SLCC President Deneece Huftalin, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie
Biskupski, Goldman Sachs Foundation President Asahi Pompey and Goldman Sachs
Salt Lake managing partner Dave Lang met this week with 15 local small business
owners who are also alumni of the SLCC’s Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
program. The group had a powerful roundtable discussion on the challenges and
opportunities for small business owners in Utah.
As part of the discussion, roundtable participants talked
about the difficulties of attracting and retaining talent while doing business in
Utah’s red-hot economy. IIIens Dort, an alumnus of 10,000 Small Businesses and president and CEO of the non-profit organization Lift a Life,
said that the program helped him recognize the value of workplace culture. “I
say that employee engagement is not a department or program, but it is a
culture,” he says. “You need to focus on creating an engaging culture because
you attract the employees who reflect your company culture.”
President Huftalin said that as an institution SLCC has
specifically joined with businesses and industry to develop employees for the
local workforce. “Some of the partnerships we’ve engaged in are really powerful,”
she says. “ Business and industry are right there with us, helping us develop
curriculum so we can train the employees they need. They have invested early on
and give preference to our students when they hire. This has been helpful for
developing employees in some high-demand fields.”
Pompey from the Goldman Sachs Foundation said that small
business is a huge driver in the nation’s economy. The Goldman Sachs 10,000
Small Businesses program in Utah alone has helped 550 businesses, resulting in $800 million in growth and the employment of 11,000 people,
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is a program
for entrepreneurs that links learning to action. Through the program, participants gain
practical skills in topics such as negotiation, marketing and employee
management. They also receive tools and professional support for developing a a
strategic and customized growth plan that will take their company to the next
level.