The Southwest Minnesota Foundation has been awarded two grants, totaling $210,000, to support its micro enterprise loan program for small businesses.
The money will enable the foundation to continue serving small-business owners with technical assistance as well as with loan funds.
It'll also expand the foundation's ability to help the region's growing number of minority entrepreneurs.
Although some micro enterprise loans are made to existing businesses that want to expand, most applicants are new to business ownership, said Berny Berger, micro enterprise program officer with the Southwest Minnesota Foundation.
"They really have a need for technical assistance," she said. "That's very important -- getting them started out right."
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The foundation received $120,000 from the Otto Bremer Foundation and $90,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture. The Bremer Foundation money will be disbursed over three years; the USDA funds will be spent over two years.
Funding for the program also comes from the United States Small Business Administration. Studies have found that many new small businesses don't survive past the first couple of years, Berger said. The goal of the micro enterprise loan program is to combine loan money with extra technical help, making it more likely that these small businesses will succeed, she said.
Since the Southwest Minnesota Foundation became an intermediary lender for the program in 2001, it has approved micro enterprise loans for 79 small businesses in an 18-county area. Twentyeight of them have been for businesses in Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Renville and Swift counties. Loans through the program can be made for up to $35,000, Berger said.
The technical assistance, which includes help with management, marketing and accounting skills, is available for the length of the loan -- anywhere from a couple of years to six years.
The two new grants to the loan program will especially help the Southwest Minnesota Foundation provide culturalspecific help to minority business owners.
As the population of southwest Minnesota becomes more diverse, there's a growing need to assist immigrants who want to start their own business, Berger said.
The micro enterprise loan program can help familiarize them with American business practices and regulations and bridge the cultural gap, allowing minority entrepreneurs to become part of the region's economy, Berger said.
For more information about the micro enterprise loan program, contact Berger at 1-800-594-9480 or visit www.swmnfoundation.org .
