About two weeks ago, I wrote a post
about the pressing need for microfinance services – particularly microcredit,
small loans for very small businesses – here at home in the US, not just in the
developing world. In that post I featured OUR MicroLending, a Miami-based
microcredit company that has disbursed over 1,050 small loans to over 600 South
Florida micro-entrepreneurs, to the tune of around $6.2 million, who were
turned away by the big banks after applying for loans. In our current credit
crunch, the company is giving these hard-working merchants a way to restock,
expand, hire and, by extension, stimulate their local neighborhood economies. OUR MicroLending is also working to
expand its operations to the entire state of Florida and, eventually, the rest
of the country. Because there is so much unfulfilled need for these types of
services here, I was heartened to read an excellent Associated Press article,
published last week, about the fine work microfinance organizations are doing
in the United States. OUR MicroLending had a starring role in the story, which
appeared in the Washington
Post and at least 25 newspapers and websites, spreading the message of
financial inclusion far and wide. My congratulations go to AP reporter Laura
Wides-Muñoz for a great piece. Here’s hoping some struggling entrepreneurs who
don’t know about microfinance read it and realize there is hope.
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