Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) initiates a program to help small businesses get access to credit. This comes at a time when the company has been facing criticism over bonus payouts to its employees.
Goldman's 10,000 Businesses initiative will commit $300 million to help small businesses get capital and commit $200 million for business and management education programs. The total amount committed is just a fraction of the $10.6 billion the company is expected to report in net income this year.
Investors like Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, Warren Buffett and Michael Porter of Harvard Business School will be included in the advisory council for the initiative.
One often-referenced program is Goldman's 10,000 Women initiative, which is designed to provide business and management education for women in underserved parts of the world.
This image building initiative comes after the Obama administration unveiled a plan to boost small business lending. But the company will pass the test only if it continues this in the long run.
