In a recent essay in "Time" magazine, Dr. Walter Bumphus, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), underscored the need for community colleges to partner with industry to help close the skills gap and position students to meet 21st-century employment needs. Much attention is on small businesses, which have created more than 60 percent of net new jobs in the last 15 years. Enter the Goldman Sachs "10,000 Small Businesses" initiative--a program that strives to move beyond lip service to create a substantial and scalable business/education model. "The Goldman Sachs "10,000 Small Businesses" initiative is a unique public-private partnership that provides an incredible opportunity for community colleges to improve service to small businesses and communities," says Long Beach Community College District President Eloy Oakley. The program counts on community college familiarity with diverse student populations and the ability of small businesses to attract program interest within local communities. Goldman Sachs is committed to learning from the initial projects, using regular opportunities for structured feedback and continuous improvement. As "lessons learned" and best practices are substantiated over time, the initiative's leadership will work with AACC to document what works. As new colleges become part of "10,000 Small Businesses" and as the Goldman Sachs Foundation and the participating colleges continue to measure its impacts, the hope is that the initiative will become a synergistic option for all colleges to consider.