Intuit Expands Its IDEAS Small Business Program Across Nine U.S. Cities

Intuit is expanding on its Invest, Develop, Empower, Accelerate and Scale program this year, in partnership with the National Urban League.

After the success of its inaugural year, Intuit said it’s expanding to support an additional 250 small business owners across nine cities: Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia and San Diego.

The IDEAS program launched as a way to help small businesses grow and give them access to Intuit’s suite of artificial intelligence-powered products: TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks and Mailchimp. Participants will also get access to business and executive coaching from the National Urban League and Zella Life. The yearlong program includes a tech grant for hardware support.

“The success and impact of Intuit IDEAS is undeniable,” said Marc H. Morial, president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League. “We know that small businesses face myriad challenges from limited funding, access to capital, to a lack of support. By combining Intuit’s products and services with the National Urban League’s 115 years of experience supporting and coaching small business owners, the possibilities for us together to make a real difference are endless.”

This year the program will be supporting a separate, national cohort of military veteran-owned and military spouse-owned small businesses. At the conclusion and completion of the 12-month program, companies will also receive a grant of $5,000 to help their business grow. Last year, Intuit said its participants saw an average of 23 percent revenue increase and 16.5 hours saved monthly. The program is now open for participants to apply until July 21.

“We created this program — and continue to invest in it — because it is an incredible example of our mission and platform coming to life and a proven model of what a small business owner can achieve when they have the products, services and support they need to not only survive but to thrive,” said David Graham, senior vice president of customer success at Intuit.