Nashville

Attracting and Growing Small Business in Nashville

CitiesNashvilleAttracting and Growing Small Business in Nashville

Bloomberg Associates worked with the City of Nashville to advance the administration’s equity goals by delivering opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses to thrive and provide sustainable jobs in Nashville.

Nashville has more than 19,000 businesses, and over 80 percent of them have fewer than 20 employees, so it’s critical we give them the support they need to grow and thrive.

David Briley, Former Mayor of Nashville

Relevant Expertise

Promote Digital Solutions and Approaches

Digitization of Municipal Services

Spur Business and Industry Growth

Business Attraction and Retention Strategies
Small Business Support

Challenge

Nashville has experienced significant economic and population growth, but there have been employment barriers for some sectors of the Nashville population that have been left behind in this economic cycle. The Mayor and City of Nashville sought the help of Bloomberg Associates to develop programming to support entrepreneurs, small businesses and urban manufacturing, in order to grow good, local jobs for the city’s residents.

Approach

Bloomberg Associates worked with the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development to develop several different programs and initiatives. Notably, the teams were able to launch the Nashville Business Portal, an online tool that curates the essential information that business owners and entrepreneurs need to successfully open or grow a business in Nashville. The Portal serves as a one-stop resource designed specifically to help small business owners navigate the complexity of opening and running a business while also connecting them to free and low-cost business support services.

The teams also worked together to launch Nashville Made, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the local manufacturing sector. Nashville Made seeks to retain, attract and grow manufacturing jobs in Nashville.

Recognizing that access to financing is one of the biggest barriers for small businesses and entrepreneurs, the Bloomberg Associates team engaged Kiva, a crowd-lending program, to design Kiva Nashville, specifically for Nashville’s small business and micro enterprises to have access to capital. Additionally, they helped to design the Entrepreneur Navigator, which offers any business at any stage access to more than 250 local resources to help them grow and prosper.

Impact

These combined efforts have increased the resources that are available to small businesses and entrepreneurs in Nashville, enhanced access to manufacturing jobs in Nashville, and provided opportunities for small business owners to access funding for their business. Building these services helps to ensure that more people can prosper in Nashville’s growing economy.