Katie Moore / Eyewitness News
NEW ORLEANS -- At a time when a shaky job market is affecting consumer confidence nationally, Mayor Mitch Landrieu is touting the success of a program designed to grow small businesses.
The program itself is put on by one of the financial giants that nearly collapsed during the financial meltdown, and the man who bailed them out.
It’s called the 10,000 Small Businesses program, and 30 New Orleans businesses participated in the first round, including the owner of a New Orleans East martial arts studio called XS Martial Arts Dojo.
“We have approximately 250 students affiliated with the school,” said owner Jason Horne, who added they want to get closer to 500 students.
He’s the dojo’s master instructor, but even Horne had some learning of his own to do -- not just learning how to start his business over twice, after both hurricanes Katrina and Gustav, but learning how to make it grow.
“It was a more intense competition than I even imagined,” he said of the application process for getting into the program.
He and 30 others graduated from the program Monday.
“The individuals on the stage with us today will create jobs, build strong communities and serve as an example to the nation,” said Goldman Sachs C.E.O. Lloyd Blankfein at the elaborately produced graduation ceremony at the Delgado Community College gymnasium.
The graduates got a few anecdotes and words of advice from one of the world's top investors, Warren Buffett.
“Any business that is delivering its customers a good experience is going to have a very bright future,” Buffett said from the stage.
The graduation brought the heavy hitters of the financial industry to New Orleans. Goldman Sachs has also pledged to invest $20 million in market-rate loans to New Orleans-area small businesses.
But none of the high-powered visitors allowed the public or the media to ask any questions about why they chose to invest in the Crescent City.
“When Warren Buffet and when Goldman Sachs start investing in New Orleans, people really pay attention,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
Horne and his wife, Monica, already received a loan from the program. They're buying more vans to pick up kids from school and get them to the dojo. They want to expand their after school program and start one before school.
“It eliminates the latchkey kid,” Horne said.
Landrieu said it's a way to grow jobs from within the city, instead of bringing them in from the outside. The program is to make them shoot higher and bigger.
“Of the 30 in this first group, approximately half have already achieved preliminary revenue growth and/or job creation,” Blankfein said from the stage.
The program will take a new class starting in the fall. For more information, click here.
