Economic Opportunity

Improving job quality doesn’t just benefit workers; it can also strengthen small businesses themselves and the broader communities they serve. Yet, many small business owners lack the resources and knowledge needed to improve the quality of their jobs.

UpSkill America’s new Upskilling Playbook is a strategic guide for organizations to build, scale, and integrate skills-based workforce development initiatives that drive business performance and career growth.

As investors, ICA and Colorado Enterprise Fund have both incorporated job quality assessments as part of their lending and investment process. This conversation explores the various tools capital allocators possess to help and incentivize small businesses to create quality jobs for their employees.

How Good Jobs Support Small Businesses Success. For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to EOP’s YouTube channel. Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.

Driving Innovation in Small Business Lending Examples of How Small Business and CDFIs are Working Together to Advance Job Quality. For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to EOP’s YouTube channel. Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.

Designing effective upskilling programs requires a holistic approach that considers various interconnected components.

Doing job quality work requires CDFI business advisors to broaden the conversations they have with business owners to include topics related to human resources (HR), employee management, and business operations and strategy. Learn how CDFIs advise small businesses on how investing in employees can allow for increased productivity and innovation, as well as business stabilization or growth.

The future of work demands more than updates, it calls for a bold new upskilling playbook built for speed, scale, and real-world impact.