At an event in Pittsburg two years ago, CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai committed to invest $1 billion over the next five years to Grow With Google, a program that helps people develop skills they need to find work or grow their business.  In his re-commitment to “Grow With Google”, Pichai has announced $10 million would be set aside to for low-income minority entrepreneurs starting new businesses access to training and capital.

The American Library Association will receive $2 million in order to build entrepreneurship hubs at libraries in ten states.  This support’s Google’s goal to commit to partner with community-based organizations that help to furnish low-income business creators with the resources they need.

“Small businesses make a big impact on our communities — creating jobs, treating customers like family, and often defining what makes a town unique,” wrote Google Small Business Ads product manager Kim Spalding in a blog post earlier this year. “Google is committed to helping these businesses use the power of the web to grow and thrive.”

• Google went on to further explain the importance of small businesses that shape our world today. They revealed the following:
• Google search for “mom and pop shops” recently hit a 3-year high
• There’s 350 times greater search volume for local businesses than there was 10 years ago
• Interest in “local shops” hit a record high in 2018
• In Google’s “U.S. Economic Impact Report”, the company claims Google search and advertising tools created $335 billion in economic activity for millions of businesses, website publishers, and non-profits in 2018

“Grow With Google” is only one initiative the company has created to assist small businesses in fostering entrepreneurship. Google also has the CODE2040 program which seeks African American and Latino entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley.  There’s also Google Primer, this uses 5-minute interactive classes to teach digital marketing and business skills to owners of small businesses and startups.

Udacity also committed to partnering with Google to create dozens of free course, and Coursera will launch their new program next year to train IT support professionals.  Also check out Google for Small Business, this is designed to make things easier for entrepreneurs to find business tools and services!

So to all my entrepreneurial friends, the tools are out here and thanks to Google and its partners, you can make building your business just a little bit easier with access to these initiatives.