On July 19-20 2022, over 2,500 small business owners from around the country gathered in Washington D.C. for Goldman Sachs’ 2022 10,000 Small Business Summit.
In the largest-ever gathering of small business owners in the U.S, many alumni of the 10,000 Small Businesses education program shared solutions to accelerate growth and create jobs to power our economic recovery amid historic inflation. The list of featured speakers included:
• George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
• Warren Buffett, CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
• Emma Grede, CEO and Co-Founder of Good American
• Michael Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg LP
• Gwyneth Paltrow, CEO and Founder of Goop
• Aman Bhutani, CEO of Godaddy
• Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator
• Ben Cardin, U.S. Senator
Purpose of the Summit
David Solomon, Goldman Sachs CEO and Chairman, said that the key to driving inclusive growth is to provide small businesses with the tools they need to create jobs. He cited that as the main reason for starting the 10,000 Small Business program a decade ago.
Jessica Johnson-Cope, President and Principal of Johnson Security Bureau, said that small business owners are currently facing the most difficult environment of our generation. However, she was optimistic that small businesses will be resilient and continue to grow. Johnson-Cope added that the Summit helped small businesses with getting their voices heard.
Over the last ten years, Goldman Sachs has invested $750 million in supporting businesses over the country, reaching over 12,800 small business owners in the U.S. The 10,000 Small Businesses alumni employ 245,000 people and represent over $17 billion in revenues. Goldman Sachs hopes that they’ll be able to reach 20,000 small businesses through this program.
MONA’s Involvement
As a proud supporter and alumni of the 10,000 Small Businesses Program, our very own founder and CEO, Cristina Barrett felt it was essential to be in attendance at this year’s business summit. Cristina is no stranger to participating in business conventions and has attended past events hosted by Goldman Sachs, and although she knew it would be a good event, it actually surpassed her expectations and turned out to be an invaluable experience.
At this year’s summit, Cristina not only had the privilege to hear some of the most dynamic speakers of our day, but she also was able to attend a few business workshops that were focused on optimizing and shaping a business so that it is a better organization for it’s customers.
The key takeaways from the summit that Cristina has been able to bring back to the MONA team has already enriched our connection with you; our customers, but has also allowed us to modify some of our internal processes to serve you better in the long run.
As your merchant services company, our goal is to continue to deliver to you the best products and the best customer service, and one of the ways we honor that commitment is to attend events like the 10,000 Small Business Summit with an openness and willingness to learn.
If you would like to learn more about the 10,000 Small Business Summit or more about Cristina’s experience, please feel free to get in touch with us.