Vote to create jobs across the country.

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Elizabeth Haffa

As a student about to graduate and enter “the real world” in a couple months, the question I most dread hearing is, “So what are you going to do after graduation?” I’m sure you can relate, especially considering the tough economy and job market we are about to enter.

I have been working as an intern at Accion East and Online over the past month. Accion is a nonprofit microlender that is driving job creation all across the United States, making this question that students all across the country are asking themselves a little less scary.

This story of one of Accion’s borrowers really touched me in particular. Meet Sarah.

Sarah of Grey’s Fabrics & Notions

After finishing grad school, Sarah struggled to find an academic job related to what she had studied. In Sarah’s words, “In this economy, it just wasn’t going to happen.” For Sarah, sewing was a creative outlet, and her husband suggested she open her own sewing store. She decided to give it a try, and opened Grey’s Fabrics & Notions in the artsy Sowa district of Boston.

After two years of paying for inventory out of pocket, Sarah wanted to expand the store but were having trouble securing financing. “We could tell right away that we didn’t have strong enough credit,” explained Sarah.

Then Sarah found Accion. She was approved for a $15,000 loan, which she used to invest in more inventory and products for her store. Sarah was also able to hire an employee to help her teach sewing classes, craft designs and run the store.

Sarah is just one of the many entrepreneurs that Accion helps to access the capital and support they need to grow their businesses, but can’t find elsewhere. Not only are these self-starters creating their own employment opportunities, but they are improving the employment outlook for others in their communities as well. In 2012, Accion businesses created and supported an average of 4.4 jobs each. …Did you know that “micro” businesses represent 80% of all businesses in the U.S? If just one in three microenterprises hired a single employee, the US would be at full employment.

For those of you who don’t know about the Give-It-Away Campaign, JPMorgan decided not to hand out stickers and other freebies across college campuses this year (that, let’s be honest, would inevitably end up in the trash anyway). Instead, they are going to donate that money ($25,000!!) to organizations that are making a difference in their communities all across the globe and they are letting us vote on which ones. I’m voting for Accion, and I hope you will join me in making our job searches a little less grim this spring!

Cast your vote for Accion today!

Accion’s work in the United States

Posted on February 22, 2013 by lyothers

Since 1991, we’re proud to say we’ve made over 20,000 loans across the country so individuals like Helen Saavendra, who offers free mobile ultrasounds in New York, can continue to do what they love.

We’re proud to be joined by four other Accion members to make the Accion U.S. Network—the only national microlending organization in the country. Together we ensure the success of the smallest businesses in the country—from New York to New Mexico, Chicago to San Diego and everywhere in between.

We just released a brand new video featuring the stories of our clients, told in their own words. See their faces and hear about their journeys.

My Introduction to Accion, Margarita and the Moreno family

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Aeriel Emig

When I signed on to intern with Accion East and Online, they told me that I would get a hands-on view of the inner workings of microlending. Sure enough, just one week after setting foot in Boston, I was in the backseat of a car zipping downtown with two members of the Accion team on the way to personally meet clients. “You know Spanish right?” they asked.

Margarita, owner of Amador Home Improvement

Our first stop was to visit Margarita —proud owner of Amador Home Improvement, a residential remodeling company based out of Chelsea, Massachusetts. Margarita has been working closely with Accion since 2006. She receives contracts from commercial companies and the government to refurbish residences throughout the Greater Boston area, working in all remodeling fields, including interior and exterior painting, masonry, house cleaning, carpentry and tiling. Now with 12 employees, over 60 projects, and only four days to prepare each residence to be move-in ready, Margarita is always on the run. Extremely dedicated to her work and her two children, Margarita hopes to continue to expand her business to provide for her family and her children’s education.

Simeon, greeting us with his warm smile

Already in the neighborhood, we popped in for a surprise visit to Moreno’s Barber Shop in Egleston Square Commercial District in Roxbury. Co-owners Simeon—who first opened the business 20 years ago under the name Moreno’s Unisex Salon—and his grandson Jonathan have recently renovated their space, and the old school barber shop now has quite the shine. Check out their Facebook page to see the before and after photos from the transformation! Now with a new look, Jonathan is looking to continue to expand the family business to bring in more revenue and clients. Moreno’s Barber Shop claims to offer “affordable, friendly and accommodating” service; and from my brief experience it is obvious that they offer nothing less, greeting every individual who walks through the door with a smile that fills the room.

Needless to say, the move to Boston is already proving to be exciting and it is clear that Accion is committed to maintaining lasting relationships with clients.

Show some love… small business style

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Katherine Lynch

Having had my fair share of lackluster Valentine’s Days, I decided to take matters into my own hands this year. Listen up boys! Here is the recipe for my ideal February 14th. Use it as a guide so you aren’t caught red-handed on the big day. The best part is you’ll be supporting small businesses throughout the United States. Talk about sharing the love!

Katherine, Marketing and Communications Intern

First, cover the basics

Flowers are an absolute Valentine’s Day must-have. So why is it that I’ve never received that quintessential rose bouquet? Florals by Fe is a family-owned and operated flower shop in Vero Beach, Florida. Their arrangements are exquisite and their delivery is free! Not in South Florida? Flowers are still a Valentine’s Day requirement, so be sure to order them from a small business near you.

Anne Mironchik at the Harvest Festival

Next, set the mood

Accion client and jazz singer, Anne Micronchik, has produced a number of smooth and sultry songs that are sure to create a romantic atmosphere that will wow your Valentine. After hearing her sing at the Accion Harvest Fest last December, I can personally guarantee she’ll do the trick. Her CD is available online, making it easy for you to purchase, add to a playlist, and plan ahead!.

Feed the Heart

Handmade European and American style delicacies, Delectable Desires, is known in Massachusetts for creating some of the most decadent cakes and pastries around. Contact this Accion client to to put the SWEET in sweetheart with delectable treats such as tiramisu, cheesecakes, or truffles. I would suggest chocolate covered strawberries — you can’t go wrong with chocolate covered strawberries.

Nataska Wozniak at work

Add some sparkle

Jewelry is never a bad idea when it comes to pleasing the one you love. (Seriously, this is all I want for Valentine’s Day). Here’s a tip: sneak into her jewelry box to gain insight on the style she likes. If you need a suggestion, Accion client Natasha Wozniak has some truly beautiful designs that will make any girl swoon.

: Sandra, Owner of Kanti Organics

Turn up the heat

Break out the body oils and share some intimate moments your Valentine. Accion client, Kanti Organics has a line of pure and natural products masterfully concocted to love the body. And, after all your hard work to create the perfect Valentine’s Day for your love, maybe it’s YOU who will have earned the romantic massage.

To browse more gift ideas while supporting an Accion client, visit the Accion Marketplace.

Cooking with Accion client Yolanda Pesto

Posted on February 1, 2013 by lyothers

The Super Bowl is coming and we want you to be ready for your gathering with this quick and easy appetizer. This week, we’re sharing a recipe for roasted red pepper pesto crostini. A versatile Italian antipasti, crostini lend themselves to endless variations. Here, we top the grilled bread slices with creamy goat cheese and roasted red pepper pesto.

Happy cooking,
Yolanda

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Crostini (Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen)

30 mins, Italian, Serves 24

INGREDIENTS

1 baguette, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 bottle of Roasted Red Pepper Pesto (may we suggest Yolanda Pesto’s version)
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 oz. goat cheese

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat an electric panini press according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush lightly on both sides with the 1/4 cup olive oil.
Working in batches, place the bread slices on the preheated panini press and cook until light golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer to a baking sheet.
Preheat an oven to 350°F.
Place the crostini in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Spread about 2 tsp. of the goat cheese on each crostini.
Bake until the cheese is slightly soft and the crostini are warm, about 5 minutes.
Transfer to a platter and top each with about 1 Tbs. of the red pepper pesto.
Sprinkle with parsley.

About Yolanda Pesto

Yolanda Pesto is a gourmet homemade line of richly flavored pesto sauces made by a company that is passionate about flavor. The company’s founder and creator, Yolanda, has enjoyed a long love affair with foods from different cultures. Yolanda’s background in the health industry put her in close contact with people of many different cultures and health practices and she subsequently made it her goal to incorporate that appreciation of culture and health into her products. Believing in settling for no less than the best, all Yolanda Pesto products are made with fresh, all natural high quality ingredients that sets them apart from all the other pesto sauces on the market.

Do you live in New York? You can buy Yolanda Pesto at Foodcellar & Co.

We Thrived: 2012 a Year of Growth

Posted on January 29, 2013 by lyothers

During 2012…

We Invested in Our Clients

Accion East and Online disbursed $7,715,225 in microloans

to 743 small businesses owners in the U.S.

retaining and creating 3,269 jobs*

These small businesses created an economic ripple effect, strengthening household incomes, creating employment opportunities, and revitalizing local communities.

*Estimate based on Accion’s 2012 MicroTest Client Outcome Survey.

We Educated

In 2012, we served more than 5,000 entrepreneurs through our financial education programs. We offered one-on-one technical assistance in English, Spanish and Portuguese to our clients nationwide. We educated women entrepreneurs through our Tory Burch Foundation Mentoring Program in New York. We taught business owners about online marketing with the help of our partners at Yelp and the New York Stock Exchange. We hosted Brewing the American Dream speed coaching workshops for food and beverage entrepreneurs in Boston, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Lehigh Valley and New York City. We were a resource to the Hispanic community in Miami with our ‘La Idea’ program in partnership with Univision. We hosted the CEO Forum in Miami, a series of four intimate events where entrepreneurs sat down with experts to talk about pressing topics. Also, we launched our Credit Coaching program to give small business owners the opportunity to get personalized advice on how to build their credit.

Join us for a workshop in 2013 or sign up for our Credit Coaching program.

We Recovered

On October 29th, residents of New York and New Jersey woke to widespread damage from Hurricane Sandy. Among the most affected were local small business owners. Thanks to the generous support of over a thousand people via Groupon as well as the support of Bank of America Merchant Services, Chase Bank, E*TRADE Savings Bank, Morgan Stanley, the Robin Hood Foundation, the Seven Bar Foundation and Union Bank we raised enough to create a loan and grant fund to support small business owners affected by the storm in New York and New Jersey . Thanks to additional support from an anonymous donor and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, we are able to continue the program in 2013with $975,000 in loans and $146,000 in grantsto disburse to the numerous entrepreneurs who have sought our help.

Spread the word to entrepreneurs affected by the storm.

We Expanded

During 2012, we created new loan programs designed to serve more entrepreneurs. We disbursed our first retrofit truck loan, a program in partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey created to make trucks more environmentally friendly.

We launched a partnership with Smallknot, combining microlending with crowdfunding. We also expanded our SBA microloan program to Florida, allowing us to serve more Florida businesses with capital and technical assistance.

Connect with us to learn about our new programs.

We Connected

Not only did we lend to business owners, but we connected with them as well. Our Microchat sessions allowed our supporters to meet our clients face to face and learn about the joys and struggles of being a small business owner. We held our second annual Harvest Festival in New York City and our first ever Small Business Soiree in Miami where we celebrated the achievements of Accion in our communities. We piloted our first class of Client Ambassadors, a select group of clients who champion Accion’s services while promoting their own through media channels and special events. We connected our clients to opportunities at local markets, including the New Amsterdam Market and the Give Good Holiday Market. And of course, we shopped from our clients in our marketplace.

Support Accion clients’ businesses.

We Achieved

Our lending activity earned us recognition in 2012. The Social Impact Exchange inducted Accion East and Online into its S&I 100, an index of the top 100 nonprofits creating social impact. Our Boston team was awarded the 2012 SBA Microlender of the Year in Massachusetts. Our team leader in Miami, Fabiana Estrada, was recognized with the Economic Opportunity Award from the South Florida Community Development Coalition.

Help us keep up the good work.

We Defined

In 2012, we united with Accion offices worldwide to define a common global vision and new brand identity. We changed our name from ACCION USA to Accion East and Online, to emphasize our programmatic roots. Finally, our organization united for an offsite in Colorado to plan ways to better serve our clients in 2013. During this time we put pen to paper and memorialized our values as an organization.

Check out Accion East and Online’s values

We Stood Out

Our clients and programs were featured in many media outlets last year. Our response to Hurricane Sandy earned us segments across New York media outlets, including NBC 4, Fox Business News and NY1. Our Brewing the American Dream Program was featured in many publications including, New York Times, Fox Business News, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Our partnership with La Idea received recognition on Univision. And our partnership with the New York Stock Exchange was featured on a variety of media channels including CNBC and Bloomberg Businesssweek.

Write about us.

On the red carpet with Jenny Kan – business owner, job creator and mother of three

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Libby Parsons

It’s not every day I get invited to a red carpet event. So last night, I was excited to walk down the red carpet at the UN to see Jenny Kan, an Accion client, tell her powerful story about how she saved her business with an Accion microloan.

Jenny Kan and I pose for the camera

Hosted by Validas and the Seven Bar Foundation, the event was a launch party of Vera– a website that analyzes wireless bills for errors and recommends better options so people can save. The company then encourages people to re-allocate their savings to a good cause. Enter Accion.

Before Hurricane Sandy even left the East Coast, Accion created an emergency Sandy Recovery Loan Fund to help small businesses rebuild and recover. The loan program offers a three-month grace period, a subsidized interest rate, and a 15% grant portion.

Accion was able to provide this loan fund with the support of thousands of Groupon donors, as well as Chase Bank, the Robin Hood Foundation, Bank of America Merchant Services, Morgan Stanley, Union Bank, E*TRADE Savings Bank, and of course, the Seven Bar Foundation in partnership with Validas. With the support of these funders, we were able to support small business owners like Jenny.

Here’s Jenny’s story – in her own words:

“I came from Taiwan to the United States as a student in the early 80’s because I wanted to build a better life for my career. I got married in the United States, and had 3 children. I worked hard to earn my MBA degree and found employment on Wall Street. I helped my brother and sister-in-law come to the United States in the early 90’s. After 9/11, my financial business fell apart.

I needed a stable income and so I decided to open my service business, Relish Taiwan. I realized that many bakeries, delis and supermarkets did not have enough storage space for all the paper bags, bowls, utensils, cups, etc. they use for takeout – so I was able to fill this market by purchasing these goods in bulk, storing them in a warehouse and delivering weekly and daily to clients, all while employing my brother as the deliveryman. Then I expanded my business to include a catering service and hired my sister-in-law to help cook. This business supports my three children and my brother’s three children.

Thanks to the success of my business, my first-born son graduated from John Hopkins University in May with a degree in Chemistry. He is now working for a Hospital as a research assistant and is planning to pursue a PHD degree.

Hurricane Sandy’s strong winds broke our office windows, and damaged our power generator, meat slicer and meat grinder. Without power for 10 days, we lost all of our food inventory–and the income that our family depends on. We needed an emergency loan to get my business back on track.

I was referred to Accion and worked with a microfinance loan consultant to map out needed investments. In just ten days, I had a microloan, that I used to rebuild my business – a loan made possible by Seven Bar Foundation.

I look forward to sending the rest of my children to college to pursue their dreams.

I am thankful for the work that Validas and Seven Bar Foundation are doing. Thanks to VERA, Save Love Give and their commitment, I had the opportunity to rebuild my business and improve my family’s future and help others.”

Beatriz Cilantro Salsa

Posted on January 11, 2013 by lyothers

Photo by Tatiana Cohen http://tatianacohen.com/

Beatriz’s journey has not been an easy one. In her native Columbia, she managed her family farming business successfully for 25 years. But when she immigrated to Florida, it was difficult to find work. Beatriz finally settled on cleaning houses to make ends meet.

For 20 years, Beatriz perfected recipes for delicious and wholesome salsas as little more than a hobby. Finally, in 2008, with her family’s encouragement, Beatriz used her life savings to launch her own business, Beatriz Cilantro Salsa. Reviewers raved about the product, but the business struggled to maintain inventory for the orders that followed. Beatriz sought funding from local banks with the help of her brother, but learned her business was considered too new and risky for traditional financing. After years of struggling to rebuild the life she once had in Columbia, this rejection was a major disappointment.

Last year, Beatriz and her brother drove to the Accion East and Online office in Miami to personally deliver a loan application and product sample. Their request was approved within eight days (the sample was finished almost immediately), and the two quickly purchased 2,500 salsa containers and packaging materials.

Beatriz Cilantro Salsa

Beatriz’s brother now manages the company’s finances and her two nephews oversee marketing and distribution. Their company creates jobs at local businesses that package and distribute their salsas.

Try their salsa as an appetizer for a party this weekend! Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to let us know what you think.

Story by Preeyel Dalal, Resource Development Officer at Accion East and Online

Seven Days of Small Business Saturday: Apothecaring

Posted on November 23, 2012 by lyothers

Angie Adams, founder of Apothecaring, is on a mission to restore YOUR body to a healthier state using herbal remedies. She says “Anything herbal is a gift from nature. We need to go back to the time of grandma or great grandma and clean our homes and bodies of toxins. They had the right idea, let nature keep us healthy. So we begin with the teas and go forward from there.”

ApotheCaring provides herbs and teas for medicinal purposes and natural healing for headaches and other ailments. This establishment offers teas for detox, constipation relief, healthy bladder, liver detox, migraine relief and tea to aid sleep.

Using certified organic herbs and teas, Angie’s teas are sure to give your body a wholesome boost. Shop small and give the gift of health this holiday season.

Seven days of Small Business Saturday: Forte Fashion

Posted on November 22, 2012 by lyothers

Forte Fashion was founded by Jenna, a mother of 2 small children, a college graduate of Merrimack College, world traveler and Rhode Island native. Jenna saw a need for high-quality, design-oriented, affordable handbags for everyday working professional women like herself. She had a business degree, a boyfriend in marketing, a best friend in photography, and the enthusiasm to do it, so she dove in and started her business plan.

A loan from Accion East and Online helped Jenna manufacture and ship her first 50 bags, just in time for her release party.

Shop small for a luxury handbag to give to the working professional women in your life on Small Business Saturday!