The Blackstone Charitable Foundation today announced a $3 million three-year grant to train the next generation of entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia region of Pennsylvania.

Blackstone has created a national platform, Invitation Homes, to purchase distressed single family homes and then refurbish, lease and maintain them in neighborhoods across the country.

In Today’s Times, Blackstone’s John Studzinski discusses banking reputation and suggests ways the industry can gain back public confidence.

Blackstone’s Rescue of the Delaware City Refinery Saved Hundreds of Jobs and has the Potential to Create Thousands More

A:  Let’s start with revenue growth, which can come from competitive pricing, optimizing marketing expenditures, improvements in sales force productivity, and identifying new market segments and revenue sources.  There is also a big opportunity to help these organizations expand globally. Growth in developing and emerging markets, where Blackstone already has experience and connections,  represents a big growth opportunity in many of these companies.

First, we do a diagnostic analysis and then dive deeply into the customer facing processes and operations, doing customer research, competitive analysis, and sales force ride-alongs to ensure that we understand the drivers of the business.

A: In early 2007, we took the position that the economy seemed over heated. We then carefully worked with the management teams of the companies we owned on behalf of investors to prepare for and weather the economic downturn.

Mary Anne Citrino, Senior Managing Director and Head of Blackstone Advisory Partners’ Consumer Advisory Practice, responds to that and more.  

A: I will answer the second question first. Blackstone takes a very active role in counseling the companies owned in its funds on behalf of its investors. We are not passive investors. So this means that we apply our expertise in several ways to make companies stronger, and this includes debt structures. We are in the markets frequently, which gives us an excellent pulse on what is happening day to day. When there are opportunities to strengthen the companies’ balance sheets and to create more value, we want to seize those. And quickly! A reduction in the cost of borrowings or in total borrowings is a good thing for our investors and their returns.

A: The Foundation was created in 2007 by employees of The Blackstone Group to support communities around the world, particularly in areas where we live and work. When the global economic crisis hit, we determined we would have the greatest impact by applying our resources and expertise to programs that aim to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Influenced by the enterprising heritage of the firm and its founders, The Blackstone Charitable Foundation has pledged $50 million to fostering entrepreneurship around the world.

A. Coskata is a clean technology company that enables the low-cost production of biofuels and green chemicals. By leveraging proprietary microorganisms and innovative bioreactor designs, Coskata expects to dramatically improve the economics of fuel and chemicals production. For example, we expect Coskata to be a very low-cost producer of ethanol, with an annual operating cost approaching $1 per gallon.