THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE
IN MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
February 5, 1999
Today, President Clinton Presents The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development were created as one of the commitments made by the United States at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing China in September 1995. The awards reflect an on-going commitment by President Clinton to advance the role that microenterprise development plays in enhancing economic opportunities of all Americans, especially those that lack access to traditional sources of credit such as women, low income people, and minorities. President Clinton directed the Treasury Department to establish the Presidential Awards (which are administered by the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund to help bring wider public attention to the important role and successes of microenterprise development in the domestic economy. The first Presidential Awards were made in January 1997 and are made in different categories designed to embrace the diverse goals, purposes and activities of successful microenterprise organizations, and the challenges and opportunities they face.
This Year's Awardees (And Some of Their Clients' Stories) Are:
The Micro Industry Credit Rural Organization (MICRO), a loan fund
of the PPEP Microbusiness and Housing Development Corporation, of
Tucson, Arizona. Established in 1987, MICRO is one of the oldest
Hispanic development organizations and one of the oldest
microenterprise loan funds in the nation. MICRO is recognized as
a Presidential Awardee in the Access to Capital award category for
its best practices as a high impact, credit-oriented model for
promoting micro entrepreneurship in low income, rural Arizona
communities.
Client Profile: Maria Jesus "Chuyita" Gaxiola was a
migrant farm worker, widowed with two small daughters,
barely surviving on her daughters' Social Security
income and speaking no English when she first visited
MICRO in 1993. She was nevertheless possessed of
extraordinary drive and tenacity, and over the next
several years participated in a series of programs at
MICRO including ESL classes and training in basic
business skills. From an initial microenterprise loan
of $1,500, she was able to expand her cosmetics, jewelry
and accessories business into a thriving entity which in
1998 brought in $60,000 with a net profit to Chuyita of
$30,000.
The Detroit Entrepreneurship Institute, Inc. (DEI) of Detroit,
Michigan, provides a one-stop shop for aspiring microentrepreneurs.
Created in 1990, DEI is recognized as a Presidential Awardee in
the Developing Entrepreneurial Skills award category for providing
a uniquely comprehensive range of training, technical assistance
and business support services targeted to welfare recipients and
low income individuals.
Client Profile: Jacqueline Tucker is a divorced mother of
three children who started a small catering business after
completing her training at DEI. Jacqueline, a divorced
mother of three children who was on welfare for 10 years,
was determined that there would be no second generation
welfare recipients among her children. She was one of DEI's
first graduates and borrowers in 1991, and repaid her first
$2,000 loan six months before it was due. Jacqueline's
three children have played an active role in her business,
with the entire family often helping with food preparation
and display, clean up, loading the van, and billing. In
addition to learning how to manage a business, Jacqueline
now feels more confident as a citizen, mother and woman.
She states that, after participating in the DEI program,
she began to grow as a person. Jacqueline has now been
off welfare for more than five years.
The Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, Inc. (NEF) of Virginia, Minnesota.
Created in 1989, NEF is recognized as a Presidential Awardee in
the Developing Entrepreneurial Skills award category for its
strong commitment to developing and implementing impact measures
for assessing the performance of training-based microenterprise
programs, as well as providing an effective and flexible model for
delivering skill development services to rural entrepreneurs.
Client Profile: Carol Willoughby first became a NEF client
in 1991 when she was launching her sign making business,
which she began by making wedding and church banners in her
living room in order to supplement her family's income.
Today, her business provides convention, sporting event,
and special promotion signage for the Duluth area and the
upper Midwest. Carol no longer paints signs; instead she
creates her signs out of vinyl with the aid of two computer
systems. During the years she has operated her business,
Carol has received training, technical assistance and
financing from NEF. Each year, Carol has established and
achieved her business and financial goals. The company's
sales in 1998 were 20 times what they were in 1991. For
Carol, owning her own business "has been a dream come true,"
and she credits NEF for helping her to make it happen.
The Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED) of Iowa
City, Iowa was founded in 1989 and has proven its long term
staying power while maintaining a strong and aggressive commitment
to serving its low income clientele. ISED is recognized as a
Presidential Awardee in the Poverty Alleviation award category for
its success in serving low income clients, its effective program
design and its commitment to promote the evolution of the
microenterprise field through impact measurement.
Client Profile: Dancing since she was six years old, Rhonda
won local and regional dance competitions and always dreamed
of owning her own dance studio. By 1990, Rhonda was the
assistant gymnastics coach at the local YMCA, as well as a
dance coordinator and aerobics instructor. That year,
however Rhonda's life took a rough turn when her husband went
to prison. Rhonda, with an infant son to support, found
herself with no health insurance and insufficient income to
make ends meet. She was forced to go on welfare. However,
Rhonda was determined to get off of welfare and rebuild her
life. Rhonda went through ISED's three-month training
program and received technical assistance to obtain financing
and get a business started. In June of 1994, ISED helped
Rhonda get a $8,200 loan from a bank, and with it she opened
the Showtime Dance School. "The early days and months were
rough," said Rhonda. "But, ISED was there to help me get
through. They were both my best friend and business
consultant." By the following year, Rhonda had made enough
money to get off of public assistance. Today, Showtime has
260 enrollments and offers instruction in tap, ballet, jazz,
point and lyrical dance for ages three and up. Rhonda paid
off her bank loan in full in May 1998. In 1998, Rhonda's
business had approximately $60,000 in gross income and
$30,000 in net income.
The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) of Washington
D.C. and San Francisco, CA. Founded in 1978, CFED has been one
of the leading lights in the development of the U.S.
microenterprise industry. CFED is recognized in the Public or
Private Support for Microenterprise Development award category
for its steadfast and long-standing commitment to low income
people and its vision, creativity and initiative in moving the
microenterprise industry to new heights at every stage of its
development.
Client Profile: CFED is a policy and research institute,
and as such does not have its own microentrepreneur clients.
However, its list of accomplishments is long. This Awardee
carries out its mission by: conducting research and program
evaluation; pioneering new credit and asset-building
strategies tailored to the needs of low-income people;
collecting and disseminating information to the field on
best practices in microenterprise development; providing
training and technical assistance to many leading
organizations in the microenterprise field; and serving as
a strong and effective voice for the industry. Among many
other claims to fame, CFED helped launch several of the
industry's leading microenterprise development organizations
including four Presidential Award winners -- three 1998
winners, Detroit Entrepreneurship Institute, Inc., Institute
for Social and Economic Development, and Northeast
Entrepreneur Fund, Inc. and Women's Self Employment Program
(a 1997 winner).
The Montana Microbusiness Finance Program (MMFP) of Helena,
Montana builds the capacity of local organizations to promote
community asset-building and microbusiness ownership. Created in
1991, MMFP is recognized in the Public or Private Support for
Microenterprise Development award category as a state-sponsored
model for creating and growing microenterprises in a rural state.
Client Profile: In 1994, Kevin and Heidi Snyder were seeking
to purchase a racquetball club business. Kevin and Heidi had
previously managed a health club while he was attending
college and studying business management, yet no local bank
would lend them the money. The Snyders approached the
District VI Human Resource and Development Council, one of
the microlenders supported by MMFP, for a loan. After
purchasing a building for The Total Body Racquetball and
Fitness Center with the loan, they expanded the weight
training equipment, added a tanning bed and started a
racquetball league. In 1995, Kevin and Heidi refinanced
their first microloan, purchased equipment, and were able to
add an aerobic exercise room with a second microloan. They
have since added nutrition counseling and a pro shop to
their range of services, and plan to build an indoor swimming
pool. They have also added to their family, and currently
switch off responsibilities for raising three young boys with
that of managing the Center. The Snyders were winners of the
1998 Montana Microenterprise of the Year Award. They
attribute much of their success to MMFP, for backing them
when no one else would, and for the business counseling,
training and other assistance that enabled them to go so
successfully from launch to thriving business.
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