Skip to main content

Micro Enterprise Summit Keynote speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Bernake


Goal of Micro-enterprise: Offer small loans to people so they can increase their income and promote self employment.

Theme: Development of ME development in the US

Goals:
  • expand opportunities and community economic development
  • more flexible terms than banks
In US credit is only one part
    • education and training are important part
      • improves survival rate / credit repayment
      • laws are regulations are significant here, more so than the informal setting outside of the US
      • There are alternative sources for credit in US
      • Lending is not essential to the broader mission of starting businesses
  • Huge benefit to families and communities
Small business = less than 500 employees.
Micro business= less than 5

ME programs are about more than the extension of credit... mentoring / networking / training / sales programs / connections to banks, colleges... Offers borrowers technical support thereby helping sucess rates.

Can ME programs become self sustaining?

  • Income from check cashing and remittances
  • Reduced costs through technology
  • Partnerships with mainstream banks. Partnership helps mainstream institutions gain new customers.
Affirms role ME programs have in starting successful businesses and how vital they are to individuals and the economy.

Comments

  1. Anonymous11:34 AM

    This is awesome stuff J. Keep it coming!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PageMill, Wells Fargo and Sam Zell

Dear Friends,  Normal.dotm 0 0 1 888 5066 Northern California Urban Development 42 10 6221 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false As many of you know we've been in discussion recently with Wells Fargo and Equity Residential, the proposed buyers of the former Pagemill Properties on the west side of East Palo Alto.  As an East Palo Alto resident and leader I view this issue, and how Wells Fargo handles this important portfolio as a milestone event for our community and it’s residents. First, a little background (from my perspective):  A few years ago over 80% of East Palo Alto's multi family housing stock was purchased piece by piece by a predator equity group, Pagemill Properties. After the purchase Pagemill began systematically dismantling our rent control ordinances and aggressively evicting working class families. The community was in shock. However, the Pagemill group went bankrupt in 2009 and lost the property to Wachovia,...

Non Profit Payday Loans?

Here's a recent New York Times article sent to me from Katie at NCHM on payday lending. I know that the NCUD / CTCU-EPA partnership is going to have to create the right program addressing the needs for short term lending for low income families. We don't have the answers yet, but it's definitely on our radar. APPLETON, Wis. — This city of 70,000 has five McDonald’s franchises, three Pizza Huts, four Starbucks shops — and 19 payday loan stores, brightly lighted storefronts with names like EZ Money and Check Into Cash that offer two-week loans without credit checks. Peggy Truckey, 53, knows the allure. Last year she owed nearly $1,300 to four of those stores, and was paying about $600 a month in finance fees alone. “I thought I was going to have to take a second job just to pay off the interest,” Ms. Truckey said. Then she heard about a new nonprofit program operated out of a Goodwill thrift store, one of several hundred lower-cost payday loan products that are now bein...

Untitled

Posted via email from JOHN's posterous