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Local owners.
Local jobs.
Stronger communities.

Growing small businesses.

Creating quality jobs.

Our Village United invests in growth-ready small businesses and equips their owners to build bigger teams, creating quality jobs that strengthen local economies nationwide.
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Small Business Growth Ecosystem, Small Business Support for Entrepreneurs
Small Business Growth Ecosystem

Our Village United is a national small business growth ecosystem on a mission to empower entrepreneurs and transform the small business landscape in America.

Our Village United is a national nonprofit with an innovative approach to job creation: we invest in local small businesses that are ready to hire. OVU brings the non-dilutive capital opportunities, expert technical assistance, entrepreneurial wellness, market access and policy advocacy that turn that demand into jobs, all through one integrated model.

When these businesses grow, they create quality jobs: stable roles with fair pay, benefits and room to advance. Those jobs keep dollars circulating locally and build stronger communities from the ground up.

Workforce development,reimagined

Most workforce programs prepare people for jobs. OVU innovates on the other side of the equation: we grow the local employers who create those jobs.

We call it demand-side workforce development. By investing in businesses that already have staff, customers and momentum, OVU turns market demand into stable employment that lasts. Training programs build the talent pipeline. OVU builds the employer base ready to hire it.

Measured by the jobs we create

Measured by the jobs we create

We hold every investment to the outcomes that matter most to owners,
workers and communities.

Net new jobs

Positions added from program start to 6 and 12 months after.

Good jobs

Wages, benefits and the share of new roles still filled a year later.

Business growth

Revenue growth and new contracts won.

Local impact

The share of new hires who live in the communities these businesses serve.

Traditional vs OVU Model

Traditional workforce
programs

  • Train job seekers
  • Success = a placement
  • One service at a time
  • Jobs depend on outside employers

The job seekers.

  • Grow the employers who hire them
  • Success = good jobs that last
  • Use bullets as appropriate
  • Integrated Capital opportunities, expertise,
  • wellness, markets and policy,
  • Jobs are created by locally owned businesses

Partners in Impact

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Find your program

Take the OVU Readiness Survey

programs

Owners building what's next

Grew revenue about 600% through institutional contracts with Atlanta Public Schools and Super Bowl LIX, creating steady demand for his business.

Terrance Jones,
Louisiana Creole Candy,
Georgia

Built a team of six full-time employees, expanded into a second state and grew revenue 47%. New institutional contracts now sustain a growing team.

Irianna Diesel,
Vitality Institute of Allied Health,
Mississippi

Grew revenue 40–60%, expanded into national markets through placements in ATL and LAX airports and distribution with Goldbelly, and grew her team from four to six full-time employees plus part-time staff.
National features on HSN and BET are expanding brand visibility.

Layla Bitoy-Dillon,
Bitoy’s Sweet Treats,
Chicago

Where our founders are building

Invest in the business that build communities

Partner with OVU to scale an innovative model that creates opportunities for quality jobs

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