Our Communities

Supporting Growth

Committed as USC is to contributing to the economic engine of Southern California - and indeed the world - the university is also dedicated to helping businesses grow and thrive in our own backyard. If an entrepreneur is willing to invest in one of our neighborhoods, USC is willing to supply expertise and resources to help him or her get started.

As an institution, USC invests in the next generation of local business leaders in a variety of ways:

• The Department of Supplier Diversity Services supports the goal of procuring 15 percent of all university purchases from diverse and/or local suppliers by maximizing opportunities for departments to partner with businesses owned by minorities, women and veterans, and with small businesses in the communities surrounding USC’s campuses.
• A core initiative of the Department of Supplier Diversity Services is the USC Local Vendor Program, which promotes the use of vendors located in 26 targeted Zip Codes surrounding USC’s campuses, creating employment opportunities for local residents by giving neighborhood vendors the opportunity to compete for university projects.
• The USC Business Expansion Network operates the Los Angeles Metropolitan Minority Business Enterprise Center, which offers local entrepreneurs assistance with creating business plans, acquiring financing, and increasing revenues and profits.

Individual departments and offices across the university, as well, sponsor programs that support growth in our communities. Highlights include:

• The USC Gould School of Law’s Small Business Clinic offers basic corporate legal assistance to small businesses, entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations that cannot afford to pay market rates for legal services.
• The USC Marshall School of Business’s Marshall Consulting Program brings together small teams of students and faculty to work with entrepreneurs and nonprofit groups in the neighborhoods surrounding the campus.
• The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development’s Community Development and Design Forum partners students with local residents and organizations seeking to improve their economies, physical environments and overall quality of life.

USC also gives preference in hiring to people who have already lived near one of our two campuses for five years or more.