Marcus Lemonis, the Lebanon-born host of the hit CNBC show “The Profit” and the CEO of Camping World, has announced The Lemon-Aid Foundation, designed to support small businesses and underserved communities, and the Business Learning Center, which he has launched to bolster struggling businesses and individuals.
Lemonis’ new website has just launched and is hosting The Business Learning Center. Aside from offering several guidance resources for entrepreneurs, the site also features The Business of Life section, which will help people understand how to make best use of their money – from applying for student loans to buying their first car or home.
“I have dedicated my life to working with small businesses and understand the urgent need for both financial and educational resources,” said Lemonis. “Business leaders have a responsibility to empower other entrepreneurs so that they can flourish and succeed in today’s world. Our best and only option is to support each other and I implore others to join me in the cause.”
Lemonis is also launching The Lemon-Aid Foundation, with the plan to roll out the program by end of the year, and he pledged $50 million to champion his charitable mission of supporting and investing in underserved communities and small businesses. These investments will be in the form of loans and equity investments and will be designed to have measurable charitable impact on the communities and businesses being served by the foundation. The foundation also intends to make grants to other charitable organizations that share the same mission and goals. Lemonis said he intends to apply the same type of rigor that he applies in his own investments to the impact investing of the foundation.
Lemonis is also launching his first podcast in which he will focus on speaking with influential business leaders to hear their stories and help give direction to unbeknownst small business entrepreneurs, all in effort to provide additional resources to many struggling businesses. The first episode, featuring Charles Barkley, will be available at The Business Learning Center.