Festival Fete’s Holiday Market embodies the spirit of small business, as an event featuring locally grown food, art and products from talented individuals across New England. The Holiday Market will include over 100 Contemporary American Craft artists, strolling entertainment, a farmers market, and children’s crafts and entertainment. The market is a 2-day extravaganza, taking place over Thanksgiving weekend (November 25^th and 26^th) at the Rhode Island Convention Center, 11am to 6pm daily. For entrepreneurs who are participating in the fair, we’d love to have you attend our credit seminar on November 26^th just before the fair begins at 11am. Don’t worry if you can’t make it, you can find ACCION USA at booth 223 – stop by and say hello!

Bookstore at the Microfinance USA Conference

A huge pat on the back to all of the Microfinance Council volunteers who contributed to the Microfinance Annotated Bibliography, which was launched at the Microfinance USA Conference in May!  The Bibliography compiles summaries of over 30 articles and books about domestic and international microfinance.  It serves as a free resource for anyone who wants to simplify their approach to research or reading about microfinance.  The Council thanks its dedicated volunteers and the Public Policy Committee– this project is on-going and anyone interested in contributing can reach out to the Chair of the Public Policy Committee to learn how to be involved (please see the website for contact information:  www.accionusa.org/microfinancecouncil).

The bibliography can be found at the Microfinance USA Website (www.microfinanceusaconference.org/bookstore/) and the ACCION USA Microfinance Council site (http://www.accionusa.org/Uploads/FileManager/mfusa-bibliography.pdf)

Like many of ACCION USA’s clients, Larry tells his story with an air of humility and pride.  Thirty years ago Larry was building a career as a successful Wall Street financier.  It was his pride and entrepreneurial spirit that lead him in a new professional direction when industry corruption kept him from making an honest living.  With two young daughters to support, Larry sought work in the burgeoning dental field, beginning his new career path as a dental technician.  In his early years Larry worked for a small company and designed dental molds out of tiny workspace. 

 Today, Larry owns New-Dent Dental Lab in Mid-town Manhattan, a venture conceived from years of hard work and the business savvy he learned on Wall Street.  Larry’s laboratory is a true family business—his daughter, Dana, helps manage the company’s finances.  Larry also employs 14 dental technicians who design and paint dentures, a unique combination of medicine and art.  These days, it is unusual to employ an in-house staff of such size when competition within the industry is increasingly outsourcing labor.  Perhaps it has something to do with New-Dent Dental Lab’s exceptional customer service.  In fact, Larry still holds his very first business account from the first business he opened nearly 15 years ago.

Celebrate small business week with us and visit the New-Dent Dental Lab at 269 W 39th St #4. Also don’t miss the chance to meet Larry during the client tour at the 2011 Microfinance USA Conference on May 23 and 24th!

Gladys Remache and her husband opened this authentic Mexican café after immigrating to New York City 14 years ago. Gladys had always dreamed of opening her own business and Kahlua’s Café , located in the heart of El Barrio in East Harlem, is the product of Gladys’ hard work and determination.

 Gladys first approached ACCION USA for a small business loan 3 years ago in order to expand her restaurant by giving it a recreation area to attract more customers and increase her revenue. When Gladys approached a bank to ask for a loan, they told her that her credit history was not yet strong enough. The banker referred her to ACCION USA, where she received a $15,000 loan for expansion. Then when her business was in dire need of renovations, ACCION USA approved her for a loan for $25,000 in December 2010. “ACCION USA did more than lend me money, they helped me a lot,” explained Gladys, who took advantage of the business education programs offered by ACCION USA.

Join us in celebrating Small Business week and visit Kahlua’s Cafe at 2117 3rd Ave. Also don’t miss the chance to meet Gladys Remache during the client tour at the 2011 Microfinance USA Conference on May 23 and 24th!

Four years ago, Venezuelan-born Riccardo Romero opened up Arepas Café in Astoria, Queens. The restaurant was always popular with neighborhood locals and both Venezuelan and Colombian expats, who tend to disagree about who invented the signature griddled-corn arepa. Yet Riccardo’s dream is to run a chain of Arepas Café across the country.

Riccardo recently received a loan from ACCION USA through the Sam Adams Brewing the American Dream program in order to expand his business. The larger space, which adds fifteen to twenty more seats, lets him bring in a different crowd as well: neighborhood school kids, who are invited in groups two afternoons a week for a culturally eye-opening snack.

Celebrate small business week and visit Arepas Cafe at 33-07 36th Avenue in Astoria, Queens. Also don’t miss the chance to meet Riccardo Romero during the client tour at the 2011 Microfinance USA Conference on May 23 and 24th!

• “In developing economies, equity beats microfinance” – Fortune

A new effort is underway to advance entrepreneurship in the developing world. The U.S. State Department recently launched a program to promote business creation in emerging markets known as the Global Entrepreneurship Program. Leading entrepreneurs, investors, and corporations in the public and private sector met in Washington to discuss the best ways to achieve social and economic impact in underserved markets. This included mobilizing capital, scaling businesses, and working with large corporations. These initiatives are beginning to transform the way many think about economic development abroad. Read More

• “Samuel Adams and ACCION USA Help Local Businesses“ – Queens Gazette

For those seeking to begin a business in the fiercely competitive metropolis of New York City, a recent partnership may help get their idea off the ground. The recent partnership between Samuel Adams Brewing Company and ACCION USA, a not-for-profit microlending organization, has extended an opportunity for many to achieve success within the food, beverage and hospitality sectors. Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program recently extended its resources to New York City, as well as Ohio and the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, expecting to provide loans totaling at least $250,000 to small businesses within the city. The program’s ultimate goal is to loan $1,000,000 by the end of 2011.  Read More

• “Microlending Abuses Show Flaws In Socially Responsible Investing” - Forbes

Socially responsible investing is huge and getting bigger. In the U.S. alone, an estimated $3 trillion—roughly 12% of all assets under management—are labeled socially responsible investments (SRI), according to a recent report by Boston-based Social Investment Forum Foundation. As it grows, SRI is becoming harder to define, and it’s harder for investors to feel confident that the dollars they believed they had invested responsibly are underwriting ethical and responsible business practices. Read More

• “Small Business News: Small Biz Social Media Guide“ – Small Business Trends

Social media is such a huge part of small business marketing these days, we just can’t resist sharing the latest whenever we can. This roundup is arranged with the latest news and opinion, but also as a guide to help you figure out the latest trends and where your business needs to be looking in the near future. Do you have a plan for using social media? If not, we hope this roundup will get you started. Read More

ACCION USA, Opportunity Fund, and Kiva bring you the Microfinance USA 2011 Conference this May 23-24 in New York City!

Are you a student interested in local economic development? Are you passionate about being part of the growing microfinance movement in the U.S. – and interested in learning from industry experts about the impact you can make? If so, this conference is not to be missed. Microfinance USA provides a unique setting for networking and learning from the industry’s top practitioners, funders, and researchers.

Topics that will be discussed at this year’s conference include:

• What does “Microfinance” mean? – debating and defining our terminology
• Impact of microlending in the U.S.
• Social Entrepreneurship and Microfinance
• Promise and Peral of Microfinance Impact Evaluations

Over two days, you can:

• Network with leading practitioners and researchers in the U.S. microfinance field
• Attend plenary sessions and panels led by the nation’s leading microfinance voices.
• Deepen your understanding of the challenges facing Microfinance Institutions through case-study analysis.
• Experience microfinance first-hand by touring local microenterprises in New York.
• Debate current microfinance topics during small group sessions and networking dinners.
• Discover how students LIKE YOU are impacting the domestic microenterprise industry in remarkable ways
• Collaborate with student microfinance clubs and young professionals across the country

For More Information please visit the website:

http://www.microfinanceusaconference.org/home/

Student Price: $75

A Government Accountability Office investigation shows that many appliances backed by the Energy Star program are not tested for efficiency.  The Office was able to get 15 fake products, even a gas-powered alarm clock, certified by Energy Star and five fake small businesses signed up for the Energy Star Challenge.  The Office has pushed for independent testing of products – so that consumers and small business owners know what they’re buying is truly more efficient.

As a consumer that is influenced by the Energy Star label, I hope that the Energy Star quickly fixes their process.  And not only to consumers rely on the Energy Star logo, but many government and nonprofit programs also use the rating system to dole out incentives and rebates to individuals and small businesses who choose Energy Star products.  Just a quick search on the Database for State Incentives for Renewable Energy website comes up with dozens of such programs.

Check out this video from the New York Times in March detailing the grievances:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/03/26/multimedia/1247467458585/energy-star-rating-questioned.html

Do you rely on Energy Star to make informed buying decisions?  How else do you ensure the products you purchase are green or energy efficient?

• Knowledge Networks: Reducing the Cost of Green Business- Huffington Post
• A Small-Business Barometer in Astoria- New York Times
• How to Claim Your Facebook Places- PC World
• Faith, Hope and Charities- The Economist

But there’s a problem.  According to Vice President Biden, “there are currently not enough skilled workers and green entrepreneurs to expand weatherization and efficiency retrofit programs on a national scale.”

So, how do we get more skilled workers and green entrepreneurs to expand weatherization programs?  ACCION USA believes we should offer them the capital and know-how to get there.  And we’re not alone in that belief.

Massachusetts’s Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), for example, recently launched programs that prepare the workforce for new market opportunities in weatherization.  MassCEC’s MassGREEN Initiative, for example, is a multi-million dollar program to develop, maintain, and deliver workforce and career training for energy efficiency and building science.

Marybeth Campbell, Workforce Development Director of MassCEC, describes this program as

“one of the most comprehensive clean energy workforce training courses in Massachusetts. MassCEC’s approach, which includes a practical hands-on set of equipment and props that mirror all types of scenarios and contractors that contractors and crew may face in the field, is highly successful in developing a highly skilled workforce.”

But why should contractors – those with some kind of conservation experience or those in related trades – consider weatherization training?  Joe Diamond, Executive Director of Massachusetts Association for Community Action, explains that

“federal, state, and utility investment in weatherization has increased and will continue not only for low income households but other residences and for commercial structures.  Another reason is that weatherization skills are a platform for other “Green Jobs” career pathways such as green construction. “

Over the past year, organizations such as MassCap, in Fitchburg, Boston, and Framingham, ran “boot camps” that trained weatherization workers who ultimately filled 268 weatherization jobs.  As time goes on, resources from utilities for energy conservation will increase providing more opportunities for weatherization careers.

Nonprofit organizations and government agencies such as the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Massachusetts Association for Community Action, Action Inc, Community Action Inner City, Community Action Inc, Worcester Community Action Council , The New England Clean Energy Council, Conservation Services Group and ACCION USA are working together to survey the challenges facing the contractors in weatherization today.  The information gathered will be used to improve current programs and perhaps build new ones.

Are you, or do you know, a contractor interested in the weatherization movement? Click here to shape the future of loan programs for this industry.