Goldman Sachs, Buffett to help fund small businesses

Goldman set aside US$16.71 billion through the first nine months of the year for compensation, including salaries, bonuses and other benefits. The potential payouts its workers may receive for 2009 have drawn criticism from lawmakers and others. Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, on Monday led a protest in front of Goldman's Washington, D.C., offices to try to sway the bank to redirect part of its anticipated US$23 billion bonus pool to families facing foreclosure.

David Viniar, Goldman's chief financial officer, has said the bank is “very focused on the economic climate” and will take that into account when decisions about workers' bonuses are made at the end of the year.

With the bank's public profile under attack, Blankfein reportedly admitted at a conference in New York Tuesday that Goldman made mistakes leading up to the financial crisis.

Shortly before the small business program was announced, Blankfein apologized for the bank having “participated in things that were clearly wrong and we have reason to regret,” The New York Times said.

10,000 Small Businesses, which has been in development for nearly a year, is a five-year program modeled on the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative, which creates partnerships between academic institutions and non-profits to provide business and management education to women around the world.

The first community college to participate will be LaGuardia Community College in New York City's Queens borough, which houses a Small Business Development Center. The first community development financial institution to receive financing from Goldman Sachs will be New York-based Seedco Financial Services Inc., with loans to businesses in the New York area expected to begin early next year.

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