Delivering the tools and resources New Hampshire’s small businesses need to grow. 

New Hampshire’s Community Navigator Program was powered by an ecosystem of experienced small business and microenterprise technical assistance providers across the state. Small businesses could gain access to resources and services at no charge.

• Business counseling

• Marketing, operations, business planning, and strategy development

• Connection to training and skills development resources

• Access to capital

• Other support as needed

The Community Navigator Program offered professional services and solutions for New Hampshire small businesses and entrepreneurs at no cost.

Our statewide, regional, and community partners were there to support you and your business goals with a customized approach that met your evolving needs. We started something - and our partners are here to help you grow and thrive.

The Community Navigator Pilot Program was an American Rescue Plan initiative designed to reduce barriers that underrepresented and underserved entrepreneurs often face in accessing the programs they need to recover, grow, or start their businesses. 

New Hampshire’s Community Navigator Pilot Program focused on addressing the barriers encountered by social and economically disadvantaged small businesses and entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on microenterprises, cooperatives, and early-stage businesses. The program enabled CDFA and partners to focus collective and coordinated efforts to reach out to small businesses that are owned or being started by historically vulnerable community members, specifically Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); immigrants and refugees; veterans; women; disabled, formerly incarcerated, and LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people. 

CDFA served as the statewide “Hub” and is working alongside New Hampshire’s ecosystem of established microenterprise technical assistance providers, New Hampshire’s Small Business Administration office, statewide training and language-access partners, and on-the-ground community partners to achieve the goals of the program. 

CDFA was awarded a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration to launch the program in New Hampshire. The organization is one of fifty-one grantees selected from more than 700 submissions nationwide. 

Read the Report on what Happened

Small Businesses Drive New Hampshire’s Economy & Create Pathways to Wealth

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration:

• 99 percent of the businesses located in New Hampshire are small businesses (defined as having less than 500 employees); and

• 49.8% of New Hampshire’s private workforce is employed by a small business (304,765 total employees); and

• 79 percent of small businesses in New Hampshire (108,000) have no employees, only a business owner.

Small businesses and microenterprises offer a pathway to wealth and asset building, particularly in New Hampshire, where homeownership is even less accessible due to very limited supply and record-high home prices. 

Independent research validates both poverty reduction and increases in family wealth through micro-entrepreneurship. A five-year study by the Aspen Institute found:

• 72 percent of poor micro-entrepreneurs experienced gains in household income over five years, rising from $14,000 per year to more than $22,000 per year;

• 53% of poor micro-entrepreneurs had household gains large enough to move out of poverty;

• Poor micro-entrepreneurs reduced their reliance on government assistance by an average of 61 percent; and

• The survival rate of microbusinesses was 49 percent after 5 years, comparable with survival rates for businesses with similar characteristics and owners.

CDFA continues to grow support and access to capital for this critical segment of New Hampshire’s economy. Alongside regional and statewide partners, CDFA aims to address challenges and break down barriers to reaching the most vulnerable and underserved community members in a meaningful way.

Program History

CDFA and our program partners are focused on building the capacity of New Hampshire communities to be strong, resilient, vibrant places through investments in people, institutions and systems. 

The Community Navigator Program design builds on years of CDFA’s investment in microenterprises through technical assistance community partners, including more than $2.6 million federal Community Development Block Grant resources in the past two years.

Since 2013, CDFA has seeded and grown programming through regional partners that supports the development and expansion of very small businesses (with five or fewer employees) as a pathway to full-time employment, a living wage, and wealth-building for low- and moderate-income business owners and their families.