSz9.

As Goldman Sachs celebrates fifteen years of its landmark Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program and five years of its Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices policy advocacy initiative, the company today announced it will hold a two-day Summit in Washington, D.C. on October 29-30, 2025. The third Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Summit will be the largest convening of small business owners in the U.S. — celebrating fifteen years of impact and ensuring small businesses are positioned to thrive for the future.

Small business owners, who are disappointed with a lack of detailed policy discussions on issues important to them in the presidential election, are about to make a big splash. Ahead of the presidential debate on September 10th, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices today launched a new billboard in Times Square calling on ABC News to ask the candidates how they will address the most pressing issues facing small business owners.

During National Small Business Week, new survey data from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices shows small business owners are watching this year’s election closely with 96% saying they will definitely or probably vote in November. Notably, 20% of small business owners say they’re undecided on who they will support for President, compared to just 12% of the general public declaring themselves undecided in recent public polls.

Despite 71% reporting inflationary pressures increasing over the past three months, and 77% saying they are concerned about their ability to access capital, 75% of small business owners report they are optimistic about their financial trajectory in 2024. Furthermore, 57% expect to create jobs this year, 62% are projecting an increase in profits before the year concludes and 28% rate the economy as good or excellent – a 9% increase compared to three months prior. These findings, showing concern about current economic headwinds alongside optimism for the future, are among the key findings of a survey of small business owners released today by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices.

A credit crunch has descended upon small business owners nationwide hindering their growth and causing some to say that if it continues, they’ll be forced to close altogether. A new nationwide survey from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices today shows 78% of small business owners are concerned about their ability to access capital and 29% say they can’t afford to take out a loan given current interest rates. Eighty-five percent say if access to capital continues to tighten it will impact their growth forecast. Of those that say their growth forecast will be impacted, 67% will halt expansion plans if credit continues to tighten, and, alarmingly, 21% would close their business if the credit market continues on this trajectory.

Ahead of the upcoming, highly anticipated college football matchup between Texas and Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Goldman Sachs has tapped the big game’s two starting kickers — Alabama’s Will Reichard and Texas’s Bert Auburn, both featured on the preseason Lou Groza Award watch list for the top kicker in the country — to appear in a name, image, and likeness (NIL) ad. The ad features the competitors coming together to call on Congress to reauthorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) and suggests that both kickers and small businesses are under-appreciated, yet essential, for success. The advertisement will run on Connected TV and digital platforms nationally and can be viewed here.

As the Small Business Administration (SBA) celebrates 70 years since its founding on July 30, small business owners from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices are marking the occasion by calling on Congress to reauthorize and modernize the agency for the first time in 23 years.

Small business owners – much like the U.S. Government – are facing a credit crunch, with 77% of respondents reporting they are concerned about their ability to access capital, a stunning shift from one year ago when 77% said they were confident in their ability to access capital. This jarring turnaround is just one key takeaway from a new survey of small business owners from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Voices released during National Small Business Week.

During March Madness, University of Iowa women’s basketball player Caitlin Clark and University of North Carolina men’s basketball player Caleb Love are starring in a new, national name, image, likeness (NIL) ad sponsored by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices to call for the modernization of the Small Business Administration (SBA). The ad also features Iman McFarland, a former women’s college basketball player, owner of 21st Century Expo Group in Prince George’s County, MD and an alumna of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program.

On the eve of President Biden’s State of the Union address, small business owners delivered their own message to the 118th Congress: government programs designed to help small business are failing them, and Congress must take bi-partisan action to reauthorize the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices is announcing a new digital and Connected TV ad campaign today with former *NSYNC singer Lance Bass to highlight the fact that Congress has not reauthorized the Small Business Administration (SBA) in the 23 years since the band’s “No Strings Attached” tour swept the United States.

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices national director, Joe Wall, today issued the following statement calling for the reauthorization of the U.S. Small Business Administration twenty two years after it was last reauthorized by Congress on December 15, 2000:

As Congress returns to session this week for the first time since the midterm elections and newly elected Members participate in orientation, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices is announcing a new grassroots advocacy campaign to encourage lawmakers to reauthorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2023 for the first time in more than two decades – a move that would modernize the agency and ensure it is best-equipped to meet the needs of today’s small business owners.

Today, Goldman Sachs announced the launch of Sonar Dark X, the newest algorithm on its Atlas equities trading platform. It is the first liquidity seeking algorithm powered by Atlas and is designed to maximize non-displayed liquidity capture and minimize price impact.

With November’s midterm elections just eight weeks away, 86% of small business owners say they are definitely planning to vote, with 91% saying a candidate’s small business policy positions will play an important role in who they choose to support at the ballot box. Furthermore, 81% said they are more likely to support a candidate who pledges to reauthorize the SBA. The SBA was reauthorized by Congress seven times between 1980-2000, but has not been reauthorized since. Small business owners’ eagerness to vote – and vote their business policy interests – are among the major takeaways from a new survey of small business owners who are part of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices program.

Goldman Sachs will bring together more than 2,500 small business owners from across the country at the 2022 10,000 Small Businesses Summit – the largest gathering of its kind in the U.S – from July 19-20.

Goldman Sachs today announced the 2022 10,000 Small Businesses Summit to bring together more than 2,500 small business owners from across the country – the largest gathering of its kind in the U.S – from July 19-20. The Summit will be held over two days at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center and Nationals Park where thousands of small business owners and alumni of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses education program, top entrepreneurs, members of congress, and administration officials will come together to define the future of America’s small business agenda. Following the pandemic and amid historic inflation, supply chain and workforce challenges, the Summit will bring together policymakers to share solutions to accelerate growth and create jobs to power our economic recovery.

Small business owners across the country are reporting inflationary pressures are hurting their bottom line and adversely impacting their ability to hire and retain workers, according to new survey data of small business owners from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices. Ninety-one percent of small business owners say broader economic trends, such as inflation, supply chain issues, and workforce challenges, are having a negative impact on their business. Further, nearly three quarters (73%) of all small business owners across all sectors said increasing energy costs are having negative impacts on their bottom lines.

Today, following the announcement from the Biden-Harris Administration that people fleeing Ukraine will be eligible for humanitarian parole in the United States with a sponsor through a streamlined process starting Monday, April 25, Welcome.US. is launching an initiative to mobilize 100,000 Americans to sponsor people fleeing the war in Ukraine and seeking refuge in the United States.

The Bipartisan Policy Center and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices, in partnership with small business owners across the country, today released a new report – From Pandemic to Prosperity: Bipartisan Solutions to Support Today's Small Businesses. The new report urges Congress to reauthorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) for the first time in over two decades, allowing programs supporting small businesses to be reimagined to reflect the realities of today’s economy.

Small business owners are being pushed to the brink with an unprecedented set of challenges hurting their bottom line, according to new national survey data released today by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices. Seventy-nine percent of respondents are concerned about the ongoing pandemic and the Omicron variant, with 71 percent reporting that the rise in COVID-19 cases brought on by the Omicron variant has adversely impacted their revenue. Thirty-seven percent said their business had been forced to temporarily close or scale back operations due to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases.

Following months of advocacy from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices (10KSBV) community, the Biden-Harris administration today announced important changes in how federal agencies utilize and engage with small businesses in procurement processes. The changes will allow small businesses to more fairly compete with larger businesses for federal contracts, a nearly $700 billion industry.

Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women today announced a new partnership with Echoing Green to accelerate the impact of Black women social entrepreneurs through its world-renowned Fellowship program. Goldman Sachs Foundation will provide Echoing Green with a $1 million grant to develop a new cohort of Fellows who are leading programs to positively impact and radically transform the futures of Black women and girls across the U.S.

Small business owners across America are ringing the alarm about the direction the country is headed and are struggling to manage inflationary pressures, navigate the labor shortage and confront mental health struggles, according to a new survey released today from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices. For Black-owned small businesses, the challenges are even more steep. The data comes during the Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week, and after it was revealed last week that small businesses are low on cash reserves and concerned about access to capital.

Goldman Sachs today launched a new workforce development program, 10,000 Small Businesses Fellows. The program, which kicks off during National Small Business Week, aims to create career pathways for students from community colleges and address the growing skills gap facing small businesses by facilitating hands-on internship opportunities. The program will begin in New York, Dallas, Cleveland, and Baltimore and create more than 250 work opportunities for college students in their fields of interest and small businesses. The semester-long paid internships will be fully funded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation.

A new report released today by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices in conjunction with the Bipartisan Policy Center shows the strain small business owners across the country are feeling as federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding is depleted. The report offers urgently needed policy solutions to put main street businesses back on the road to recovery.

In partnership with the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices program released a new report detailing the systemic barriers small businesses face during the federal procurement process. The report offers policy recommendations that Congress should consider including in an infrastructure package or other legislation to reform the system.

A new national survey of small business owners from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices shows that small businesses across America are open for business but hitting roadblocks at every turn. While small business owners express optimism about the future, they face difficulties hiring employees and maintaining payroll as operating costs increase. Long-term access to capital and inflation are also pressing concerns for Main Street businesses.

A new national survey of small business owners from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices shows that America’s Main Street businesses are reopening and their owners have access to vaccines. However, small businesses are concerned about maintaining payroll through the summer without additional relief, highlighting the fragility of this recovery and the requirement for continued access to capital.