Well-paying, quality jobs are essential to economic mobility and building wealth. Without a steady, living-wage income and dignified working conditions, people will struggle to save enough to support long-term material wellbeing and build generational wealth. The workforce development system is one particularly important mechanism for preparing and connecting people to high quality employment. In recent years, workforce development policy and practice have focused primarily on skills-based training due to the misalignment between in-demand jobs that do not require a college degree and the lack of opportunities to receive training for these professions.
Skills-based training programs are often found for high-demand industries, such as healthcare, construction, IT, advanced manufacturing and other trades and are critical to filling labor supply gaps in regional economies. However, self-employment and entrepreneurship training are often overlooked in workforce development systems despite their crucial role in driving economic mobility and financial security in the modern economy.
Small businesses are the cornerstone of America. Mom and pop stores across the country are not only beloved by their communities, but are also key contributors to economic growth and innovation by providing vital goods and services and creating quality jobs. However, the barriers to entry for first-time entrepreneurs prevents many from starting a business. This is especially true for women, immigrants, people of color and people with disabilities.
Self-employment and entrepreneurship training programs help to dismantle the barriers to starting businesses by equipping people with the knowledge and abilities required to explore various entrepreneurial opportunities, create sustainable value propositions and deal with the risks of running a business. They also provide valuable guidance on how to conduct market analysis, manage finances, design marketing plans and how to comply with legal requirements, which are some of the key factors for becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Self-employment and entrepreneurship training help drive small business creation and ownership at a time when local economic self-reliance is more important than ever. In the current economic climate, corporate profits, price discrimination and the rise in the economic might of large corporations are further compounding the growing affordability crisis sweeping across America. After an initial recovery period following the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy has become increasingly divided so much that most workers struggle to make ends meet while the wealthy have never done better. This “K-shaped recovery” has sunken most of the country into a financially uncertain future.
In the past year alone, sweeping tariffs, changes to Medicaid and SNAP and unprecedented revocations of federal grants to community organizations have all made essential goods and services less affordable at the same time that job growth and wage increases have slowed. As the cost of living continues to increase for working families, paychecks have failed to keep up, making it more difficult for many Americans to get by.
At this moment, the need for small and local businesses is critical, not just for entrepreneurs but also for their communities. Thriving small businesses promote resilience in local economies and can help to reduce inequality in the areas they serve. Self-employment and entrepreneurship training programs can be pathways to small businesses and microenterprise ownership.
Furthermore, they also increase the diversity of the local workforce by offering pathways to careers for people who may otherwise be overlooked by traditional career pathways, such as returning citizens, non-primary English speakers, single parents, disabled people, rural residents and tribal community members.
NCRC is helping to support the expansion of workforce training services under the SNAP Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) program, which will include self-employment and entrepreneurship training offerings. This will allow organizations that offer self-employment training services to low-income populations to receive federal reimbursement dollars, helping to increase provider capacity and maintain sustainable funding.
NCRC is designing a pilot program with Arizona’s Department of Economic Security to align the state’s SNAP E&T framework for defining self-employment training with the programs several organizations already offer. Based on the results of the pilot, NCRC hopes to expand the model into other states to increase the number of states who are supporting self-employment and entrepreneurship training programs.
Expanding self-employment and entrepreneurship training within workforce systems is not just a programmatic adjustment; it is a strategic investment in shared prosperity. When public systems recognize business ownership as a legitimate pathway to economic mobility, they unlock opportunity for individuals who have long been excluded from traditional labor markets.
By aligning federal resources, state agencies and community-based providers around this vision, we can strengthen local economies, promote wealth-building in underserved communities and ensure that economic mobility is not limited to those who fit a narrow definition of employability. Supporting entrepreneurship through SNAP E&T and similar frameworks is a practical, scalable step toward building a more inclusive economy.
Doug Mollett is the Economic Mobility Manager with NCRC’s Economic Mobility team.
Simon Wang is the Economic Mobility Specialist with NCRC’s Economic Mobility team.
Photo courtesy of NCRC member Groundswell Capital.
