Empowering Small Business Owners to Succeed
We invest substantial resources to support women, minority and veteran small business owners by leveraging our employees’ expertise and partnering with nonprofit entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) that aim to accelerate businesses’ success.
In 2022, we continued to fund nonprofit ESOs in Hartford, Connecticut; St. Paul, Minnesota; and nationally to provide small business owners with training, infrastructure support, technical assistance and help in broadening their networks. Some of our partners included:
- Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Inc. (ACE), which supports women entrepreneurs in the Atlanta area through its Women’s Business Center.
- Accion Opportunity Fund, a national training and financial support network for entrepreneurs with a focus on advancing inclusive entrepreneurship.
- 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 who are Black, Indigenous and people of color in Minnesota.
- Social Enterprise Trust, Inc. (reSET), which provides capacity building to social entrepreneurs in Hartford to help them launch and grow.
We also continued our partnership with Village Capital and the Black Innovation Alliance to support the Resource program, which provides educational and financial resources to ESOs founded by and focused on Black, Indigenous and entrepreneurs of color. We launched a separate initiative in 2022 with the Black Innovation Alliance to specifically support Black technologists, creatives and innovators across the country.
Travelers further advocated for the small business ecosystem in 2022 by featuring Travelers-supported small businesses and ESOs in social media campaigns honoring National Small Business Week and National Veterans Small Business Week.
In 2022, Travelers also continued to provide virtual workshops to our nonprofit partners’ small business clients and 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: Hacked! What's Your Plan?
- Travelers Institute® Webinar: Mental Well-Being in the Workplace
Community Benefits
- Women-, minority- and veteran-owned 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.