Financial Education and Mentoring Support For Aspiring Entrepreneurs

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced new resources to support small businesses across the nation. Acting Chairman Gruenberg and SBA Associate Administrator for Entrepreneurial Development Michael Chodos released Money Smart for Small Business, a training curriculum for new and aspiring business owners.  Developed in partnership between both agencies, this curriculum is the latest offeringin the FDIC’s award-winning Money Smart
program. 

Money Smart for Small Business provides an introduction to day-to-day business organization and planning and is written for entrepreneurs with limited or no prior formal business training. It offers practical information that can be applied immediately, while also preparing participants for more advanced training. FDIC and SBA will form a Training Alliance for organizations that support small businesses through training, technical assistance or mentoring.

“We are excited to join the FDIC in its expansion of the Money Smart curriculum for small business,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “The FDIC is a vital ally in our efforts to help small business owners startgrow and create jobs. Money Smart for Small Business will help to put more information on the business basics of financial management at entrepreneurs’ fingertips and make it easier for them to build their knowledge and skill set.”

Gruenberg and Chodos were joined by Training Alliance partners at the launch of Money Smart for Small Business, hosted by the District of Columbia’s Affinity Lab, a smallbusiness incubator. “We are proud to launch Money Smart for Small Business,” said Gruenberg.  “We value our partnerships with SBA and the Money Smart Alliance members and recognize their importance to our work. Small businesses play a vital role in supporting a vibrant economy.”

Each of the 10 instructor-led modules in Money Smart for Small Business provides financial and business management for business owners and includes a scripted instructor guide, participant guide and overhead slides.  The FDIC will host an online “town hall” for potential Training Alliance partners in the months ahead.

“This partnership with the FDIC demonstrates SBA’s commitment to ensuring the recovery of small businesses and to supporting the courageous new entrepreneurs who want to build lasting businesses,” said Francisco “Pancho” A. Marrero, SBA South Florida District Director.

More than 10 years after the original release of the award-winning Money Smart adult curriculum, Money Smart for Small Business builds on the proven results in finance management for those who complete the curriculum.  The Money Smart for Small Business
curriculum is free and available at http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/index.html.

“Money Smart for Small Business will help to put more information on the business basics of financial management at entrepreneurs’ fingertips and make it easier forthem to build their knowledge and skill set.”
—SBA Administrator Karen Mills