Keep drinking coffee and help save America Widely criticized for putting small local coffee shops out of business, Starbucks has launched “Create Jobs for USA,” a program to raise funds for American small businesses. In an interview with AOL/Huffington Post, CEO Howard Schultz cited his concerns about government gridlock and the unemployment crisis as his reasons for creating the program. Schultz also called on corporate leaders to help solve the jobs crisis.   The campaign The marketing tactic is that which was first made popular by Lance Armstrong, colorful wristbands. Starting today, Starbucks customers will be able to buy $5 bracelets along with their lattes, woven in red, white, and blue, inscribed with the word “indivisible” etched on a metal charm. Schultz emphasized that the bracelets were made in America.   The proceeds Proceeds of wristband sales will go to the “Opportunity Finance Network”, a nonprofit umbrella organization that supports hundreds of Community Development Financial Institutions, local organizations that lend money at low interest rates to small business owners in underserved areas. The Seattle-based coffee brewer has already given $5 million to the cause.   Opportunity Finance Network Schultz said he hopes to raise “tens of millions of dollars.” In 2008, the Opportunity Finance Network estimates that these financial institutions loaned out $5.53 billion to small businesses. While banks claim the demand for small business loans has fallen significantly, Schultz said the numbers on the ground disagree: Demand for Opportunity Network micro-loans has been increasing for 13 consecutive quarters, he said.   Available The current Starbucks campaign, Schultz acknowledged, is more about spreading the word that these loans are available. Most small business owners and Americans are largely unaware that there’s money available. According to some small-business advocates, however, increased access to capital may not address the full problem. “From the research we’ve conducted, we haven’t found a great appetite among our membership for business loans,” said Cynthia Magnuson, spokeswoman for the National Federation of Independent Business.   A sense of solidarity “Create Jobs for USA” employs a marketing tactic, the bracelet, that is usually used by charities, to fund a micro-loan program, a concept that was pioneered in the developing world. But as the choice of inscription indicates, Schultz hopes the idea will energize a sense of the national solidarity, as every American can feel that they are doing their own small part to heal the country in a way the government, Schulz believes, has failed to do. “People want human connection,” he said. Starbucks, despite selling what most would consider a luxury good, has been doing very well since the recession, Schultz claims. He believes a large part of that is the sense of community fostered in its stores, some of which he claims have become informal job centers.   Lay offs Starbucks wasn’t totally immune to the recession, however. The chain closed 600 U.S. stores in 2008 and laid off 12,000 employees. However, in the ensuing years, people have kept buying coffee. While the overall economy is still soft in the wake of the recession, Starbucks has been performing well. In the third quarter, profit was up 34%. Schultz said customers are still buying the same expensive drinks that there were gulping before the downturn started.

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