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Good jobs and strong businesses are vital to the well-being of communities across the country. In today’s economy, however, millions of workers struggle in poor-quality jobs, while small business owners face challenges finding and retaining the employees they need to thrive.
Shared Success, a project of the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP), is grounded in the understanding that building better jobs and building stronger businesses go hand in hand. Supported by a $12 million investment from the Gates Foundation, EOP partnered with 11 community lenders to integrate job quality programming into their small business support services. These lenders — each working in distinct communities across the US — demonstrate that there is no single model, but rather many ways organizations can help small businesses thrive through a job quality approach.
Video — Shared Success, a project of the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, is grounded in the understanding that building better jobs and building stronger businesses go hand in hand.
This infographic shares statistics on impact of the Economic Opportunities Program’s Shared Success demonstration. Dive into a detailed breakdown of the diverse businesses and entrepreneurs involved in this work.
One third of businesses reported adding employee benefits since baseline. The main employee benefits offered at midline are PTO (69%), paid sick leave (56%), health insurance (54%), and professional development opportunities (50%). These have both financial and opportunity costs to firms.
This Q&A provides insights and lessons from the work of 11 CDFIs that participated in Shared Success, a job quality demonstration led by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP).
Supporting small business owners in understanding and acting on workers’ perspectives is a promising practice for simultaneously advancing job quality and small business development organizations’ missions to promote economic resilience.
This brief shares key lessons and takeaways that could be used to implement internal job quality practices to strengthen CDFIs and other small business support organizations.
This toolkit provides practical insights that community development financial institutions (CDFIs) can use to expand their impact and support small business job quality and growth.
Only 56% of full-time workers in the United States make enough money to cover their families basic needs. Job quality is vital not only for workers, but also for small businesses and communities.
Shared Success, a project of the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, shows how building better jobs can simultaneously uplift workers while also driving small business success.
About the Economic Opportunities Program
The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.
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