Supporting Main Street: Strengthening the small businesses that hold our communities together
Small businesses are the connective tissue of American communities. They create local jobs, anchor neighborhood economies, and often serve as informal hubs for the people around them. But many of the small business owners running these operations, particularly in rural and underserved areas, are doing so without sufficient access to the capital, coaching, or planning support they need to grow and build long-term financial security.
The Main Street Initiative was built to change that. Working with the Edward Jones Community Impact Team, Edward Jones brought a clear and ambitious vision: to create meaningful, lasting impact for small business owners in the communities where they operate — going beyond traditional financial services to support businesses as engines of community health and wellbeing.
The Main Street Initiative
The Main Street Initiative provides small businesses in rural communities with grants and technical assistance across three categories: business growth, community projects, and retirement savings. Technical support includes:
Business coaching from the St Louis Small Business Empowerment Center, focused on operations, strategy, and small business fundamentals
Financial advising from Edward Jones, including retirement planning and long-term financial management
Sustainability advising from New Leaf Climate, including hands-on recommendations around energy efficiency, waste reduction, sustainable packaging, climate resilience, and disaster preparedness
This isn't a one-time grant with a handshake. It's a coordinated, multi-partner investment in the people and places that make communities work.
Improving Sustainability Practices for Small Businesses
New Leaf works directly with grantees to understand their operations, identify where sustainability improvements are both feasible and financially beneficial, and develop practical, actionable plans they can implement. This can look like cutting energy costs, reducing waste, or preparing for the climate risks increasingly affecting businesses across the country.
We also support grantees in scoping and executing community-facing projects, helping them direct resources toward local environmental and social priorities in ways that strengthen their relationships with the communities they serve. We bring the same rigor and creative thinking we apply to large conservation finance deals to a Main Street coffee shop trying to reduce its energy footprint or a rural landscaping company planning for wildfire season.
That's the through line in all of our work: connecting finance, sustainability expertise, and local relationships to unlock real impact in places that need it most.
To learn more, email us at mainstreet@newleafclimate.com
