Ecosystem Developer Focuses on Growing the Economy – Mind, Body and Soul

CLT Alliance Foundation is a 401(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is an economic and ecosystem development organization focused on growing the economy by creating an environment where entrepreneurs and business leaders can more effectively start, run and grow businesses.

As an affiliate of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, we are committed to amplifying our impact and driving real change for small business and business leaders through our unique partnerships with local businesses, community organizations and government agencies.

As the president of the CLT Alliance Foundation, I bring more than 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, intrapreneur and senior executive. My career has allowed me to define the strategic vision of various organizations, providing transformational leadership, advocating for equity in urban public education, leading high-performing public and nonprofit boards, and driving business growth in hyper-competitive markets.

To better understand how we are helping local businesses, it helps to learn more about the programs we are leading:

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  Khaleel Loyd, co-founder and chief executive officer of Loyd Visuals and graduate of Scale Up CLT.

  Launched in 2019, our Scale Up CLT business accelerator is a three-way partnership between our foundation, the City of Charlotte and EO – Charlotte, one of the largest collections of entrepreneurs in the world. The goal of the program is to help minority and women founders, with businesses producing $250,000 and $999,999 in revenue, scale to more than $1 million in revenue. (Nationally, fewer than 8% of all small businesses ever reach $1 million in revenue.)

  Through the first five cohorts, we have seen 21% of all participants exceed $1 million in revenue and average 39% year-over-year revenue growth. Khaleel Loyd, co-founder and chief executive officer of Loyd Visuals is a graduate of Scale Up CLT. Loyd has emphasized how the business accelerator program impacted his company since graduating, “Since completing the Scale Up CLT business accelerator program, our company has been able to develop from an infrastructure prospective, by being able to bring on key people that has helped the growth and development of our firm.”

• Recently, we launched our Catch Your Breath program, developed in partnership with Hooky Wellness, which aims to flip the script on the conventional wisdom that entrepreneurs need to neglect friends and family to focus on their business dream. By emphasizing the four areas of personal wellness (physical, mental, social/emotional and financial) through a series of expert lead sessions, personal strategy development, a cohort program and a wellness retreat, entrepreneurs will be better equipped to start, run and grow a business if they focus on themselves first.

Interim CEO of Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, Andrea Smith

In the words of Andrea Smith, our Interim CEO of Charlotte Regional Business Alliance: “Building an inclusive business community where everyone has opportunity is how we all succeed. The CLT Alliance Foundation is a valuable teammate in this work. It is the only regional ecosystem development organization focused on growing small businesses and business leaders. With a full suite of programs and partners designed to address barriers in the small business ecosystem, the CLT Alliance Foundation is growing the economy by growing small businesses. Together, we are proud to be advancing economic prosperity and opportunity for all who call this region home!”

These are just some of the ways we are helping local small businesses grow and thrive. For more information about the CLT Alliance Foundation or our full suite of entrepreneur and leadership related programs, please visit us at www.cltgrowth.com/programs