The market decided you were expendable. We believe you're essential.
Thirty-six million small businesses are trying to figure out AI without any help. No IT department. No budget for consultants. Just a person running a business, feeling alone, overwhelmed, and left behind.
That’s where you come in.
Creating the new professional category. Built for people like you.
You understand what AI changes — because you live it.
The corporate world makes spreadsheet decisions. Columns say headcount. Only the value inside was you — skills, judgment, and relationships that never showed up in their models. That’s not AI taking jobs. That’s an organization failing to understand your value.
Small businesses need exactly what you know.
Small business operators didn't sign up to be technologists. A florist doesn’t have time for a generic online course. She needs someone standing nearby showing her where AI can eliminate six hours of mind-numbing work each week. That someone is you — if you’ve built products, run operations, managed teams, or shipped anything real with AI.
This is not a volunteer position.
Main Street Coaches are paid professionals deployed through Small Business Development Centers, Chambers of Commerce, and American Job Centers. The model creates the infrastructure and the career simultaneously. And if one of these business owners hires you away, even better. Mission accomplished.
Three ways to deploy what you already know.
Field Coach
Deliver in-person AI training directly to small business owners through SBDCs, Chambers of Commerce, and American Job Centers. The front line. The part that actually changes things.
Curriculum Lead
Maintain and adapt training content across industry verticals and regional business contexts. Keep the material grounded in how businesses actually work — not how technology works in theory.
Regional Coordinator
Manage relationships across SBDC, Chamber, and American Job Center networks within a state hub. The connective tissue between delivery partners, coaches, and outcomes.
Before you sign up. Good questions deserve answers.
No. You need to be a practitioner — someone who has used AI tools in real work contexts. If you've built products, run operations, managed teams, or shipped anything real with AI, that's the qualification. Small business owners need someone who can translate AI into their specific situation, not someone who can lecture about AI theory.
Yes. Main Street Coaches are paid professionals deployed through SBDCs, Chambers of Commerce, and American Job Centers. Coaching fees are written into SBDC grant budgets as an allowable cost under H.R. 5764 and S. 3888. This is not a volunteer program.
State pilots are launching in Wisconsin and Indiana in 2026, with additional states added as NSF AI-Ready America hub awards are made. Signing up now puts you first in line when pilots open in your region.
It helps but it's not required. What matters most is the ability to translate technical knowledge into practical, business-specific applications. Coaches who have operated small businesses or worked closely with them in a product, operations, or advisory capacity tend to be most effective.
You sit with a business owner, understand their actual workflows, then show them specifically where AI tools save time, reduce costs, or improve customer experience — in their business, this week. It's not a generic workshop. It's hands-on, contextual coaching delivered where they work.
This isn’t an application. Not yet.
This is a list. A movement forming before the doors open. When pilots launch in your region, this is where we look first. Add your name — a real person will reach out when the time is right.
You’re on the list. Welcome.
When pilots open in your region, you’ll hear from a real person. In the meantime — tell someone else who should be on this list.