In David vs. Goliath, Microfinance the Slingshot
Bloomberg Businessweek has a terrific article this week about microlenders stepping in to fill the credit gap created by decreased lending to small businesses among mainstream lenders. The piece focuses on ACCION USA and Opportunity Fund, as two of the larger U.S. microlenders. 
The article pulls in great stats from the Aspen Institute, which tracked increases in U.S. microloan applications at 66% of lenders over the past two years, as well as an aggregate $68.6 million lent in 2008. (In the Tooting-our-Own-Horn Department: U.S. ACCION affiliates lent a combined $31.4 million in 2008 – or 46% of the industry total reported by the Aspen Institute.)
Growing along with demand are interest in and support for the industry. Over 700 individuals (including California First Lady Maria Shriver) attended the first national microfinance conference last month, and donations from private individuals are up.
All of this is helping to unlock the potential of the field; and more importantly, that of the small businesses it aids.
As William Ortiz-Cartagena, microfinance borrower and owner of a San Francisco parking company, put it, “It’s like David and Goliath, and Opportunity Fund is my slingshot.”
Read the full article at Businessweek.com.