ACCION San Diego has brought together community partners and local businesses to present on three important aspects of the business growth process. There will be three separate panels presenting simultaneously so each participant can determine which panel is most relevant to their current situation. The panels include: Starting your Business, Financing your Business, and Promoting your Business.

The event is called the Women’s Empowerment Multicultural Business Luncheon and it seeks to assist women in “realizing their entrepreneurial dreams by identifying and connecting them with resources that can help them succeed.” The event will be held at the Jacobs Center, only costs $15 (for the first 100 participants), and includes lunch! 

The event will be a great opportunity to connect with like-minded women and learn from the experienced panelists. The Starting your Business panel will cover the top ten things entrepreneurs should consider before starting their business. The Financing your Business panel will share creative financing and non-traditional lending options for those interested in extra support or the chance to expand their business. Lastly, the Promoting your Business panel will unveil innovative marketing strategies to leverage and promote your business. Whatever your interests or needs may be you will walk away with new knowledge and the confidence that there are others to support you along the way. 

To sign up for the event please visit, http://www.marketcreekevents.com/payment.htm or call Kimberly Pecox at 619-527-6161 ext. 150 by October 22, 2010. 

Written by Daniel Valcazar II, USD Student

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times.

Amanda Keppert, pictured above, obtained a $6,500 loan at a 6.5% interest rate  through the Opportunity Fund (a California microlender). Prior to accepting a microfinance loan, Amanda applied and was rejected for loans at traditional banks. Keppert believes she would have lost Mandy’s Korner, her hot dog stand, if it weren’t for the microfinance loan she was able to secure.

Keppert’s microfinance loan is part of a pilot program that has been available in California and New Your since last summer. Kiva uploads profiles of small businesses to inspire donations from site visitors and  disperses the loans through local microfinance organizations like ACCION USA and the Opportunity Fund.  Since the inception of this program, 137 American companies have been helped through microfinance loans.

In an ailing economy, people are inspired to help others in their own communities and Kiva’s pilot program enables individuals to do so. “People are compelled to do something in their backyard,” said Gina Harman, president and chief executive of Accion USA, a microlender and partner in Kiva’s American pilot program.

For the full story on Keppart’s hot dog stand and others helped through this new pilot project, read the New York Times: With Credit Tight Microlending Blossoms.

Join leading practitioners of microfinance in the U.S. for the 2010 Microfinance USA conference (in San Francisco).   Drawing upon the overwhelming success and momentum generated by the 2009 Microfinance, CA conference, Microfinance USA will bring together investors, policymakers, social entrepreneurs, practitioners, small business owners, and curious individuals to explore how microfinance produces jobs, increases incomes, and creates opportunities to build stable and sustainable communities.

Featured speakers include:

+ Maria Shriver, First Lady of California

+ Martin Eakes, Founder of Self-Help

+ Premal Shah, President of Kiva

+ Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco

Draw upon the experiences from international microfinance and how it relates to your community.  Engage with leading innovators of technology and practice in the field of microfinance. Find your place in the field of international or domestic microfinance and connect with like-minded individuals across the country.

Thursday, May 20th, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St)

Friday, May 21st, at The Westin San Francisco Market St (50 Third St)

For more information on the conference and to register, click here: http://www.microfinanceusa2010.org/home/

The conference is organized by Accion, the Silicon Valley Microfinance Network, Kiva, and the Opportunity Fund.

Ms. Otero’s promotion to this highly esteemed position is a wonderful step forward for the world of microfinance. While there has been significant progess in private/non-profit groups using microfinance to help the working poor, the U.S. Government has been a bit slower to proclaim that microfinance could be a leading tool used by the federal government to combat both global and domestic poverty.

With the promotion of Ms. Otero to a central position within the Executive Branch, we hope to see a much more cooperative effort to integrate microfinance into U.S. policy the years to come.

Check out the link below to learn more about Maria Otero:

http://www.fdic.gov/about/comein/biosOTERO.html

For the full article Click Here