Small Business Support: Empowering Small Business Owners to Succeed

We invest substantial resources to support small businesses, including those led by women, minorities and veteran owners by leveraging our employees’ expertise and partnering with nonprofit entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) that aim to accelerate businesses’ success.

In 2023, we continued to contribute funds to nonprofit ESOs in Hartford, St. Paul and nationally to provide small business owners with training, infrastructure support, technical assistance and help in broadening their networks.

The ESOs, which reached more than two million small businesses, include the following:

• Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Inc. (ACE), which supports entrepreneurs throughout the state of Georgia.
• Black Innovation Alliance, which provides support to drive, amplify and elevate the work of technologists, innovators and entrepreneurs through the support of Innovation Support Organizations (ISOs).
• D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families, which provides entrepreneurship and small business assistance through its “Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE)” program for women veterans and military spouses/partners.
• HEDCO Inc., which supports entrepreneurs in Hartford with training and financing options through its Business Resource Center.
• Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda), which supports training and wealth building for entrepreneurs in Minnesota who are Black, Indigenous or people of color.
• Neighborhood Development Center, a community-based nonprofit organization operating in the lowest-income neighborhoods in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The organization believes that residents, small businesses and neighborhood groups in all communities have the talent, energy and ideas to engage in and revitalize their own communities through entrepreneurship.
• Resource, a collaborative driven by Village Capital and the Black Innovation Alliance to provide educational and financial resources to ESOs founded by and focused on entrepreneurs who are Black, Indigenous or people of color.
• Social Enterprise Trust, Inc. (reSET), which provides capacity building to social entrepreneurs in Hartford to help them launch and grow.
• TruFund, which provides small business enterprises with financing and training toward owning commercial properties through its Real Estate Acquisition Program.
• Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC), which provides technical assistance, advice and microgrant opportunities for women-owned small businesses throughout Connecticut.

Travelers further advocated for the small business ecosystem in 2023 by featuring Travelers-supported small businesses and ESOs in social media campaigns honoring National Small Business Week and National Veterans Small Business Week. 

In 2023, Travelers also continued to provide virtual workshops to our nonprofit partners’ small business clients. We invited them to participate in the Travelers Institute’s Wednesdays with Woodward^® webinar series, which explores pressing topics impacting individuals and businesses, such as cybersecurity, innovation and economic development. Examples include:

• Travelers Institute Webinar: Cyber Readiness: 5 Critical Steps for Your Organization
• Travelers Institute Webinar: Mental Well-Being in the Workplace

Community benefits

• Small businesses are driving economic growth and job creation in their communities; our support contributes to their success, which, in turn, leads to community vitality and resilience.

Travelers benefits

• Travelers employees serve as mentors and trainers for entrepreneurs, increasing employee engagement and professional development opportunities.
• Our efforts help raise Travelers’ profile among entrepreneurs, create a stronger emotional attachment to the Travelers brand and generate business opportunities.