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Surveys and interviews with participating small business owners conducted at the midpoint of the demonstration reveal the types of job quality improvements implemented, as well as motivations for making changes, challenges thus far, and plans for future job quality changes. It was found that:
Over 74% of small business survey respondents implemented job quality improvements within the past year.
87% of survey respondents felt more informed about job quality at mid-term than they did before the demonstration started.
Improving productivity and complying with employment laws were top motivations for improving job quality.
83% of survey respondents planned to make job quality improvements in the future.
This mid-term report does not capture the full extent of implementation and outcomes of the demonstration. 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. Interim endline findings can be found in this deck.
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.
