This National Small Business Week (and every week) Private Equity Partners with Small Businesses to Grow, Scale, & Innovate
The American Investment Council (AIC) is proud to celebrate National Small Business Week, spanning April 28 to May 4. This month, the AIC launched advertisements at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to highlight how private equity is a critical partner to small businesses nationwide.
On April 30th, members of the AIC team also participated in a nationwide satellite media tour to promote how private equity helps provide capital and management expertise to small businesses in local communities. Drew Maloney, Emily Schillinger, and Jamal Hagler spoke with media outlets in Dallas-Fort Worth, Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Denver, Salt Lake, Phoenix, Charleston, Toledo, Seattle and other communities. Click here for Drew’s interview with WPTF Morning Show.
Even the Smallest Startups Benefit from Private Equity Investment
As part of our campaign spotlighting private equity’s crucial role in supporting small businesses, the AIC recently released a “Smaller, Smaller, Smaller” video highlighting how private equity investment fuels the development of even the smallest startups.
In 2022, approximately 85 percent of private equity-backed businesses were small businesses that employed less than 500 workers. During the same period, the median private equity-backed business employed just 69 workers. Private equity-backed small businesses directly employed a total of 1.4 million workers throughout the U.S. economy in 2022. These workers earned $135 billion in wages and benefits and generated $240 billion of GDP.
Research Shows Small Businesses are Looking to Partner with Private Equity to Drive Better Outcomes
In a recent study from Citizens Financial Group, roughly three-quarters of U.S. small businesses surveyed said they are looking to private equity as a source of current or future partnership and funding. Small and midsized businesses experiencing generational change are also reporting to be increasingly looking to partner with private equity to ensure the strength and growth of their businesses in the long-run.
Private Equity Investment Allows Businesses to Grow & Scale
Late last year, Punchbowl News Founder and CEO Anna Palmer interviewed U.S. Congressman and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Steven Horsford (D-NV), followed by a fireside chat with Drew Maloney. During the discussion, Drew highlighted several examples of how private equity investment allowed businesses to grow and scale—specifically Sweetgreen and Cava, which first launched in D.C. “The idea behind Sweetgreen was you had two Georgetown students who were complaining that all they had was unhealthy food options living on campus … they went to local farmers, and they started making salads. Now, at some point, they wanted to grow that business, and they knew they couldn’t do it with their own capital, so they partnered with private capital in order to do that.”
To learn more about the small businesses powered by private equity across the United States, visit www.investmentcouncil.org/smallbusiness/.
