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Shared Success, and Economic Opportunities Program
The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, in partnership with KRC Research, conducted a national survey of 760 small business employees spanning seven major employment sectors: retail, food service, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, hospitality, and childcare.
The survey was conducted as a part of the Shared Success demonstration to understand how small business employees feel about the quality of their jobs.
Findings from this survey reinforce the importance of job quality for employee satisfaction. Respondents reported five main drivers of satisfaction including competitive pay; work-life balance; job security; positive work environment; and comprehensive benefits package. Yet, many small business employees reported that these needs were not being met, particularly when it came to benefits. The full survey and findings are shared in the deck below.
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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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.
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.
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.
Comprehensive findings from qualitative and quantitative research on participating small business owners and workers conducted at the end of the demonstration will be released in spring 2026.
This endline evaluation of the Shared Success demonstration aims to understand the impact of the work of the 11 community lenders who integrated job quality programming into their small business support services.
