Hope is the Color Green: ACCION USA’s All New Green Loan Program
The birth of the modern environmental movement is celebrated each year on April 22nd. Today is the movement’s 40th anniversary and the day ACCION USA, a pioneer in U.S. microfinance, chose to launch its Small Business Green Loan Program.
Thanks to ACCION USA's Green Loan Program, entrepreneurs will have the green loans they need to build a strong business AND a healthy planet.
Among other things, ACCION USA’s Green Loan Program seeks to help entrepreneurs to leverage their profits to improve the larger community. After a year of dialogue with small businesses, we learned that their largest challenge to going green was lack of access to the support to take the leap. However, with the right financing and training, small businesses have the opportunity of the decade. Amid economic turmoil and hurting profits, “greening” has the potential to slash costs through energy efficiency and attract new environmentally conscious consumers – all the while making the earth a better place to inhabit.
On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Today, in 2010, we’re struggling with similar issues that we did 40 years prior – we are a country at war, struggling with an economic downturn, looking for hope. In many ways, the Obama Administration has turned hope the color green. In no other time in history have small businesses had so many incentives to go green. And even with all those incentives, they are asking for a hand up to make the first step. Microlenders like ACCION USA are uniquely positioned to bridge that gap for weatherization contractors, restaurants, transportation, corner stores, retail and offices alike.
Learn more about ACCION USA’s Small Business Green Loan Program at www.accionusa.org/green and spread the word. Happy 40th Anniversary of Earth Day!
Tags: earth day, green, small business
For Small Businesses, Green is the New Black
Green – it’s the new black. But hopefully, it’s more than a fad, or a marketing gimmick – but a real strategy to build our economy and secure our future. At ACCION USA, we spent the better half of 2009 focused on green and how “greening” can help grow small business. Our objective is simple: to provide business owners practical means to improve their profits, their community and their planet.
But how can “greening” grow small business, you ask? Incorporating eco-friendly products and energy-saving measures will be easier than ever! Going green impacts the bottom line and helps small businesses to:
- Access new, green-conscious consumers
- Reduce business energy, water and waste costs
- Participate in the growing green economy
- Hire for green jobs
- Leverage to tax credits and rebate programs
On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day this April, ACCION USA will launch a green loan program, so stay tuned for a sneak preview in upcoming weeks.
Jennifer Spaziano, vice president of business development at ACCION USA, ioins Main Street Microfinance as a regular blog contributor, covering green business issues and ACCION USA’s launch into green lending. Stay tuned for news and progress on our green lending initiative!
Tags: business, energy efficiency, green