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CDFI [Community Development Financial Institutions] 1999/2000
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Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. note
Memom of call re: SSN and DOB (1 page)
01/11/2001
b(6)
002. list
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees re: SSN and DOB
01/10/2001
b(6)
[partial] (1 page)
003a. list
Microenterprise Presidential 1999 Awardees Contact Information re:
01/10/2001
b(6)
SSN and DOB [partial] (1 page)
003b. list
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List re: SSNs and
01/10/2001
b(6)
DOBs [partial] (5 pages)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 24341
FOLDER TITLE:
CDFI [Community Development Financial Institutions] 1999/2000
2013-0534-S
rc1762
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
Hver fis gata
YA
CD (DFI 99 99/2000
L 42 5, 27
behind PM's ofc
PHOTOCOPY
PRESERVATION
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. note
Memom of call re: SSN and DOB (1 page)
01/11/2001 b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 24341
FOLDER TITLE:
CDFI [Community Development Financial Institutions] 1999/2000
2013-0534-S
rc1762
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - |44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
MEMORANDUM
OF CALL
Previous editions usable
TO:
YOU Ruby WERE CALLED BY-
YOU WERE VISITED BY-
Thomas arnold
OF (Organization)
Treasury - Secy Summers
PLEASE PHONE
(Enter area/code,
DSN
if necessary)
622-0054
WILL CALL AGAIN
IS WAITING TO SEE YOU
RETURNED YOUR CALL
WISHES AN APPOINTMENT
MESSAGE
Marice fores-CDFI
677-8444
TIME
mary RECEIVED BY
NSN 7540-00-634-4018 Catherine Tues DATE 12/12 OPTIONAL
1:30
FORM 363 (Rev. 7-94)
50363-111
General Services Administration
UNICOR FPI-SST
MEMORANDUM
OF CALL
Previous editions usable
TO:
Ruby
YOU WERE CALLED BY-
YOU WERE VISITED BY-
Debra Smith
OF (Organization)
PLEASE PHONE
(Enter area code,
DSN
202-622-9046 if necessary)
WILL CALL AGAIN
IS WAITING TO SEE YOU
RETURNED YOUR CALL
WISHES AN APPOINTMENT
MESSAGE
- How does she get up dates
to the Tuesday invitee
list!
RECEIVED BY
DATE
lend
TIME
up
1-10-2000
1035
NSN 7540-00-634-4018
OPTIONAL FORM 363 (Rev. 7-94)
50363-111
General Services Administration
UNICOR FPI-SST
To:
Ruby Shamir
From: Maurice Jones, CDFI Fund
Re:
Draft blurbs for suggested Program language
Presidential Awards - January 16, 2001
Women's Initiative for Self Employment
of
San Francisco, California
for
Excellence in Enhancing Entrepreneurial Skills
For providing a comprehensive bilingual model of training, technical assistance, and
business support services tailored to the needs of low income English speaking women
and Spanish speaking Latinas.
Women's Opportunity Resource Center
of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
for
Excellence in Poverty Alleviation
For its success in improving the lives of low-income individuals by helping
microentrepreneurs build assets while strengthening basic life skills and business
expertise.
Center for Economic Options
of
Charleston, West Virginia
for
Excellence in Program Innovation
For its creation of sectoral networks that help microentrepreneurs located in remote, rural
areas access markets, suppliers and information needed to run a successful business.
Partners for the Common Good
of
San Antonio, Texas
for
Excellence in Program Innovation
For demonstrating how a traditional venture capital investment model can be used to
promote the microenterprise field and generate high "social impact" returns.
Ms. Foundation for Women
of
New York, New York
for
Excellence in Public or Private Support for Microenterprise Development
For its long-term commitment to the microenterprise field and promoting
microentrepreneurship as a strategy for women to govern their own lives and influence
the world around them.
not only benefitted still beneting
tren ment to wore my First pupsil what welhed me tryle it, ~
public asste past jobs helt cald do more but didn't and her
only me. mobody word your hand- 7 contactor with 't this injust
you went if need we why can 1 by
X 42 know summers
"Mocker, Karen" <[email protected]>
01/11/2001 03:42:11 PM
neturning
Record Type:
Record
pubasite - twanted to didn't am how.
Spport got anm miners, 5mly myke can
shing me now + directy me artur
To:
Ruby Shamir/WHO/EOP
while still toly classes got and classest
CC:
"Jones, Maurice A." <[email protected]>
Subject: Pres Awards - potential entrepreneur speakers
typt right Cor A.A.T got Grjt
got articied + invited bed on contact what
since jon gatury year 110l putin
SIX prop ogel
Hello, Ruby,
As promised, here are our recommendations for speakers from our
entrepreneurs group. In ranking these, what we are trying to demonstrate is
hined anoter of
the two-fold nature of microenterprise: its access to capital side, and the
storted inkx
important role technical assistance plays. While every one of these
entrepreneurs had great stories, we would like to suggest the following two
ton une
as the most compelling, and perhaps the most articulate speakers.
contracts
1. Nancy Santana, Nancy Santana Cleaning and Maintenance, Inc.,
Philadelphia, PA. (215) 427-7860.
17 2000 had k Gre
In 1996, Nancy Santana was on welfare. a single parent with three young
53 apl may p/t
children, one born with a disability. She knew she had to make a change, and
+ disabled
went to the Women's Opportunity Resource Center (WORC) to take up
self-employment through WORC's unique entrepreneurial training. Invoking
her long experience in cleaning and maintenance, she was able to start her
own cleaning business, and was so successful, that today she is no longer
dependent on welfare, and has 22 employees, many of whom were once on
assistance. WORC was critical in helping her to identify contracts and
financing for her business, at a time when she had no ability to leverage
these resources on her own.
blessed.
will
On the phone, Ms. Santana was quite cheerful and enthusiastic in manner, and
had great things to say about why she loved owning her own business, and
what working with WORC has meant to her. She used phrases like "WORC
you
created magic. They brought what was inside of me, out!" And owning a
small business has meant "freedom from welfare!"
Broyn merindery we
2. Danielle Franklin, Danielle's Touch, Skin & Body Care, San Francisco,
CA. (510) 836-2465 - home
(510)385-6508 - cell
grest honor
funiness
Seven years ago, Danielle Franklin was suddenly widowed, left alone without
widow net of violent
any resources, and with a 2 year old child. In 1996, while on public
assistance, she began coming to Women's Initiative (WI) to gain focus and
crime have D experience
the technical skills to improve her business development. She also obtained
went into mayy Shent
put
WI financing to relocate her business to a more lucrative part of town.
Today, business is booming, and she is well able to support her family
body come. aftersor wanted nuded
give
without outside help. But this success would not have happened without the
Adn inbusyr
support, both technical and financial, that WI provided as Ms. Franklin has
bible
no outside resources at the time she approached them.
how 1 come to gy must
you heyeer to my sour
wl 0 potantial NothyNt to
w/ exponyion Efolon
neghts + contribuy - loon writery bus bby Confinert information
Ms. Franklin says starting her own business was a landmark that helped her
recover from a position where she had lost virtually everything, and that WI
staff were like gatekeepers recruited by God to send her in the right
direction. Her phone demeanor was very upbeat, and she is very thankful to
be a survivor after all these years.
Last, Ruby, did you receive the packet from me last night that had all of
the entrepreneurs' biographies in it? If not, let me know and I will e-mail
that as well. It will give you a more complete view of these entrepreneurs'
stories, as well as the other three that will be present at the ceremony.
All were enthusiastic about what they were doing, and the assistance that
they had received.
Please, if you have any questions, call me at any time. I also have a cell
phone: 202-345-7449. Again, thanks for all your help!
Karen
Karen A. Mocker
External Affairs Officer
CDFI Fund
601 - 13th Street NW, Suite 200 South
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 622-8401
White House Mess
Catering Policy
To ensure a well-organized and successful event, the White House Mess developed the following
policies regarding our catering procedures for review.
1. All catering reservations must be submitted in writing 48 hours before the scheduled event.
Catering is on first come first served basis. It is recommended to plan early to confirm space.
2. There is a $22.00 per hour per person labor charge starting at 4:00 P.M. until 1 hour after all
guest have departed the event for all White House Mess personnel working any catered
event. A normal ratio of one (1) White House Mess person per every 50 guests attending a
function. It may be necessary to provide additional White House Mess personnel depending
on the menu selected. presentation. and location of event.
3. Indian Treaty Room functions require all tables be skirted at the normal cost on the catering
menu.
4. The White House Mess will provide all necessary equipment for your event. It is
recommended that our catering department provide all food and drinks for the event. Rental
of equipment is prohibited.
5. The White House Mess does not cater outside of the 18 acres of the White House complex.
Catering is not provided at the New Executive Office Building.
6. All catered events are scheduled Monday through Friday. The White House Mess does not
cater on Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays.
7. The White House Mess requires 72 hours notice for special bakery products and decorated
cakes with any type of special decoration or seals.
8. A standard catering contract will be faxed to the Mess Member showing all charges required
for the event. This document will be returned with the signature of the Mess Member and
held on file for future reference.
These policies explain basic guidelines to assist in planning your event. Specific details
pertaining to menu selections, room arrangements, and other matters can be discussed with our
Catering Director prior to your event. Every effort will be made by the White House Mess to
ensure your event is smooth and successful.
beel &
1 s ber itc.
WHITE HOUSE MESS EXECUTIVE CATERING MENU
Note: The following selections have a minimum order of 25 portions: Hors d' oeuvres, Finger
sandwiches, Garnished food trays. Desserts, and Chips & Dips.
ITEM
Portion Size
Price Per Serving
HORS D' OEUVRES:
Coconut Chicken
2 ea.
$2.25
Mini Chicken Cordon Bleu
2 ea.
$1.30
Sausage Mushroom Caps
2 ea.
$1.70
Crab Mushroom Caps
2 ea.
$3.40
Coconut Shrimp
2 ea.
$2.65
Shrimp Tempura
2 ea.
$2.65
Lump Crab Cakes
2 ea.
$2.20
Vegetable Springrolls
2 ea.
$1.30
Mini Vegetable Eggrolls
2 ea.
$1.50
Crab Rangoon
2 ea.
$1.35
Assorted Mini Quiche
2 ea.
$1.15
Mushroom Profiterole
2 ea.
$1.70
Yellow Pepper Profiterole
2 ea.
$1.90
Sausage Calzone
2 ea.
$1.15
Buffalo Wings W/ Ranch Dressing
2 ea.
$1.25
Mini Chicken Kabobs
1 ea.
$1.45
Mini Beef Kabobs
1 ea.
$1.55
Breaded Chicken Fingers
2 ea.
$1.65
I
Shrimp Cocktail
2 ea.
$2.80
Salmon Canapes
2 ea.
$0.85
Shrimp Canapes
2 ea.
$1.70
800-850
WHITE HOUSE MESS EXECUTIVE CATERING MENU
Note: The following selections have a minimum order of 25 portions: Hors d' oeuvres, Finger
sandwiches. Garnished food trays, Desserts. and Chips & Dips.
ITEM
Portion Size
Price Per Serving
Finger Sandwiches:
Tuna Salad Finger Sandwiches
2 ea.
$0.85
Chicken Salad Finger Sandwiches
2 ea.
$0.95
Turkey Salad Finger Sandwiches
2 ea.
$0.90
Roast Beef Salad Finger Sandwiches
2 ea.
$0.95
Garnished Food Travs:
Vegetable Tray
per portion
$0.70
Fruit Tray
per portion
$0.90
>
Deli Meat & Cheese Tray
per portion
$2.- 40
Assorted Cheese & Cracker Tray
per portion
$1.05
Desserts:
Strawberries
1 ea.
$0.70
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
1 ea.
$0.95
Brownies
1 ea.
$1.15
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie
2 ea.
$0.45
Mini Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
2 ea.
$0.45
Chips & Dips:
Potato Chips
per portion
$0.35
Tortilla Chips
per portion
$0.35
Pretzels
per portion
$0.35
California Onion Dip
per portion
$0.35
Picante Sauce
per portion
$0.35
Cocktail Peanuts
per portion
$0.35
WHITE HOUSE MESS EXECUTIVE CATERING MENU
ITEM
Portion Size
Price Per Serving
Breakfast Service:
Coffee Service 18 oz.)
per portion
$0.90
Orange Juice 18 oz.)
per portion
$0.90
Assorted Bagels w/ cream cheese
I ea.
$1.35
Assorted Doughnuts
I ea.
$1.05
Assorted Regular Muffins
1 ea.
$0.70
Assorted Mini Danish
2 ea.
$1.65
Non-Food Items:
Hi-ball w/seal (12 oz. 25 per tube)
1 tu.
$3.55
Lo-ball w/seal (8 oz. 25 per tube)
I tu.
$2.40
Napkin w/seal (250 per box)
1 bx.
$5.10
Frilled Toothpicks (1000 per box)
I bx.
$2.60
6" Paper Plate (125 per tube)
1 tu.
$6.70
10 1/2" Paper Plate (125 per tube)
1 tu.
$19.20
Sterno
1 ca.
$1.70
12" Plastic Tray w/Lid
1 ea.
$2.55
18" Plastic Tray w/Lid
I ea.
$4.85
Table Cloth (Rental)
1 ea.
$15.80
Table Skirt (Rental)
1 ea.
$24.30
Plastic Utensils (Forks. Knives. ect.) (100 per box)
1 bx.
$4.30
WHITE HOUSE MESS EXECUTIVE CATERING MENU
ITEM
Portion Size
Price Per Serving
Cold Beverages:
Assorted Soda
1 cs.
$9.50
Assorted Beer
I cs.
$21.00
Large White / Red Wines
I bt.
$9.00
Champagne
I bt.
$10.80
Perrier (24 per case)
I cs.
$21.60
Small Bottle Water (24 per case)
I CS.
$24.00
White House Mess
OEOB Room 404
Washington, DC, 20502
Phone: (202) 757-1282
FAX: (202) 393-1256
(SAMPLE FUNCTION REQUEST)
MEMORANDUM FOR PRESIDENTIAL FOOD SERVICE COORDINATOR
From:
.. White House Mess Member"
Subj.:
Request for White House Mess Catered Function
1. Request that the White House Mess provides catering services for the following
scheduled event.
a. Name. phone. fax number. and office location.
b. Day. date. start and finish time of event.
c. Purpose of event: (Breakfast, lunch. reception. office party, ETC...)
d. Location of event and expected number of guests.
e. A list of menu selections and non-consumable items. A catering menu can be
obtained from Room 404 EEOB or Room 030 EEOB or faxed to you.
f. The following billing information must be stated:
1. Mess member name
2. Mess member address
3. Mess member phone number
g. Please fax your request to (202) 393-1256. The White House Mess Catering
Director will explain basic guidelines. assist in answering questions. and help in
the planning stages of your event.
White House Mess
EEOB, RM 404
Washington, DC 20502
Phone: (202) 757-1282
FAX: (202) 393-1256
(SAMPLE FUNCTION REQUEST)
Metanne-
Please review
Richard S. Paulus
01/09/2001 04:17:23 PM
by tomorrow morny
Record Type:
Record
To:
Ruby Shamir/WHO/EOP@EOP
CC:
Subject: program layout
010116.dog Here's the copy as I would lay it out. The amount of copy you provided actually fits well into
what we call a six-panel program. The cover page would be the first page you see. When you open the
cover page, you would see one page with the award descriptor. That page would open to the right and
you would see a three page spread. the page to the left would have the first two awardees, the center
panel would have the presentation program and the page to the right would have the final three awardees.
Please finalize all copy (spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.) by 2:00 tomorrow so we can get this to
press in time. Thank you! RP
PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS FOR
EXCELLENCE IN MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
PANEL ONE
First lady
?
wel
HR
"
in 2
SENATOR CLINTON
"
Welcomes you to
THE WHITE HOUSE
On the occasion of
the presentation of the
PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS
FOR
EXCELLENCE
IN
MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
(White House Vignette Here)
Tuesday, January 16, 2001
PANEL TWO
CENTER FOR ECONOMIC OPTIONS
Charleston, West Virginia
for
Excellence in Program Innovation
For its creation of sectoral networks that help microentrepreneurs located in remote, rural
areas access markets, suppliers and information needed to run a successful business.
PARTNERS FOR THE COMMON GOOD
San Antonio, Texas
for
Excellence in Program Innovation
For demonstrating how a traditional venture capital investment model can be used to
promote the microenterprise field and generate high "social impact" returns.
PANEL THREE
PROGRAM
Remarks by
FL HR Senator Clinton
The Honorable
Lawrence H. Summers
Secretary of the Treasury
Presentation of Awards
The Firstlady
Senator Clinton
Secretary Summers
Reception immediately following ceremony
TBD
in the Indian Treaty Room
PANEL FOUR
Ms. FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN
New York, New York
for
Excellence in Public or Private Support
for Microenterprise Development
For its long-term commitment to the microenterprise field and promoting
microentrepreneurship as a strategy for women to govern their own lives and influence
the world around them.
WOMEN'S INITIATIVE FOR SELF EMPLOYMENT
San Francisco, California
for
Excellence in Enhancing Entrepreneurial Skills
For providing a comprehensive bilingual model of training, technical assistance, and
business support services tailored to the needs of low income English speaking women
and Spanish speaking Latinas.
WOMEN'S OPPORTUNITY RESOURCE CENTER
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
for
Excellence in Poverty Alleviation
For its success in improving the lives of low-income individuals by helping
microentrepreneurs build assets while strengthening basic life skills and business
expertise.
PANEL FIVE
Presidential Award for Excellence
in Microenterprise Development
The Presidential Award for Excellence in Microenterprise Development was 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 award reflects an on-going commitment
by President Clinton to advance the role that microenterprise development plays in enhancing the
economic opportunities of all Americans, especially those who have traditionally lacked access to
sources of credit such as women, low income people, and minorities. President Clinton directed
the Treasury Department to establish the Presidential Award, which is administered by the
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. By recognizing outstanding
microenterprise organizations, this non-monetary award will bring wider public attention to the
important role and successes of microenterprise development in the domestic economy.
Standard
Hildy Kuryk
01/10/2001 11:54:30 AM
Record Type:
Record
To:
Ruby Shamir/WHO/EOP@EOP
CC:
Kay Casstevens/WHO/EOP@EOP
Subject: FLOTUS Mirco-credit draft invite list--pls advise
FLOTUS MICRO-CREDIT AWARDS EVENT
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16TH, 2001
4:30pm-5:30pm (meet and greet will be before in the hall?)
PRESIDENTIAL HALL, RM. 450 OEOB
OPEN PRESS
Metonne
MOC DRAFT INVITE LIST
Tier 1 invites-Chief sponsors and the awardees representatives.
Please neview
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV)
So Cey offors
Sen. K.B. Hutchison (R-TX)
can make calls.
Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX)
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL)
Rep. Robert Wise (D-WV)
Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX)
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Rep. Ackerman (D-NY)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY)
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA)
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA)
Rep. Robert Borski (D-PA)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA)
Tier 2-originial co-sponsors
Sen Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen Pete Domenici (R-NM)
Sen Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Sen Harry Reid (D-NV)
Sen Chuck Robb (D-CT)
Sen Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
Sen Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
Rep. DianaDeGette (D-CO)
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
Rep. Carolyn C Kilpatrick (D-MI)
Rep. John LaFalce (D-NY)
Rep. James Leach (R-IA)
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Rep. Jack Metcalf (R-WA)
Rep. John Olver (D-MA)
Jan 10 01 10:12a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
P.1
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL
INSTITUTIONS FUND
FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL SHEET
To: RUBY SHAMIR
From: Debbi Smith
Organization:
Date: January 10, 2001
WHITE HOUSE
Fax Number:
Total No. of Pages: 12
202-456-6244
(including cover)
Phone Number:
Phone Number: 202-622-9046
(direct dial)
URGENT
FOR REVIEW
PLEASE COMMENT
PLEASE REPLY
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Notes/Comments:
Ruby:
Sorry about all of the problems with the electronic files... here are the paper versions of the invitee
lists.
Please let me know if I can be of help with anything else.
Debbi Smith
Public Affairs Specialist.
Department of the Treasury
601 Thirteenth Street, N.W., Suite 200 South
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone (202) 622-8662
Facsimile (202) 622-7754
Jan 10 01 10:12a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
p.2
Microenterprise Presidential 1999 Awardees
Contact Information
Center for Economic Options
Charlotte
Chandler
Honey of an Herb Farm
Work Phone (304) 345-1298
Ext.
>
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number
Title
Pam
Curry
Work Phone (304) 345-1298
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (304) 342-0641 Title Executive Director
Rich
Zelik
Work Phone (304) 345-1298
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (304) 342-0641 Title Board Chair
Ms. Foundation for Women
Sara
Gould
Work Phone (212) 742-2300
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (212) 742-1653
Title Executive Vice President
Anna
Wadia
Work Phone (212) 742-2300
Ext. 322
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (212) 742-1653 Title Sr. Program Officer
Marea
Washington
Work Phone (212) 742-2300
Ext.
<
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number
Title
Marie
Wilson
Work Phone (212) 742-2300
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (212) 742-1653
Title
President
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Page 1 of 3
Jan 10 01 10:12a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
P. 3
Partners for the Common Good 2000
Sister Janet Capone
Work Phone (517) 266-3501
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (517) 266-3507
Title
Sister Carol Coston
Work Phone (210) 431-0616
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (210) 431-0161
Title
Graciela
Sanchez
Esperanza Center
Work Phone (210) 228-0201
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (210) 228-0000 Title Executive Director
Women's Initiative for Self Employment
Danielle
Franklin
Danielle's Touch
Work Phone (510) 836-2465
Ext.
>
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number
Title
Barbara
Johnson
Work Phone (415) 247-9473
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (415) 247-9471 Title Executive Director & Co-Found
Paulette J. Meyer
Work Phone (415) 247-9473
Ext. 312
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (415) 247-9471 Title Board Chair & Co-Founder
Rosamaria Zayas
Work Phone (415) 247-9473
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number
Title
Women's Opportunity Resource Center
Lynne
Cutler
Work Phone (215) 564-5500 Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (215) 564-0933 Title
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Page 2 of 3
Jan 10 01 10:13a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
p.4
Women's Opportunity Resource Center
Rochelle Massarella
Work Phone (215) 564-5500
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (215) 564-0933
Title
Nancy
Santana
Nancy Santana Cleaning & Maintenance Inc.
Work Phone (215) 564-5500
Ext.
>
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (215) 564-0933
Title
Um
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Page 3 of 3
Jan 10 01 10:13a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
p.5
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Baer
Gregory
(202) 622-1260
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of the Treasury
Ballesteros
Frank
(520) 806-9513
Attending Cermony
PPEP Microbusiness and Housing Dev. Co
Deputy Chief Executive
Barr
Michael
(202) 622-1260
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Treasury
Barrera
Janie
(210) 226-3664
Attending Cermony
ACCION Texas
Executive Director
Berg
Jeffrey
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
General Counsel
Brandt
Pat
(808) 523-0075
Attending Cermony
Hawaii Community Loan Fund
Executive Director
Braunstein
Saundra
(202) 452-3000
Attending Cermony
Federal Reserve System
Brennan
Barbara
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Campbell
Arthur
(202) 720-8653
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Agriculture
Deputy Under Secretary
Chung-a-Fung Ronald
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Legal Advisor
Clark
Peggy
(202) 736-5807
Attending Cermony
Aspen Institute
Clay Thompson Carmel
(202) 401-9246
Attending Cermony
ORR - Dept. of HHS
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
Page 1 of 6
Jan 10 01 10:13a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
P. 6
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Cooper
Cardell
(202) 708-2690
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Housing and Urban Developme
Assistant Secretary
Drapeau
Elaine
(202) 942-3090
Attending Cermony
Federal Deposit Insurance Company
Edwards
Bill
(202) 354-3935
Attending Cermony
Association for Enterprise Development
Executive Director
Evans
Connie
(312) 606-8255
Attending Cermony
Women's Self-Employment Project
President
Friedman
Jason
(319) 338-2331
Attending Cermony
Institute for Social and Economic Developm
Vice President
Gambrell
Donna
Attending Cermony
Federal Deposit Insurance Company
Gensler
Gary
(202) 622-1260
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Treasury
Golden
Ellen
(207) 882-7552
Attending Cermony
Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
Senior Program Officer
Gover
George
(202) 208-3567
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Interior
Assistant Secretary for I
Hairston
Darryl
(202) 606-4000
Attending Cermony
US Small Business Administration
Director
Hawke
John
Attending Cermony
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Jacokes
Jeannine
(202) 622-8232
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Program Manager
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
Page 2 of 6
Jan 10 01 10:13a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
P. 7
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Jones
Owen
(202) 622-9156
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Deputy Director/CFO
Jones
Maurice
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Director
Krackov
Pat
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Lazar
Ellen
(202) 220-2300
Attending Cermony
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Director
LeGrand
Etienne
(510) 986-1310
Attending Cermony
The Enterprise Group
President
Levere
Andrea
(202) 408-9788
Attending Cermony
Corporation for Enterprise Development
Litzenberg
Jack
(810) 238-5651
Attending Cermony
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Program Officer
Luecht
William
(202) 622-8042
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Mathews
Sylvia
(202) 456-6630
Attending Cermony
Office of Management and Budget
McClelland
Cathy
(313) 961-8426
Attending Cermony
Detroit Entrepreneurship Institute
President & CEO
Mcinerney
Roberta
(202) 622-1260
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Treasury
McKee
Kate
(202) 712-5578
Attending Cermony
Office of Microenterprise Development - US
Director
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
Page 3 of 6
Jan 10 01 10:14a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
p.8
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Meeks
Elsie
(605) 455-2500
Attending Cermony
Lakota Fund
Executive Director
Miller
Clara
(212) 868-6710
Attending Cermony
NonProfit Facilities Fund
Chair of the Board
Miller
Derek
(202) 783-7100
Attending Cermony
RESULTS
Mocker
Karen
(202) 622-8401
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
External Affairs Officer
Moody
Sharonda
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Na
Yoo Jin
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Neas
Cheryl
(215) 923-5363
Attending Cermony
CDFI Coalition
Nilson
Margie
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Pinsky
Mark
(215) 923-4765
Attending Cermony
National Community Capital Association
Executive Director
Priest
Roy
(202) 289-9020
Attending Cermony
National Congress for Community Economi
President and CEO
Prokop
Donna
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Quittman
Louisa
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
Page 4 of 6
Jan 10 01 10:14a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
p.9
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Rakouskas
Kurt
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Raskind
Jody
(202) 205-6605
Attending Cermony
Small Business Administration
Chief, SBA Micorloans
Reiff
Dawn
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Riddle
Marl
(323) 759-7759
Attending Cermony
Los Angeles Community Development Ban
Manager, Intermediary
Rosenthal
Clifford
(212) 809-1850
Attending Cermony
National Federation of Community Develop
Executive Director
Sandberg
Sheryl
(202) 622-1260
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Treasury
Seidman
Ellen
(202) 906-7857
Attending Cermony
Office of Thrift Supervision
Sereleas
Lolita
(312) 580-2591
Attending Cermony
MCIC
Sikes
Chris
(413) 774-4033
Attending Cermony
Western Massachusetts Enterprise Fund
Executive Director
Smith
Deborah
(202) 622-9046
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Public Affairs Specialist
Soni
Welthy
(540) 619-2239
Attending Cermony
Consultant
Stein
Caryn
(202) 906-7857
Attending Cermony
Office of Thrift Supervision
- --- :-. ..
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
Page 5 of 6
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
002. list
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees re: SSN and DOB
01/10/2001
b(6)
[partial] (1 page)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 24341
FOLDER TITLE:
CDFI [Community Development Financial Institutions] 1999/2000
2013-0534-S
rc1762
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
Jan 10 01 10:14a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
P. 10
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Straub, Jr.
Chester
(202) 482-5081
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Commerce
Deputy Assistant Secret
Surgeon
George
(773) 753-5740
Attending Cermony
Shorebank Corporation
Chief Financial Officer
Tansey
Charles
(202) 205-6657
Attending Cermony
US Small Business Administration
Taylor
John
(202) 628-8866
Attending Cermony
National Community Reinvestment Coalitio
President and Chief Exe
Tesdell
Kerwin
(212) 980-6790
Attending Cermony
Community Development Venture Capital A
President
Toliver
Yvelte
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
White
Sonja
(202) 906-7857
Attending Cermony
Office of Thrift Supervision
Williams
Pamela
(202) 822-8662
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Wolln
Neal
(202) 622-1260
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Treasury
Oters, M>ria
Accion
212-393-5113 attenday
c/mil10
202-682-1510
clmilso
(b)(6)
Yanovitch, Lawrence
I Hencly
FINCA
Costello Brenda
202-682-1510
attencing 105min
C002]
FINCA'
Button, Raty
240-401-9562
a Henely
accept
Sherman, Karen
counterpart
202-296-9676 7 Heney country 1] -/m 1/10 reght
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
Page 6 of 6
Jan 10 01 10:15a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
P. 11
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees B-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Awardee Guest
Cohen
Sandra H.
(415) 953-4684
Bank of America
Attending Cermony
Vice President
Awardee Guest
Coleman
Frank
(800) 592-8830
CBIS
Attending Cermony
Awardee Guest
David
Pamela Helen
(415) 247-9473
San Francisco Mayor's Office of Communit
Attending Cermony
Director
Awardee Guest
Delgado
Ximena
(415) 953-3636
Community Development Banking
Attending Cermony
Vice President
Awardee Guest
DeMack
Carole
The Univ. of Chicago
Attending Cermony
Sister to Barbara Johns
Awardee Supporter
Getty
William
(412) 288-0360
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Attending Cermony
President
Awardee Guest
Haacke
Carl
Ms. Foundation for Women
Attending Cermony
Anna Wadia's husband
Awardee Supporter
Klasen
Frazierta
(215) 575-4865
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Attending Cermony
Program Officer
Awardee Supporter
McNulty
Timothy
(717) 720-1351
PA Dept. of Community & Econ Devi
Attending Cermony
Executive Deputy Secre
Awardee Guest
McNulty, CSJ
Sister Bernadette
(714) 633-8121
Attending Cermony
Awardee Supporter
Mensah
Lisa
(212) 573-5138
The Ford Foundation
Attending Cermony
Deputy Director Econo
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Page I of 2
Jan 10 01 10:15a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
P. 12
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees B-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Awardee Guest
Mercedes Sansores
Maria
(415) 826-5090
Women's Initiative for Self Employment
Attending Cermony
Program Manger
Awardee Supporter
Ridge
Governor Tom
(717) 772-9041
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Attending Cermony
Awardee Guest
Surpin
Jacob
Ms. Foundation for Women
Attending Cermony
Sara Gould's son
Awardee Guest
Surpin
Rick
Ms. Foundation for Women
Attending Cermony
Sara Gould's Husband
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Page 2 of 2
Jan 10 01 10:12a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
P.1
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL
INSTITUTIONS FUND
FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL SHEET
To: RUBY SHAMIR
From: Debbi Smith
Organization:
Date: January 10, 2001
WHITE HOUSE
Fax Number:
Total No. of Pages: 12
202-456-6244
(including cover)
Phone Number:
Phone Number: 202-622-9046
(direct dial)
URGENT
FOR REVIEW
PLEASE COMMENT
PLEASE REPLY
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Notes/Comments:
Ruby:
Sorry about all of the problems with the electronic files. here are the paper versions of the invitee
lists.
Please let me know if I can be of help with anything else.
Debbi Smith
Public Affairs Specialist.
Department of the Treasury
601 Thirteenth Street, N.W., Suite 200 South
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone (202) 622-8662
Facsimile (202) 622-7754
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
003a. list
Microenterprise Presidential 1999 Awardees Contact Information re:
01/10/2001
b(6)
SSN and DOB [partial] (1 page)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 24341
FOLDER TITLE:
CDFI [Community Development Financial Institutions] 1999/2000
2013-0534-S
rc1762
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - |44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
Jan 10 01 10:12a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
p.2
Microenterprise Presidential 1999 Awardees
Contact Information
Center for Economic Options
Charlotte
Chandler
Honey of an Herb Farm
Work Phone (304) 345-1298
Ext.
>
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number
Title
Pam
Curry
Work Phone (304) 345-1298
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (304) 342-0641 Title Executive Director
Rich
Zelik
Work Phone (304) 345-1298
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (304) 342-0641
Title Board Chair
Ms. Foundation for Women
Sara
Gould
Work Phone (212) 742-2300
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (212) 742-1653
Title
Executive Vice President
[003a]
(b)(6)
Anna
Wadia
Work Phone (212) 742-2300
Ext. 322
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (212) 742-1653 Title Sr. Program Officer
Marea
Washington
Work Phone (212) 742-2300
Ext.
<
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number
Title
Marie
Wilson
Work Phone (212) 742-2300
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (212) 742-1653
Title President
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Page 1 of 3
Jan 10 01 10:12a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
p.3
Partners for the Common Good 2000
Sister Janet Capone
Work Phone (517) 266-3501
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (517) 266-3507
Title
Sister Carol Coston
Work Phone (210) 431-0616
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (210) 431-0161
Title
Graciela
Sanchez
Esperanza Center
Work Phone (210) 228-0201
Ext.
<
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (210) 228-0000
Title Executive Director
Women's Initiative for Self Employment
Danielle
Franklin
Danielle's Touch
Work Phone (510) 836-2465
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number
Title
Barbara
Johnson
Work Phone (415) 247-9473
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (415) 247-9471
Title Executive Director & Co-Found
Paulette J. Meyer
Work Phone (415) 247-9473
Ext. 312
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (415) 247-9471
Title Board Chair & Co-Founder
Rosamaria Zayas
Work Phone (415) 247-9473
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number
Title
Women's Opportunity Resource Center
Lynne
Cutler
Work Phone (215) 564-5500
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (215) 564-0933
Title
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Page 2 of 3
Jan 10 01 10:13a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
p.4
Women's Opportunity Resource Center
Rochelle Massarella
Work Phone (215) 564-5500
Ext.
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (215) 564-0933
Title
Nancy
Santana
Nancy Santana Cleaning & Maintenance Inc.
Work Phone (215) 564-5500
Ext.
>
Awardee Entrepreneur
Fax Number (215) 564-0933
Title
Um
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Page 3 of 3
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
003b. list
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List re: SSNs and
01/10/2001
b(6)
DOBs [partial] (5 pages)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 24341
FOLDER TITLE:
CDFI [Community Development Financial Institutions] 1999/2000
2013-0534-S
rc1762
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
Jan 10 01 10:13a
Department of Treasury
202-622-8328
p.5
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
[003b]
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Baer
Gregory
(202) 622-1260
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of the Treasury
(b)(6)
Ballesteros
Frank
(520) 806-9513
Attending Cermuny
d
PPEP Microbusiness and Housing Dev. Co
Deputy Chief Executive
cb
Barr
Michael
(202) 622-1260
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Treasury
Barrera
Janie
(210) 226-3664
Attending Cermony
ACCION Texas
msg
Executive Director
Berg
Jeffrey
(202) 622-8662
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msg
CDFI Fund
General Counsel
Brandt
Pat
no longer works
(808) 523-0075
Attending Cermony
msg
Hawaii Community Loan Fund
Executive Director
848 here 1004 (H)
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(b)(6)
Braunstein
Saundra
(202) 452-3000
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Federal Reserve System
85
Brennan
Barbara
(202) 622-8662
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AOB
CDFI Fund
(b)(6)
(202) 482 482-2000
SS:
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Arthur
nolonger here mores
(202) 720-8653
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US Dept. of Agriculture
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Chung-a-Fung Ronald
(202) 622-8662
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msg
CDFI Fund
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Clark
mg
Peggy
(202) 736-5807
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Aspen Institute
Clay Thompson Carmel
(202) 401-9246
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hig
ORR - Dept. of HHS
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
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Jan 10 01 10:13a
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p.6
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
*
Cardell 708-3336-fry (202) 708-2690
Cooper
Attending Cermony
US Dept. of Housing and Urban Developme
Assistant Secretary
9423270
Drapeau
Elaine
(202) 942-3090
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Federal Deposit Insurance Company
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Edwards
Bill
(202) 354-3935
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Association for Enterprise Development
Executive Director
out until noth
Evans
Connie
(312) 606-8255
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Women's Self-Employment Project
President
Friedman
Jason
(319)338-2331
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Institute for Social and Economic Developm
calling see if paying
Vice President
Gambrell
Donna
3 CDFI Fund- past for awards
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Federal Deposit Insurance Company
SS: HAS
Gensler
Gary
(202) 622-1260
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DOB: pass
US Dept. of Treasury
Golden
Ellen
(207)882-7552
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Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
Senior Program Officer
5324
Gover
George
(202) 208-3567
Attending Cermony
msg
US Dept. of Interior
Assistant Secretary for I
205 6600
mag.
Hairston
Darryl
(202) 606-4000
Attending Cermony
US Small Business Administration
Director
Hawke
John
Attending Cermony
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Jacokes
Jeannine
(202) 622-8232
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
mtg
Program Manager
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
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Jan 10 01 10:13a
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P.7
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
noanswer
Jones
Owen
(202) 622-9156
Attending Cermony
CDFI Fund
Deputy Director/CFO
Jones
Maurice
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
may
CDFI Fund
Director
SS
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Krackov
Pat
(202) 622-8662
Attending Cermony
DOB
(b)(6)
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Ellen
(202) 220-2300
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Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Director
LeGrand
Etienne
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(510) 986-1310
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The Enterprise Group
President
SS:
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Levere
Andrea
(202) 408-9788
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Corporation for Enterprise Development
msg
Litzenberg
Jack
(810) 238-5651
Attending Cermony
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Program Officer
Luecht
William
(202) 622-8042
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CDFI Fund
Mathews
Sylvia
(202) 456-6630
Attending Cermony
Office of Management and Budget
(b)(6)
McClelland
Cathy
(313) 961-8426
Attending Cermony
Detrolt Entrepreneurship Institute
President & CEO
Mcinemey
Roberta
(202) 622-1260
Attending Cermony
msg
US Dept. of Treasury
McKee
Kate
(202) 712-5578
Attending Cermony
Office of Microenterprise Development - US
Director
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
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Jan 10 01 10:14a
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p.8
1605)4552110
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Fax info
(b)(6)
SS
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
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DOE
Meeks
Elsie assistant
(605) 455-2500
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(605)455 1700
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(212) 868-6710
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Miller
Derek
(202) 783-7100
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Karen
(202) 622-8401
BOX
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Sharonda Morrow
(202) 622-8662
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CDFI Fund
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Cheryl
(215) 923-5363
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Margie
(202) 622-8662
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CDFI Fund
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Mark
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National Community Capital Association
Executive Director
Priest
Roy
(202) 289-9020
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National Congress for Community Economi
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SS
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Donna
(202) 622-8662
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1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
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Jan 10 01 10:14a
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p.9
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
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Rakouskas
Kurt
(202) 622-8662
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Jody
(202) 205-0605
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Dawn
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Ellen
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Lolita
(312) 580-2591
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Chris
(413) 774-4033
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Deborah
(202) 622-9046
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Caryn
(202) 906-7857
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Office of Thrift Supervision
1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
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Jan 10 01 10:14a
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p.10
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees A-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Straub, Jr.
Chester
(202) 482-5081
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US Dept. of Commerce
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Surgeon
George
(773) 753-5740
Attending Cermony
Shorebank Corporation
Chief Financial Officer
Tansey
Charles
(202) 205-6657
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(b)(6)
Taylor
John
(202) 628-8866
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Kerwin
(212) 980-6790
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Yvette
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1/10/2001 9:58:41 AM
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Jan 10 01 10:15a
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CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees B-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Awardee Guest
Cohen
Sandra H.
(415) 953-4684
Bank of America
Attending Cermony
Vice President
Awardee Guest
Coleman
Frank
(800) 592-8830
CBIS
Attending Cermony
Awardee Guest
David
Pamela Helen
(415) 247-9473
San Francisco Mayor's Office of Communit
Attending Cermony
Director
Awardee Guest
Delgado
Ximena
(415) 953-3636
Community Development Banking
Attending Cermony
Vice President
Awardee Guest
DeMack
Carole
The Univ. of Chicago
Attending Cermony
Sister to Barbara Johns
Awardee Supporter
Getty
William
(412) 288-0360
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Attending Cermony
President
Awardee Guest
Haacke
Carl
Ms. Foundation for Women
Attending Cermony
Anna Wadia's husband
Awardee Supporter
Klasen
Frazierta
(215) 575-4865
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Attending Cermony
Program Officer
Awardee Supporter
McNulty
Timothy
(717) 720-1351
PA Dept. of Community & Econ Devi
Attending Cermony
Executive Deputy Secre
Awardee Guest
McNulty, CSJ
Sister Bernadette
(714) 633-8121
Attending Cermony
Awardee Supporter
Mensah
Lisa
(212) 573-5138
The Ford Foundation
Attending Cermony
Deputy Director Econo
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
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Jan 10 01 10:15a
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P. 12
CDFI Fund 1999 Presidential Awards Invitees B-List
Last Name
First Name
Work Phone
Awardee Guest
Mercedes Sansores
Maria
(415) 826-5090
Women's Initiative for Self Employment
Attending Cermony
Program Manger
Awardee Supporter
Ridge
Governor Tom
(717) 772-9041
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Attending Cermony
Awardee Guest
Surpin
Jacob
Ms. Foundation for Women
Attending Cermony
Sara Gould's son
Awardee Guest
Surpin
Rick
Ms. Foundation for Women
Attending Cermony
Sara Gould's Husband
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Page 2 of 2
UNIVERSITY
/
presents this
Presidential Award for Excellence
in Microenterprise Development
to
Detroit Entrepreneurship Institute, Inc.,
for Excellence in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills.
The White House,
William J. Chiton
February 5, 1999.
presents this
Presidential Award for Excellence
in Microenterprise Development
to
Institute for Social and Economic Development,
for Excellence in Poverty Alleviation.
The White House,
William J. Chiton
February 5, 1999.
presents this
Presidential Award for Excellence
in Microenterprise Development
to
Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, Inc.,
for Excellence in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills.
The White House,
William J. Chiton
February 5, 1999.
/
presents this
Presidential Award for Excellence
in Microenterprise Development
to
MICRO Industry Credit Rural Organization
PPEP Microbusiness and Housing Development Corp.,
for Excellence in Providing Access to Capital.
Williams J. Chiton
The White House,
February 5, 1999.
presents this
Presidential Award for Excellence
in Microenterprise Development
to
Corporation for Enterprise Development,
for Excellence in Support for Microenterprise Development.
The White House,
William J. Chiton
February 5, 1999.
presents this
Presidential Award for Excellence
in Microenterprise Development
to
Montana MicroBusiness Finance Program,
Montana Department of Commerce,
for Excellence in Support for Microenterprise Development.
The White House,
William J. Chriton
February 5, 1999.
Oliver D. Pangborn
10/17/2000 08:47:20 PM
Record Type:
Record
To:
CC:
Subject: STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT: Signing of "Microenterprise for Self-Reliance and International
Anti-Corruption Act of 2000"
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
October 17, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Today I am pleased to sign into law H.R. 1143, the
"Microenterprise for Self-Reliance and International
Anti-Corruption Act of 2000." The primary purpose of this
legislation is to authorize continued and expanded efforts to
provide assistance to the world's poorest entrepreneurs. The Act
is the result of a long process of collaboration and negotiation
among Members of Congress, my Administration, and the nonprofit
microenterprise community represented by the Microenterprise
Coalition. I congratulate all who worked on this bipartisan,
public-private effort.
I am proud that my Administration has put microenterprise
development and democratizing access to capital on the national
and international agenda. When I was Governor of Arkansas, the
First Lady and I encouraged and supported some of the first
microenterprise programs in the United States. Thanks to the
work of pioneering microenterprise development organizations
around the world, all of us have come to appreciate the potential
of microenterprise as means to empower poor people, especially
women, to help themselves and their families.
Microenterprise programs help self-employed entrepreneurs
obtain loans for small business enterprises to begin the process
of growing out of poverty. Without microenterprise programs
administered by the Agency for International Development and many
nongovernmental organizations, these poor entrepreneurs abroad
would not be able to borrow the small amount of money needed to
get their repair shops, sewing shops, or similar businesses, off
the ground. This is not a gift to these entrepreneurs, it is a
loan. And experience has shown that these small loans are repaid
and, in the process, these small-scale enterprises generate
income and jobs for poor families.
This Act also represents a breakthrough in recognizing the
value of business development services to the very poorest
entrepreneurs. To many poor entrepreneurs, basic training and
technical assistance in running a business can be as important as
a loan.
In addition, H.R. 1143 authorizes a range of programs to
promote good governance and democratization overseas. The United
States has long encouraged and funded programs that foster an
independent media, establish audit offices for executive
agencies, and promote judicial reform. This legislation contains
authority to provide assistance in furtherance of these programs
to countries that would otherwise be prohibited from receiving
U.S. assistance. While no direct assistance to the governments
of such countries can be provided under this authority, the
legislation and its history make clear that assistance to such
governments through nongovernmental organizations would be
permissible.
The Act also contains the "Support for Overseas Cooperative
Development Act," which expresses support for the development and
expansion of U.S. economic assistance programs abroad that fully
utilize cooperatives and credit unions. My Administration
and the Congress value and support the direct involvement of U.S.
cooperative organizations in transferring their knowledge to
local cooperatives in countries overseas.
Lastly, I note that H.R. 1143 includes the "International
Academic Opportunity Act of 2000," which authorizes the
Department of State to establish a grant program, to be called
the "Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships." These
scholarships will enable American undergraduate students of
limited financial means to study abroad, and better prepare them
to compete in an increasingly global economy.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
October 17, 2000.
Jason H. Schechter
02/05/99 11:06:35 AM
Record Type:
Record
To:
See the distribution list at the bottom of this message
CC:
Subject: Fact Sheet: Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
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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Partners for the Common Good
2000
A LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
December 7, 2000
Director
President William Jefferson Clinton
Carol Coston, OP
2507 N.W. 36th Street
Senator-Elect Hillary Rodham Clinton
COPY
San Antonio, TX
The White House
78228-3918
(210) 431-0616
Washington, D.C. 20500
431-0161 FAX
Dear President Clinton and Senator-Elect Clinton,
Advisory Board
That has a nice ring to it! Congratulations to you both.
Francis G Coleman
Emma G. Juarez
Jeanine Kleimo
This is the season of Advent in the Christian tradition, one characterized by
George McKecuen
Amata Miller, IHM, PhD
waiting. And as the season began, I was reminded of another period of waiting
that I've experienced since February - waiting for the White House Ceremony
for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development!
General Partner
Michael W. O'Hern, FSC
All of us at Partners for the Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) were thrilled to
know we had won the Award for Innovation. One innovation being the
pioneering work of women religious in the field of alternative investments.
Administrative Office
PCG 2000
My own congregation, the Adrian Dominicans, has been doing alternative
CBIS
915 Harger Rd
lending since 1978. We were among the early Development Deposits at South
Suite 250
Shore Bank. And today all of the accounts for PCG 2000 are held at South
Oak Brook IL
60521
Shore. We have also made Development Deposits in all the other banks
8) 571-2182
launched on the South Shore model, including three in Arkansas.
(800) 321-7194
So I was excited when you ran for President with a public commitment to
community economic development on the model of South Shore and for later
Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
pushing the CDFI legislation. This has made an enormous impact on the whole
Neal J Berkowitz. CPA
field and is certainly a wonderful legacy. And all the many trips you made as
CBIS
675 Third Ave
the First Lady to microenterprise loan funds throughout the world really helped
31st Floor
New York, NY
give a public face to this work and was a source of tremendous encouragement
10017-5704
to these small, and often struggling, loan funds. I made monitoring trips to
(800) 592-8890
many of these same funds and they have fond memories of your visit.
Anyway, all of this is to say that I really want to receive the award from you
two if this is at all possible. I will be leaving this work in alternative lending in
February after doing it for 22 years. A White House Ceremony would certainly
be a flashy ending!
An alternative
investment opportunity
In hopeful waiting,
from Christian Brothers
Investment Services,
Inc.
Carol Coston, ir
Sister Carol Coston, OP
( eggy Dincluded PCG 2000 annual Report
in by envelgee.)
Partners for the Common Good
2000
A LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
PHOTOCOPY
2507 N.W. 36th Street
San Antonio, Texas
PRESERVATION
78228-3918
President Clinton and
Denator- Elect Clinton
Kindness of melanne Verveer
Partners for the Common Good
2000
A LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
December 7, 2000
Director
President William Jefferson Clinton
Carol Coston, OP
2507 N.W. 36th Street
Senator-Elect Hillary Rodham Clinton
San Antonio, TX
The White House
78228-3918
(210) 431-0616
Washington, D.C. 20500
(210) 431-0161 FAX
Dear President Clinton and Senator-Elect Clinton,
Advisory Board
That has a nice ring to it! Congratulations to you both.
Francis G. Coleman
Emma G. Juárez
Jeanine Kleimo
This is the season of Advent in the Christian tradition, one characterized by
George McKecuen
Amata Miller, IHM, PhD
waiting. And as the season began, I was reminded of another period of waiting
that I've experienced since February - waiting for the White House Ceremony
for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development!
General Partner
Michael W. O'Hern, FSC
All of us at Partners for the Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) were thrilled to
know we had won the Award for Innovation. One innovation being the
pioneering work of women religious in the field of alternative investments.
Administrative Office
PCG 2000
My own congregation, the Adrian Dominicans, has been doing alternative
CBIS
915 Harger Rd.
lending since 1978. We were among the early Development Deposits at South
Suite 250
Shore Bank. And today all of the accounts for PCG 2000 are held at South
Oak Brook, IL
60521
Shore. We have also made Development Deposits in all the other banks
(708) 571-2182
(800) 321-7194
launched on the South Shore model, including three in Arkansas.
So I was excited when you ran for President with a public commitment to
community economic development on the model of South Shore and for later
Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
pushing the CDFI legislation. This has made an enormous impact on the whole
Neal J. Berkowitz, CPA
field and is certainly a wonderful legacy. And all the many trips you made as
CBIS
675 Third Ave.
the First Lady to microenterprise loan funds throughout the world really helped
31st Floor
New York, NY
give a public face to this work and was a source of tremendous encouragement
10017-5704
to these small, and often struggling, loan funds. I made monitoring trips to
(800) 592-8890
many of these same funds and they have fond memories of your visit.
Anyway, all of this is to say that I really want to receive the award from you
two if this is at all possible. I will be leaving this work in alternative lending in
February after doing it for 22 years. A White House Ceremony would certainly
be a flashy ending!
An alternative
investment opportunity
In hopeful waiting,
from Christian Brothers
Investment Services,
Inc.
Carol Coston, of
Sister Carol Coston, OP
601
Clinton Presidential Records
Digital Records Marker
This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative
marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a publication.
Publications have not been scanned in their entirety for the purpose
of digitization. To see the full publication please search online or
visit the Clinton Presidential Library's Research Room.
Report from
Partners for the Common Good
2000
DRAFT 11/23/99
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development - Short Profiles
Revised 1//9/01
Excellence in Poverty Alleviation
Women's Opportunity Resource Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Lynne Cutler, President
(215) 564-5500
Women's Opportunity Resource Center (WORC) was selected to receive a Presidential Award for
Excellence in Poverty Alleviation for its success in providing targeted and innovative services to help
many low-income and unemployed individuals start microenterprises. With a mission of promoting social
and economic self-sufficiency for disadvantaged women and their families, WORC serves women and
men by helping them build assets while strengthening basic life skills and business expertise. WORC
serves Philadelphia and the surrounding counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery
Over 90% of WORC's customers are low-income individuals and nearly 60% have household incomes of
less than $20,000. Given the economic and social challenges faced by this population, WORC has been
remarkably successful in helping its customers start businesses. Each year 40 to 50 percent of customers
entering WORC's training program start their own businesses. Virtually all of WORC's customers who
had once received public assistance are no longer eligible due to increases in household income or assets.
Since it began operating in 1987, WORC has served 780 would-be microentrepreneurs. In 1998 alone,
WORC served nearly 300 customers.
Excellence in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills
Women's Initiative for Self Employment
San Francisco, California
Barbara J. Johnson, Executive Director
(415) 247-9473
The Women's Initiative for Self Employment (WI) is recognized as an outstanding model for providing
comprehensive bilingual microenterprise development training, consulting and financial services to low
and very low-income women in the San Francisco Bay Area. To date, more than 4,000 women have
received training and technical assistance services from WI. WI has assisted more than 670 women in
starting or expanding a business — two-thirds of whom were low-income when they first came to WI. At
the core of WI's success is its rigorous fourteen-week entrepreneurial training program and seven sessions
of personal development support. WI also offers on-going business development services, such as
business plan writing, seminars, one-time workshops, and business financing to graduates of its
entrepreneurial training program.
WI offers its core curriculum in both English and Spanish. Since 1991, WI has provided entrepreneurial
training to bilingual and monolingual Latinas, through the Alternativas para Latinas en Autosuficiencia
(ALAS) program. The ALAS program offers a comprehensive five-part training curriculum designed for
low-income Latinas who have recently settled in the United States. It was created in response to a
significant lack of culturally and linguistically relevant community development services available to
entrepreneurial Latinas. Many of the ALAS customers had little or no formal education and limited
experience running a business in the United States prior to attending ALAS classes.
DRAFT 11/23/99
Excellence in Program Innovation
Center for Economic Options
Charleston, West Virginia
Pam Curry, Executive Director
(304) 345-1298
The Center for Economic Options (CEO) provides a comprehensive set of business support services to
economically distressed West Virginia residents, particularly women. CEO was selected to receive the
Presidential Award for Program Innovation because of its success in developing strategies to meet the
unique needs of microentrepreneurs who live in isolated rural communities. CEO serves as a model for
other rural communities that face similar economic challenges associated with a scarcity of quality
employment opportunities. CEO uses a holistic approach to assist microentrepreneurs by providing
access to information, business training, technical assistance, and management, financial and marketing
resources. The program targets customers who want to participate in the market economy, but who have
little history of gainful employment, few employment opportunities, or unrealized entrepreneurial
potential. With a change of mission to exclusively focus on microenterprise development, the Center
served nearly 900 current and prospective entrepreneurs in 1999.
CEO's creation of sectoral networks is a key innovation. These networks are groups of very small rural
businesses that cooperatively access training and marketing services. CEO has organized and supported
sectoral networks engaged in home-based machine knitting, dried flower production, forest products,
herbs, specialty agricultural products, and environmental tourism. CEO's most well known network
evolved into a nonprofit organization known as Appalachian by Design. A new CEO innovation is the
creation of regional road show events. CEO brings its services to the customer as a strategy to meet the
unique needs of entrepreneurs who reside in rural mountain communities located far from urban centers
and training.
Excellence in Public or Private Support for Microenterprise Development
Ms. Foundation for Women
New York, New York
Anna Wadia, Senior Program Officer
(212) 742-2300, ext. 319
The Ms. Foundation for Women was selected for a Presidential Award for its long-term commitment to
the microenterprise development field. Through an integrated, comprehensive set of initiatives, including
the direct training of 2,000 women in microenterprise development via its Institute on Women and
Economic Development, a Peer-to-Peer Assistance program for the sharing of expertise among some 25
microenterprise development organizations, and the dissemination of practitioner lessons learned through
study and publication, the Foundation has been an effective supporter and promoter of microenterprise.
Importantly, the Foundation's Collaborative Fund for Women's Economic Development (Collaborative
Fund) has created a unique partnership among 28 foundations, corporations, and individuals that have
pooled their resources to support microenterprise development organizations (MDOs) across the country.
Since 1991, the Collaborative Fund has provided over $4 million in multi-year grants and technical
DRAFT 11/23/99
assistance to MDOs, and has significantly enhanced the overall funding environment by attracting new
categories of donors, such as family foundations, to contribute to MDOs. Many have never supported
microenterprise efforts before. Finally, the Collaborative Fund provides seed money to MDOs to
experiment with new program strategies - such as working with welfare recipients. The success of these
MDOs has played a key role in attracting new federal funding.
Excellence in Program Innovation
Partners for the Common Good 2000
San Antonio, Texas
Sister Carol Coston, O.P.
(210) 431-0616
Working quietly and with little public fanfare, the Partners Group, Inc. created Partners for the Common
Good 2000 (PCG 2000) in 1994 with $7.9 million from 99 religious institutions. The Partner's Group is a
wholly owned subsidiary of the New York-based Christian Brothers Investment Services, and they have
played a pioneering role in the field of alternative investing and community development finance.
PCG 2000 was selected to receive a Program Innovation award because its unique limited partnership
model demonstrates a new type of vehicle through which investor capital can be raised to support
microenterprise. Structured as a six-year limited partnership, PCG 2000 makes low-interest loans and
deposits to support microenterprise organizations and credit unions engaged in microenterprise lending
and low-income housing. Although other microenterprise organizations have obtained support from
religious investors, PCG is the first group to organize a private sector venture capital vehicle to attract and
manage investments in microenterprise. PCG uses social screens to select organizations to receive
investments. These screens include benefiting women and minorities, creating jobs and increasing the
wages of low-income people, and leveraging private investment. PCG's commitment to social justice has
translated into a program that is high impact, financially self-sustaining, and replicable. This is an
outstanding example of an innovative program and is one of the best-kept secrets of the microenterprise
field.
January 9, 2001
To:
Ruby Shamir
From: Maurice Jones, CDFI Fund
Re:
Biographies of Awardees' customers (borrowers)
Presidential Awards ceremony - January 16, 2001
From the Women's Opportunity Resource Center, Philadelphia, PA:
Customer Profile: Nancy Santana, Nancy Santana Cleaning and Maintenance, Inc.
Phone: (215) 427-7860
"WORC gave me the courage to reach for my goals and to believe in myself and my business,"
says Nancy Santana, a WORC graduate who was recently named one of "Pennsylvania's 50 Best
Business Women" by the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Only four years ago, Nancy was struggling to provide for her family raising three children on
public assistance and dreaming of a better life. Today, she is President of Nancy Santana
Cleaning and Maintenance, Inc., of Philadelphia. Her janitorial and maintenance service
company employs 20 people, many of whom are former welfare recipients. The company
specializes in pre- and post-construction cleaning, working primarily on commercial and
government contracts. Nancy's business currently has a number of contracts including one with
the City of Philadelphia. As a member of a number of local Chambers of Commerce, Nancy
mentors other entrepreneurs and finds time to volunteer for community projects.
When Nancy came to WORC in early 1996, she was on welfare - a single mother of three young
children, one of whom was born with a disability. "I knew that the only way he would never
need for anything would be for me to start my own business." At age 15, Nancy started working
to help support her family (including a widowed mother and six siblings) while working on her
GED at night. Working in cleaning and maintenance for 12 years, Nancy knew the business, but
she also knew she needed to know more if she was going to start her own cleaning company.
Nancy enrolled in WORC's self-employment training program, an intensive 12-week program,
where she learned the essentials of running a business and preparing a business plan. After she
graduated from her program, she launched her company by negotiating a contract to clean the 57
unit complex in which she lives. Her landlord helped her with start-up costs, which she promptly
repaid.
From the Women's Initiative for Self Employment, San Francisco, CA:
Customer Profile: Danielle Franklin, Danielle's Touch, Skin & Body Care
Phone: (510) 836-2465 - home (510) 308-3309 - business
Danielle Franklin began her business, Danielle's Touch, Skin & Body Care, in 1995. Her
business provides skin care, natural nail care, and spa body treatments. Within five years,
Danielle has gained a loyal following and fine reputation as a licensed aesthetician.
Danielle's road to success was not an easy one. Widowed at twenty-three, Danielle was forced to
be the sole provider for her two-year-old baby girl. With the help of disability insurance and
AFDC, she graduated from Beauty College, earned her cosmetology license, and opened
Danielle's Touch. However, Danielle stated, "I had no real sense of business finance, so most of
my decisions were made on faith and prayer. Some worked and some didn't."
In 1996, Danielle began visiting Women's Initiative to gain focus and the technical skills that
would allow her business to grow and prosper. After graduating from the Women's Initiative
training program, Danielle continued to utilize its services, including a peer support group and
one-on-one technical assistance. In her second year, Danielle obtained a $2,000 loan from
Women's Initiative that enabled her to relocate her business to a central downtown location. The
new location provided more visibility and the opportunity to expand her customer base. After
three years of operation, Danielle plans to expand her business to a larger facility with more
services,
Today, Danielle's business is thriving. She credits the support of the Women's Initiative and the
business skills she gained as key to operating a healthy business and earning enough income to
support her family.
"Public assistance should be used as a stepping stone and not a crutch," states Danielle, who used
the Women's Initiative program to build a solid foundation for her business. "Today my business
plan serves me well; it is the heart and soul of who I am as an entrepreneur, what my business is,
who it serves, and what it can be."
From the Center for Economic Options, Charleston, WV:
Customer Profile: Charlotte Chandler, Honey of an Herb Farm
Phone: (304) 577-6793
After Charlotte Chandler won a bet with her husband, who is a stonemason, he had to build her a
stone herb garden. From that first small garden, Charlotte has grown her business, Honey of an
Herb Farm. Today, Charlotte is a successful microentrepreneur running a three-and-a-half acre
farm in Roane County, West Virginia.
"I've always enjoyed flowers and herbs, and owning my own greenhouse business is a dream
come true," said Charlotte. "Having my own business is wonderful. I have flexible hours, and I
really enjoy what I do. I don't dread getting up in the morning and going to work."
In 1994, Charlotte learned about the Center's new Appalachian Flower Network. She attended
the first meeting a few months later and has continued to be an active network member. Through
network training provided by the Center, she has learned production, business development, and
marketing skills.
Charlotte has become a consummate networker who has taken advantage of marketing events
sponsored by the Center to meet new customers and expand her market. In fact, her participation
in a Center event led to a major sale of more than 300 boxes of potpourri and gift boxes.
Expansion of her retail market is Charlotte's next step. She originally believed that her rural
location would limit customer traffic. However, the great success of her Christmas open-house in
1998 made Charlotte see that retail is a viable option.
Charlotte says that the Center's comprehensive support has been the key to her ability to start and
grow her very successful business. "One of the most important things that the Center has given
me is encouragement," states Charlotte, "Every time I lost faith in myself, someone from the
Center was there to encourage and help me. I couldn't have done it without that."
From the Ms. Foundation for Women, New York, NY:
Customer Profile: Acre Family Day Care Corporation, Lowell, Massachusetts and
Marea Washington, Family Day Care Business Owner
Phone: (212) 742-2300
From its early days as a small project of a local community organization to its current status as a
$2 million organization, the Acre Family Day Care Corporation (Acre) provides a clear
illustration of the Ms. Foundation's work. Based in Lowell, MA, Acre provides training to
Spanish-speaking residents on how to start childcare businesses in their homes. Over the past 12
years, more than 250 child care providers have graduated from the Acre training program.
The Ms. Foundation began funding the fledgling Acre in 1991 with a $150,000 grant from the
Collaborative Fund. The Collaborative Fund's award legitimized the Acre program's vision to
other funders. This support lead to new resources that Acre needed to transform itself from a
pilot project into a full-fledged organization. After receiving the grant, Acre created a training
program for a growing population of Cambodian immigrants in Lowell. Acre was able to
enhance its support services to child care providers, including business improvement loans,
monthly workshops, and scholarships for continuing education. In 1996, Acre received another
$150,000 grant from the Collaborative Fund. This grant was used to create a training program in
English and modify Acre's curriculum to better meet the needs of welfare recipients.
Marea Washington, 27, is one of Acre's graduate. As a single mother, she is the sole supporter
for her three children. She spent three years on welfare after her second child was born -- an
experience she did not want to repeat. When her third child was just two weeks old, Marea
enrolled in Acre's 12-week Family Child Care and Entrepreneur training program. The program
offered Marea the promise of being able to earn a decent living while caring for her infant.
Marea became a licensed child care provider in April 1998. In her first year of operation, Marea
earned $14,000 in business revenue. Last year, her business revenue rose to $22,000. This year,
she's on her way to bringing in more than $30,000. Last year, the average provider in the Acre
network earned $33,600 in business revenue with some reporting as much as $54,000.
Marea is among the 50 Acre customers who have signed up for its new Individual Development
Account program. Through this program, Marea deposits $25 a month into a special savings
account, which is matched by $75 from public and private monies. By the end of two years,
Marea will have saved $2,400 for a down payment on a house. Purchase of a house will enable
Marea to begin caring for children with physical disabilities. Marea plans to continue operating
her home child care business until her youngest child begins school in three years. Afterwards,
she would like to return to school to obtain the credentials that are needed to work with children
with special needs. Acre will be there to help Marea with that goal through its early childhood
education scholarship program.
From the Partners for the Common Good 2000, San Antonio, TX:
Customer Profile: The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center
Phone: Graciela Sanchez (210) 228-0201
Established in 1987, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center is a San Antonio, city-wide
community-based organization working for social justice and cultural enrichment through
programming in education and the arts. Esperanza has used a $150,000 low-interest loan from
Partners for the Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) to acquire a 9,500-square-foot building in
downtown San Antonio, Texas. Esperanza, which means "hope" in Spanish, works in a city
where the average family income is the lowest among the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the
country.
Through its MujerArtes program, Esperanza aims to combat the effects of discrimination and
poverty by providing low-income Mexican-American women with an opportunity 1) to nourish
their spirits by acquiring a greater understanding and appreciation of their culture, and 2) to gain
income-producing skills by learning the art of creating clay objects. This cooperative model
recognizes that women are often heads of households in need of employment, and that women
usually play a preeminent role in passing art and culture on to future generations. MujerArtes
recognizes that women must learn to respect their own culture, language, and history if they are to
offer succeeding generations a stronger sense of self-respect and respect for their community.
MujerArtes is built on the belief that every woman who participates in the cooperative venture --
whether as a student or teacher -- inspires the others.
The MujerArtes program includes an intensive training component for up to 20 participants, who
commit to 20 hours of class time each week over a two-year period. The training is offered by an
artist-in-residence, who is joined by community leaders, scholars, and other Latina women, who
share in the struggles of the participants. These leaders facilitate in-depth discussions on racism,
the economic condition of women, history and culture, economic literacy, and other issues.
The participating women sell their work through the Esperanza Center, which each year hosts a
"Spring Fair" and a pre-Christmas "Peace Market" that draw thousands of people from South
Texas. A percentage of the proceeds of the sale of women's artwork is reinvested in the
MujerArtes Cooperative. In the coming year, Esperanza plans to open a retail storefront
operation that will provide an ongoing outlet for selling the art of the women in MujerArtes, as
well as that of other San Antonio artisans.
When the PCG 2000 loan is repaid in full in September 2000, Esperanza will hold free title to the
building that houses its operations, ensuring a permanent presence in San Antonio as a vibrant
community center and source of esperanza for generations to come. The loan to the Esperanza
Peace and Justice Center is one of 78 loans and deposits totaling $8.5 million made to date by
PCG 2000.
"Jones, Maurice A." <[email protected]>
05/10/2000 08:53:43 AM
Record Type:
Record
To:
Ruby Shamir/OPD/EOP
CC:
Thise look you!
Subject: FW: Micro Profiles
Below are the profiles of the Micro awardees for 1999. Thanks for your
help. Please let me know if you need anything else from us.
>
<<Center for Economic Options Rev2.doc>>
<<Profile PCG2000.doc>>
>
<<profilemsfoundation-final.doc>> <<profileWORC2.doc>>
>
<<profileWISE2..doc>>
- Center for Economic Options Rev2.doc
- Profile PCG2000.doc
- profilemsfoundation-final.doc
-
profileWORC2.doc
- profileWISE2..doc
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Program Innovation
Center for Economic Options
Location:
Charleston, West Virginia
Program Type:
Comprehensive business support services
Service Area:
West Virginia
Target Market:
Economically vulnerable individuals in West Virginia, particularly women
Contact:
Pam Curry, Executive Director
(304) 345-1298
The Center for Economic Options (the Center) was selected to receive a Presidential Award
because of its success in developing strategies to meet the unique needs of microentrepreneurs
living in isolated rural communities. The Center provides a holistic approach to microenterprise
development for economically vulnerable West Virginia residents. Its comprehensive set of
business support services include business development training and technical assistance,
marketing assistance, and one-on-one business assessment and counseling.
Founded in 1979, the Center began providing service to entrepreneurs in 1983. In 1995, the
Center changed its mission to exclusively focus on microenterprise development as a strategy for
promoting rural economic development. In 1999, the Center served nearly 900 current and
prospective entrepreneurs.
The key innovation that the Center is recognized for is the creation of sectoral enterprise
networks. Sectoral networks are groups of very small, rural businesses that cooperatively access
training and marketing services, as well as share information and lessons learned. As a group,
the businesses that are members of the networks achieve outcomes that one business alone could
not accomplish. The Center's most famous sectoral network is Appalachian by Design. This
network was so successful that it was spun off into an independent nonprofit organization in
1995. Today, many-hand crafted items bearing the Appalachian by Design label can be found in
upscale craft and home décor retail stores. The Center currently coordinates three networks-the
Appalachian Flower Network, the Forest Enterprise Network, and the Small Farms Network.
A new Center innovation is the creation of "road show" events. The road shows bring the
Center's training and technical assistance services to entrepreneurs who reside in rural, mountain
communities - far from urban centers where training services are usually provided. The Center
tailors its road shows to the needs of entrepreneurs and residents of the community in which the
event is held. The Center works through local community organizations to provide follow-up
services to entrepreneurs and monitor the program's effectiveness. Begun in 1999, the road
shows have already had several early successes. One participant has started her own catering
business. Another entrepreneur successfully applied for and received a loan from the West
Virginia Microloan Program. And a non-profit organization has formed new partnerships to
promote local tourism. The Center plans to hold four road shows annually.
The Center strives to create a climate where entrepreneurs can thrive. The Center works with
local decision makers and established businesses to offer community-based economic education.
The purpose of these programs is to educate West Virginia residents about the important role that
locally-owned microenterprises play in the state's economic health To that end, the Center is
leading a major public education campaign on the West Virginia microenterprise industry and its
current and potential economic impact.
Customer Profile: Charlotte Chandler, Honey of an Herb Farm
After Charlotte Chandler won a bet with her husband, who is a stonemason, he had to build her a
stone herb garden. From that first small garden, Charlotte has grown her business, Honey of an
Herb Farm. Today, Charlotte is a successful microentrepreneur running a three-and-a-half acre
farm in Roane County, West Virginia.
"I've always enjoyed flowers and herbs, and owning my own greenhouse business is a dream
come true," said Charlotte. "Having my own business is wonderful. I have flexible hours, and I
really enjoy what I do. I don't dread getting up in the morning and going to work."
In 1994, Charlotte learned about the Center's new Appalachian Flower Network. She attended
the first meeting a few months later and has continued to be an active network member. Through
network training provided by the Center, she has learned production, business development, and
marketing skills.
Charlotte has become a consummate networker who has taken advantage of marketing events
sponsored by the Center to meet new customers and expand her market. In fact, her participation
in a Center event led to a major sale of more than 300 boxes of potpourri and gift boxes.
Expansion of her retail market is Charlotte's next step. She originally believed that her rural
location would limit customer traffic. However, the great success of her Christmas open-house
in 1998 made Charlotte see that retail is a viable option.
Charlotte says that the Center's comprehensive support has been the key to her ability to start
and grow her very successful business. "One of the most important things that the Center has
given me is encouragement," states Charlotte, "Every time I lost faith in myself, someone from
the Center was there to encourage and help me. I couldn't have done it without that."
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Program Innovation
Partners for the Common Good 2000
Location:
San Antonio, TX
Program Type:
Investor in Microenterprise Development Organizations
Service Area:
United States
Target Market:
Organizations working with Low-Income persons
Contact:
Sister Carol Coston, O.P.
(210) 431-0616
Working quietly and with little public fanfare, the Partners Group, Inc. created Partners for the
Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) in 1994 with $7.9 million from 99 religious institutions. The
Partner's Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York-based Christian Brothers
Investment Services. Among its investors are 68 congregations of Catholic Sisters, 19
congregations of Catholic Brothers and Priests, eight Catholic healthcare systems, and three
Protestant denominations. Sister Carol Coston, OP, an Adrian Dominican Sister, manages PCG
2000. Eighty-eight percent of the portfolio is comprised of investments from individual
congregations of Catholic Sisters, who have played a pioneering role in the field of alternative
investing and community development finance.
PCG 2000 was selected to receive a Program Innovation award because its unique limited
partnership model demonstrates a new type of vehicle through which investor capital can be
raised to support microenterprise. Structured as a six-year limited partnership, PCG 2000 makes
low-interest loans and deposits to support microenterprise organizations and credit unions
engaged in microenterprise lending and low-income housing. Eighty percent of PCG's portfolio
consists of activities in the United States with over 40% of its total portfolio supporting
microenterprise.
PCG 2000 is the second limited partnership created by the Partners Group, Inc.. The first five-
year limited partnership was created in 1989 and provided $3.25 million in support to
organizations that promote microenterprise development. Although other microenterprise
organizations have obtained support from religious investors, this is the first group to organize a
private sector venture capital vehicle to attract and manage investments in microenterprise. PCG
grew out of the corporate responsibility movement and provides a social investment vehicle
through which religious organizations can proactively share their financial resources in ventures
that generate a high social impact "return."
Its first partnership was so successful that the Partners Group had investors waiting before the
second partnership was established. These partnerships are innovative and exciting models for
generating community impact. PCG uses social screens to select organizations to receive
investments. These screens include benefiting women and minorities, creating jobs and
increasing the wages of low-income people, and leveraging private investment. PCG's
commitment to social justice has translated into a program that is high impact, financially self-
sustaining, and replicable. All operating expenses are paid through a management fee, which is
incorporated into each investment, thereby relieving staff of considerable fundraising activities.
PCG's unique structure provides an effective way to attract new funders to the microenterprise
field. This is an outstanding example of an innovative program and is one of the best-kept
secrets of the microenterprise field.
Customer Profile: The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center
Established in 1987, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center is a San Antonio, city-wide
community-based organization working for social justice and cultural enrichment through
programming in education and the arts. Esperanza has used a $150,000 low-interest loan from
Partners for the Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) to acquire a 9,500-square-foot building in
downtown San Antonio, Texas. Esperanza, which means "hope" in Spanish, works in a city
where the average family income is the lowest among the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the
country.
Through its MujerArtes program, Esperanza aims to combat the effects of discrimination and
poverty by providing low-income Mexican-American women with an opportunity 1) to nourish
their spirits by acquiring a greater understanding and appreciation of their culture, and 2) to gain
income-producing skills by learning the art of creating clay objects. This cooperative model
recognizes that women are often heads of households in need of employment, and that women
usually play a preeminent role in passing art and culture on to future generations. MujerArtes
recognizes that women must learn to respect their own culture, language, and history if they are
to offer succeeding generations a stronger sense of self-respect and respect for their community.
MujerArtes is built on the belief that every woman who participates in the cooperative venture --
whether as a student or teacher -- inspires the others.
The MujerArtes program includes an intensive training component for up to 20 participants, who
commit to 20 hours of class time each week over a two-year period. The training is offered by an
artist-in-residence, who is joined by community leaders, scholars, and other Latina women, who
share in the struggles of the participants. These leaders facilitate in-depth discussions on racism,
the economic condition of women, history and culture, economic literacy, and other issues.
The participating women sell their work through the Esperanza Center, which each year hosts a
"Spring Fair" and a pre-Christmas "Peace Market" that draw thousands of people from South
Texas. A percentage of the proceeds of the sale of women's artwork is reinvested in the
MujerArtes Cooperative. In the coming year, Esperanza plans to open a retail storefront
operation that will provide an ongoing outlet for selling the art of the women in MujerArtes, as
well as that of other San Antonio artisans.
When the PCG 2000 loan is repaid in full in September 2000, Esperanza will hold free title to the
building that houses its operations, ensuring a permanent presence in San Antonio as a vibrant
community center and source of esperanza for generations to come. The loan to the Esperanza
Peace and Justice Center is one of 78 loans and deposits totaling $8.5 million made to date by
PCG 2000.
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Public or Private Support for Microenterprise Development
Ms. Foundation for Women
Location:
New York, New York
Program Type:
Foundation-based national microenterprise support program
Service Area:
National
Target Market:
Community-based organizations primarily serving low-income women
Contact:
Anna Wadia, Senior Program Officer
(212) 742-2300, ext. 319
The Ms. Foundation for Women was selected for a Presidential Award for its long-term
commitment to the microenterprise development field. The Foundation's Collaborative Fund for
Women's Economic Development (Collaborative Fund) has created a unique partnership among
28 foundations, corporations, and individuals that have pooled their resources to support
microenterprise development organizations (MDOs) across the country. Since 1991, the
Collaborative Fund has provided over $4 million in multi-year grants and technical assistance to
MDOs. The Collaborative Fund is currently soliciting partners for its third funding round, which
will invest another $4 million into the microenterprise field.
The Collaborative Fund is part of the Ms. Foundation's Women's Economic Security Program.
The program's purpose is to improve and create economic opportunities for low-income women,
their families, and their communities. The program and Collaborative Fund are integral parts of
the Ms. Foundation's overall mission to support the efforts of women and girls to govern their
lives and influence the world around them.
The Collaborative Fund has significantly enhanced the overall funding environment for MDOs.
The Ms. Foundation has attracted a new category of donor to the microenterprise field -- family
foundations. Participation in the Collaborative Fund by family foundations and individuals has
grown from $312,000 in 1991 to $1.3 million today. Furthermore, many of the Collaborative
Fund donors who had never previously funded microenterprise now make their own direct grants
to MDOs. One such foundation has made nearly $400,000 in direct grants to MDOs since
joining the Collaborative Fund. Finally, the Collaborative Fund provides seed money to MDOs
to experiment with new program strategies - such as working with welfare recipients. The
success of these MDOs has played a key role in attracting new federal funding.
The Ms. Foundation supports MDOs through an integrated and comprehensive set of initiatives.
For more than ten years, the Ms. Foundation has sponsored the Institute on Women and
Economic Development. The Institute has trained more than 2,000 women from across the
country on the basics of microenterprise development. Since 1987, the Ms. Foundation has
sponsored a Peer-to-Peer Assistance Program. Through this unique and innovative program,
some 25 MDOs have come together to collaborate and share their expertise. Finally, the Ms.
Foundation documents and widely disseminates lessons learned by practioners about
microenterprise development as a poverty alleviation strategy for low-income women.
Customer Profile: Acre Family Day Care Corporation, Lowell, Massachusetts and
Marea Washington, Family Day Care Business Owner
From its early days as a small project of a local community organization to its current status as a
$2 million organization, the Acre Family Day Care Corporation (Acre) provides a clear
illustration of the Ms. Foundation's work. Based in Lowell, MA, Acre provides training to
Spanish-speaking residents on how to start childcare businesses in their homes. Over the past 12
years, more than 250 child care providers have graduated from the Acre training program.
The Ms. Foundation began funding the fledgling Acre in 1991 with a $150,000 grant from the
Collaborative Fund. The Collaborative Fund's award legitimized the Acre program's vision to
other funders. This support lead to new resources that Acre needed to transform itself from a
pilot project into a full-fledged organization. After receiving the grant, Acre created a training
program for a growing population of Cambodian immigrants in Lowell. Acre was able to
enhance its support services to child care providers, including business improvement loans,
monthly workshops, and scholarships for continuing education. In 1996, Acre received another
$150,000 grant from the Collaborative Fund. This grant was used to create a training program in
English and modify Acre's curriculum to better meet the needs of welfare recipients.
Marea Washington, 27, is one of Acre's graduate. As a single mother, she is the sole supporter
for her three children. She spent three years on welfare after her second child was born -- an
experience she did not want to repeat. When her third child was just two weeks old, Marea
enrolled in Acre's 12-week Family Child Care and Entrepreneur training program. The program
offered Marea the promise of being able to earn a decent living while caring for her infant.
Marea became a licensed child care provider in April 1998. In her first year of operation, Marea
earned $14,000 in business revenue. Last year, her business revenue rose to $22,000. This year,
she's on her way to bringing in more than $30,000. Last year, the average provider in the Acre
network earned $33,600 in business revenue with some reporting as much as $54,000.
Marea is among the 50 Acre customers who have signed up for its new Individual Development
Account program. Through this program, Marea deposits $25 a month into a special savings
account, which is matched by $75 from public and private monies. By the end of two years,
Marea will have saved $2,400 for a down payment on a house. Purchase of a house will enable
Marea to begin caring for children with physical disabilities. Marea plans to continue operating
her home child care business until her youngest child begins school in three years. Afterwards,
she would like to return to school to obtain the credentials that are needed to work with children
with special needs. Acre will be there to help Marea with that goal through its early childhood
education scholarship program.
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Poverty Alleviation
Women's Opportunities Resource Center
Location:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Program Type:
Training, technical assistance, loans, individual development accounts.
Service Area:
Philadelphia and Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties
Target Market:
Low-income or underemployed individuals displaced workers
Contact:
Lynne Cutler, President
(215) 564-5500
Women's Opportunity Resource Center (WORC) was selected to receive a Presidential Award
for Excellence in Poverty Alleviation for its success in providing targeted and innovative
services to help many low-income and unemployed individuals start microenterprises. With a
mission of promoting social and economic self-sufficiency for disadvantaged women, WORC
helps its customers by building assets while strengthening basic life skills and business expertise.
Over 80% of WORC's customers are low-income individuals. Given the economic and social
challenges faced by this population, WORC has been remarkably successful in helping its
customers start businesses. Each year, 40 to 50 percent of customers entering WORC's training
program start businesses. Most of WORC's customers who had once received public assistance
are no longer eligible due to increases in household income or assets. Between 1995 and 1999,
WORC served nearly 1,000 prospective microentrepreneurs.
The core of WORC's services is its entrepreneurial training programs. WORC assists
prospective entrepreneurs in evaluating the feasibility of their business ideas and assessing their
readiness for business ownership. WORC's customers learn business skills, including
marketing, financial analysis, and business plan preparation. WORC also helps customers find
jobs if they need part-time work to support themselves while their businesses are growing or if
they decide not to start a business.
WORC provides one-on-one business assistance tailored to the needs of each microenterprise.
Specialized assistance includes the Contract Access Services, which helps link WORC customers
to contracting opportunities. For example, as a result of participating in a WORC-sponsored
networking event, a program graduate landed a $50,000 maintenance contract with Sunoco.
To help meet the unique needs of its low-income customers, WORC provides case management
services. WORC helps microentrepreneurs address personal issues that could hinder business
development. WORC also ensures that microentrepreneurs receiving public benefits are
compliant with the requirements of such programs. WORC staff members help
microentrepreneurs identify additional benefits that they may be eligible to receive.
Credit problems are often a significant barrier to WORC's customers in obtaining business
financing. To address this barrier, WORC helps its customers develop credit repair plans.
WORC provides customers with its own credit-scoring instrument-so that they can understand
what is needed to receive a loan. WORC has developed a Savings Loan to introduce customers
to credit. This $1,500 loan is divided into two parts: $500 in cash to be used for the business
and $1,000 into a certificate of deposit to secure the loan and encourage savings. WORC also
offers other loan and loan guarantee products tailored to the needs of microentrepreneurs.
WORC has been a pioneer in bringing innovative services to its customers. Through its
participation in Pennsylvania's Family Savings Account program, WORC offers individual
development accounts to encourage low-income families to save. Participants in this program
are required to save at least $10 a week for a period of one to two years. For each $1 saved by an
account holder, WORC provides a 50¢ match on savings up to $600 over two years. The savings
and the match may be used to start a microenterprise, buy or repair a home, pay for tuition, or for
other approved uses. As part of the program, participants receive training on personal financial
management. In 1999, over 400 individuals participated in this program. Participation is
expected to grow to 650 in 2000.
Customer Profile: Nancy Santana, Nancy Santana Cleaning and Maintenance, Inc.
"WORC gave me the courage to reach for my goals and to believe in myself and my business,"
says Nancy Santana, a WORC graduate who was recently named one of "Pennsylvania's 50 Best
Business Women" by the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Only four years ago Nancy was struggling to provide for her family -- raising three children on
public assistance and dreaming of a better life. Today, she is President of Nancy Santana
Cleaning and Maintenance, Inc., of Philadelphia. Her janitorial and maintenance service
company employs 20 people, many of whom are former welfare recipients. The company
specializes in pre- and post-construction cleaning, working primarily on commercial and
government contracts. Nancy's business currently has a number of contracts including one with
the City of Philadelphia.
When Nancy came to WORC in early 1996, she was on welfare -- a single mother of three young
children, one of whom was born with a disability. "I knew that the only way he would never
need for anything would be for me to start my own business." At age 15, Nancy started working
to help support her family (including a widowed mother and six siblings) while working on her
GED at night. Working in cleaning and maintenance for 12 years, Nancy knew the business, but
she also knew she needed to know more if she was going to start her own cleaning company.
Nancy enrolled in WORC's self-employment training program, an intensive 12-week program,
where she learned the essentials of running a business and preparing a business plan. After she
graduated from her program, she launched her company by negotiating a contract to clean the
57-unit complex in which she lives. Her landlord helped her with start-up costs, which she
promptly repaid.
As a member of a number of local Chambers of Commerce, Nancy mentors other entrepreneurs
and finds time to volunteer for community projects.
Presidential Award for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills
Women's Initiative for Self Employment
Location:
San Francisco, CA
Program Type:
Regional non-profit that provides bilingual microenterprise
development training, consulting and financial services.
Service Area:
Five county San Francisco Bay Area
Target Group:
Low and very low-income women
Contact:
Barbara J. Johnson, Executive Director
(415) 247-9473
The Women's Initiative for Self Employment (Women's Initiative) is recognized for
excellence as a model for providing bilingual entrepreneurial skills development through
its comprehensive training, on-going business support and financial services. Women's
Initiatives is targeted to low and very low-income women in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A documented lack of entrepreneurial training services addressing the needs of women
led to the creation of Women's Initiative for Self Employment in 1988. To date, more
than 4,000 women have received training and technical assistance services from
Women's Initiative. The Awardee has assisted more than 700 women in starting or
expanding a business - two-thirds of whom were low-income when they first came to
Women's Initiative.
At the core of Women Initiative's success is its entrepreneurial screening and assessment
process. Applicants selected for the program enroll in a rigorous fourteen-week, 21
session entrepreneurial training program -- of which seven sessions focus on Personal
Effectiveness and Power (PEP) training. PEP is designed to integrate factors such as a
client's family life and relationship to her community into her entrepreneurial education.
Women's Initiative also offers on-going business development services such as business
plan writing, seminars and one-time workshops, one-on-one consulting, and matched
savings accounts for program graduates.
Women's Initiative offers its curriculum in both English and Spanish. Sessions are
designed for individuals who have had limited business experience or formal education.
The English language training is offered in a fourteen-week, 21-session workshop
entitled Managing Your Small Business. The goals of the workshop are to help
participants: (1) understand the basics of operating a business; (2) understand how to
engage in necessary industry and market research; (3) develop essential business skills;
and (4) develop a business plan.
SCHEDULING PROPOSAL
OCT. 2, 2000
ACCEPT
REGRET
PENDING
TO:
Stephanie Streett
Assistant to the President
Director of Presidential Scheduling
Kim Tilley
Director of Scheduling for the First Lady
FROM:
Melanne Verveer
Assistant to the President
Chief of Staff to the First Lady
Gene Sperling
Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
Director of the National Economic Council
REQUEST:
That the President and First Lady host the
Presidential Awards for Excellence in
Microenterprise Development at a White House
ceremony. The awards were created at the
President's request and are administered by the
Community Development Financial Institutions
(CDFI) Fund at the Treasury Department. Both the
Microenterprise Awards and the CDFI Fund are
signature initiatives of the President and First Lady.
PURPOSE:
As a non-monetary award, the Microenterprise
Awards derive their public significance from the
President and First Lady's strong support. The
award ceremony demonstrates the President and
First Lady's support for microenterprise
development and commitment to these awards,
which the President created. The event will also
highlight the Administration's commitment to
bringing America's distressed urban and rural
communities into the economic mainstream by
recognizing leading microenterprise development
organizations serving low-income communities.
BACKGROUND:
In response to the 1995 UN Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing, the President
directed the CDFI Fund to establish and administer
a Presidential Award that recognized organizations
that have demonstrated excellence and leadership in
enabling people to build their own businesses.
In 1997, the President honored the first seven
awardees in an East Room ceremony with the First
Lady and Secretary Rubin. Awardees represented
organizations from Washington, DC, Seattle,
Chicago, Massachusetts, North Carolina and
Nebraska. In January 1999, the President also
awarded the 1998 Microenterprise Awards. Both
events were successful and received favorable
coverage.
The CDFI Fund, which administers the awards, was
proposed by the President and passed by Congress
in 1994 with the goal of creating a nationwide
network of community banks. Since then, the Fund
has awarded more than $300 million to financial
institutions (community development banks, loan
funds, etc.) around the country.
The President's FY 2001 budget request for CDFI is
$125 million.
PREVIOUS PARTICIPATION:
December 1997 - first awards ceremony at White
House - and January 1999 (we were unable to
schedule the 1998 awards in December 1998).
DATE/TIME:
After early November
DURATION:
30-45 minutes
LOCATION:
East Room or Room 450
PARTICIPANTS:
The President, the First Lady, Secretary Summers
REMARKS REQUIRED:
Brief remarks
MEDIA COVERAGE:
Open press
RECOMMENDED BY:
Treasury Department, NEC, OFL
CONTACT:
Melanne Verveer
456-6266
SEP-22-2000 12:19
CDFI Fund
2026227754 P.01/05
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL
INSTITUTIONS FUND
FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL SHEET
To: Ruby Shamir
From: Debbi Smith
Melanne Verveer
Organization: Office of the First Lady
Date: September 22, 2000
Fax Number: 202-456-6244
Total No. of Pages: 5
(including cover)
Phone Number: 202-456-6266
Phone Number: 202-622-9046
(direct dial)
URGENT
FOR REVIEW
PLEASE COMMENT
PLEASE REPLY
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Notes/Comments:
Department of the Treasury
601 Thirteenth Street, N.W., Suite 200 South
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone (202) 622-8662
Facsimile (202) 622-7754
SEP-22-2000 12:19
CDFI Fund
2026227754 P.02/05
OF
THE THE TREASURY
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FUND
601 THIRTEENTH STREET, NW, SUITE 200 SOUTH
1789
WASHINGTON, DC 20005
DIRECTOR
DATE:
September 22, 2000
TO:
Ruby Shamir, First Lady's Office
FROM:
Ellen Lazar, Director 1 Ecen Lazar
RE:
Updated request for the Microcnterprise Award event
Attached, please find the updated request for the Microenterprise Award event that we
would like to have held at the White House later this fall, preferably in November. As
we discussed, Cliff Kellogg at the NEC is trying to get Gene Sperling's attention on this
and Lynn Cutler has expressed support, as well. Cameron Cohen in her office is
knowledgeable about this.
I will be leaving CDFI on September 29th. Maurice Jones will be responsible for this
matter and you can reach him at 202-622-8444. Bill Luecht and Deborah Smith will also
be working on the event. They can be reached through the main CDFI number, 202-622-
8662.
It's been a pleasure working with you and I look forward to seeing you at a
Microenterprise Awards ceremony soon. Thank you for all of your help.
CC:
Maurice Jones
Bill Luecht
Deborah Smith
SEP-22-2000 12:19
CDFI Fund
2026227754 P.03/05
AMERICANTO THE OF THE TREASURY
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FUND
601 THIRTEENTH STREET, NW, SUITE 200 SOUTH
1759
WASHINGTON, DC 20005
DIRECTOR
September 22, 2000
MEMORANDUM FOR MELANNE VERVEER
FROM:
Ellen Lazar / Ellen Langer
REQUEST: That President Clinton host the third Presidential Awards for Excellence in
Microcnterprise Development at a White House ceremony during the
months of November or December. The awards are administered by the
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, US
Treasury.
PURPOSE: To demonstrate the President's support for Microenterprise Development
and follow-through on the directive in a 1995 memorandum to cstablish
this award. As this award is non-monetary, a White House event
demonstrates the Administration's commitment to bring America's
distressed urban and rural communities into the economic mainstream by
recognizing those individuals and institutions that are expanding access to
private-sector capital through microenterprise development for people
living in these communities. This event would solidify the President and
First Lady's legacy of leadership in microenterprise.
Request
Accept
Decline
Pending
PENDING ISSUES
The Presidential Awards were established at the behest of the President
and are non-monetary. The focus on these excellent programs and the
field is enhanced by recognition by the President and the attendant
publicity
In order to announce the 2000 Round of the Presidential Awards for
Excellence in Microenterprise Development, the 1999 Round of Awards
should be announced. We have postponed announcing the 2000 Round
SEP-22-2000 12:19
CDFI Fund
2026227754
P.04/05
until such an event takes place. If the President is unable to commit to a
White House Ceremony then an alternative announcement should be
explored.
BACKGROUND ANALYSIS
Since the creation of the awards was in response to the Beijing Conference in
1995, there is a logical and direct correlation. In 1995, the President issued a
memorandum directing the CDFI Fund to establish a Presidential Award that
celebrated the energy, creativity and vitality of Americans who have the courage
to pursue their dreams. Administered by the CDFI Fund, the non-monetary
awards recognize those organizations that have demonstrated excellence and
leadership in enabling people to build their OWN businesses.
In 1997 and 1998, the President honored the seven and six awardees respectively,
at a White House Ceremony with the First Lady and Secretary Rubin. 1997
Awardees represented organizations from Washington, DC, Washington State,
Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Nebraska. 1998 Awardees
represented Iowa, Michigan, Montana, Washington, DC, Minnesota and New
Mexico.
During the 1992 campaign, President Clinton promised to help create a
nationwide network of community development banks. In 1994, the President
signed legislation establishing the CDFI Fund. The Fund is currently making its
fifth round of funding and to date, more than $300 million in awards have been
made through the Fund's programs. The CDFI Program awardees range in
institution type from loan funds and credit unions to venture capital funds and
community development banks. Through the BEA Program, banks and thrifts are
provided an incentive to increase their eligible community development
investments. The Administration's FY 2001 budget request for CDFI is $125
million.
PREVIOUS
PARTICIPATION: December 1997 and February 1999, Presidential Awards
Ceremony at the White House
DATE/TIME:
Prior to December 31, 2000
DURATION:
30 to 45 minutes
LOCATION:
White House
MEDIA:
Open press.
SEP-22-2000 12:20
CDFI Fund
2026227754 P.05/05
ATTENDANCE:
The President, The First Lady, Secretary Lawrence Summers,
Under Secretary Gary Gensler and CDFI Fund Director.
CONTACT:
Bill Luecht, 622-8042
TOTAL P.05
PROPOSAL
HRC to hold event on economic development stimulated by small entrepreneurs, by highlighting
this year's microenterprise awardees as well as a number of new initiatives and grants from the
Small Business Administration.
BACKGROUND
Microenterprise Awards: 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.
This year's awardees:
The Ms. Foundation for Women in NY was selected for a Presidential Award for its long-
term commitment to the microenterprise development field. The Foundation's Collaborative
Fund for Women's Economic Development (Collaborative Fund) has created a unique
partnership among 28 foundations, corporations, and individuals that have pooled their
resources to support microenterprise development organizations (MDOs) across the country.
Since 1991, the Collaborative Fund has provided over $4 million in multi-year grants and
technical assistance to MDOs. The Collaborative Fund is currently soliciting partners for its
third funding round, which will invest another $4 million into the microenterprise field.
Women's Opportunity Resource Center (WORC) was selected to receive a Presidential
Award for Excellence in Poverty Alleviation for its success in providing targeted and
innovative services to help many low-income and unemployed individuals start
microenterprises. With a mission of promoting social and economic self-sufficiency for
disadvantaged women, WORC helps its customers by building assets while strengthening
basic life skills and business expertise.
Working quietly and with little public fanfare, the Partners Group, Inc. created Partners for
the Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) in 1994 with $7.9 million from 99 religious
institutions. The Partner's Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York-based
Christian Brothers Investment Services. Among its investors are 68 congregations of
Catholic Sisters, 19 congregations of Catholic Brothers and Priests, eight Catholic healthcare
systems, and three Protestant denominations. Sister Carol Coston, OP, an Adrian Dominican
Sister, manages PCG 2000. Eighty-eight percent of the portfolio is comprised of investments
from individual congregations of Catholic Sisters, who have played a pioneering role in the
field of alternative investing and community development finance.
The Center for Economic Options (the Center) was selected to receive a Presidential Award
because of its success in developing strategies to meet the unique needs of
microentrepreneurs living in isolated rural communities. The Center provides a holistic
approach to microenterprise development for economically vulnerable West Virginia
residents. Its comprehensive set of business support services include business development
training and technical assistance, marketing assistance, and one-on-one business assessment
and counseling.
The Women's Initiative for Self Employment (Women's Initiative) is recognized for
excellence as a model for providing bilingual entrepreneurial skills development through its
comprehensive training, on-going business support and financial services. Women's
Initiatives is targeted to low and very low-income women in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Small Business Administration Initiatives:
- We have
Announcement of New Women's Business Centers: SBA hopes to announce grants to
not
establish new Women's Business Centers on June 1 (locations TBD). SBA will also hold a
training conference for all 80 Women's Business Centers June 19th through the 21ˢᵗ.
finalized
(about 7)
Export Express Unveiling: The new SBA product will improve access to export financing
for small business by allowing lenders to use their own paperwork to make lending decisions
on SBA-guaranteed export loans. Target date of mid-June.
SBIC Licensing and Venture Capital Licensing: Native American SBIC, July target date. -yes
Venture capital licensing is a rolling process - there may be something to announce
depending on the date.
MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) Signings:
National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions - Target Date June 9.
The SBA is marketing SBA loans to community credit unions. This partnership would
promote credit union lending of small loans.
USDA -- Rural Small Business Lending - June Target Date. USDA has relationships
with rural lenders. This partnership would offer SBA's popular 7A program through
rural outlets.
Prime: publy get it fortwerk v the
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Public or Private Support for Microenterprise Development
Ms. Foundation for Women
Location:
New York, New York
Program Type:
Foundation-based national microenterprise support program
Service Area:
National
Target Market:
Community-based organizations primarily serving low-income women
Contact:
Anna Wadia, Senior Program Officer
(212) 742-2300, ext. 319
The Ms. Foundation for Women was selected for a Presidential Award for its long-term
commitment to the microenterprise development field. The Foundation's Collaborative Fund for
Women's Economic Development (Collaborative Fund) has created a unique partnership among
28 foundations, corporations, and individuals that have pooled their resources to support
microenterprise development organizations (MDOs) across the country. Since 1991, the
Collaborative Fund has provided over $4 million in multi-year grants and technical assistance to
MDOs. The Collaborative Fund is currently soliciting partners for its third funding round, which
will invest another $4 million into the microenterprise field.
The Collaborative Fund is part of the Ms. Foundation's Women's Economic Security Program.
The program's purpose is to improve and create economic opportunities for low-income women,
their families, and their communities. The program and Collaborative Fund are integral parts of
the Ms. Foundation's overall mission to support the efforts of women and girls to govern their
lives and influence the world around them.
The Collaborative Fund has significantly enhanced the overall funding environment for MDOs.
The Ms. Foundation has attracted a new category of donor to the microenterprise field -- family
foundations. Participation in the Collaborative Fund by family foundations and individuals has
grown from $312,000 in 1991 to $1.3 million today. Furthermore, many of the Collaborative
Fund donors who had never previously funded microenterprise now make their own direct grants
to MDOs. One such foundation has made nearly $400,000 in direct grants to MDOs since
joining the Collaborative Fund. Finally, the Collaborative Fund provides seed money to MDOs
to experiment with new program strategies - such as working with welfare recipients. The
success of these MDOs has played a key role in attracting new federal funding.
The Ms. Foundation supports MDOs through an integrated and comprehensive set of initiatives.
For more than ten years, the Ms. Foundation has sponsored the Institute on Women and
Economic Development. The Institute has trained more than 2,000 women from across the
country on the basics of microenterprise development. Since 1987, the Ms. Foundation has
sponsored a Peer-to-Peer Assistance Program. Through this unique and innovative program,
some 25 MDOs have come together to collaborate and share their expertise. Finally, the Ms.
Foundation documents and widely disseminates lessons learned by practioners about
microenterprise development as a poverty alleviation strategy for low-income women.
Customer Profile: Acre Family Day Care Corporation, Lowell, Massachusetts and
Marea Washington, Family Day Care Business Owner
From its early days as a small project of a local community organization to its current status as a
$2 million organization, the Acre Family Day Care Corporation (Acre) provides a clear
illustration of the Ms. Foundation's work. Based in Lowell, MA, Acre provides training to
Spanish-speaking residents on how to start childcare businesses in their homes. Over the past 12
years, more than 250 child care providers have graduated from the Acre training program.
The Ms. Foundation began funding the fledgling Acre in 1991 with a $150,000 grant from the
Collaborative Fund. The Collaborative Fund's award legitimized the Acre program's vision to
other funders. This support lead to new resources that Acre needed to transform itself from a
pilot project into a full-fledged organization. After receiving the grant, Acre created a training
program for a growing population of Cambodian immigrants in Lowell. Acre was able to
enhance its support services to child care providers, including business improvement loans,
monthly workshops, and scholarships for continuing education. In 1996, Acre received another
$150,000 grant from the Collaborative Fund. This grant was used to create a training program in
English and modify Acre's curriculum to better meet the needs of welfare recipients.
Marea Washington, 27, is one of Acre's graduate. As a single mother, she is the sole supporter
for her three children. She spent three years on welfare after her second child was born -- an
experience she did not want to repeat. When her third child was just two weeks old, Marea
enrolled in Acre's 12-week Family Child Care and Entrepreneur training program. The program
offered Marea the promise of being able to earn a decent living while caring for her infant.
Marea became a licensed child care provider in April 1998. In her first year of operation, Marea
earned $14,000 in business revenue. Last year, her business revenue rose to $22,000. This year,
she's on her way to bringing in more than $30,000. Last year, the average provider in the Acre
network earned $33,600 in business revenue with some reporting as much as $54,000.
Marea is among the 50 Acre customers who have signed up for its new Individual Development
Account program. Through this program, Marea deposits $25 a month into a special savings
account, which is matched by $75 from public and private monies. By the end of two years,
Marea will have saved $2,400 for a down payment on a house. Purchase of a house will enable
Marea to begin caring for children with physical disabilities. Marea plans to continue operating
her home child care business until her youngest child begins school in three years. Afterwards,
she would like to return to school to obtain the credentials that are needed to work with children
with special needs. Acre will be there to help Marea with that goal through its early childhood
education scholarship program.
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Program Innovation
Center for Economic Options
Location:
Charleston, West Virginia
Program Type:
Comprehensive business support services
Service Area:
West Virginia
Target Market:
Economically vulnerable individuals in West Virginia, particularly women
Contact:
Pam Curry, Executive Director
(304) 345-1298
The Center for Economic Options (the Center) was selected to receive a Presidential Award
because of its success in developing strategies to meet the unique needs of microentrepreneurs
living in isolated rural communities. The Center provides a holistic approach to microenterprise
development for economically vulnerable West Virginia residents. Its comprehensive set of
business support services include business development training and technical assistance,
marketing assistance, and one-on-one business assessment and counseling.
Founded in 1979, the Center began providing service to entrepreneurs in 1983. In 1995, the
Center changed its mission to exclusively focus on microenterprise development as a strategy for
promoting rural economic development. In 1999, the Center served nearly 900 current and
prospective entrepreneurs.
The key innovation that the Center is recognized for is the creation of sectoral enterprise
networks. Sectoral networks are groups of very small, rural businesses that cooperatively access
training and marketing services, as well as share information and lessons learned. As a group,
the businesses that are members of the networks achieve outcomes that one business alone could
not accomplish. The Center's most famous sectoral network is Appalachian by Design. This
network was so successful that it was spun off into an independent nonprofit organization in
1995. Today, many-hand crafted items bearing the Appalachian by Design label can be found in
upscale craft and home décor retail stores. The Center currently coordinates three networks-the
Appalachian Flower Network, the Forest Enterprise, Network, and the Small Farms Network.
A new Center innovation is the creation of "road show" events. The road shows bring the
Center's training and technical assistance services to entrepreneurs who reside in rural, mountain
communities - far from urban centers where training services are usually provided. The Center
tailors its road shows to the needs of entrepreneurs and residents of the community in which the
event is held. The Center works through local community organizations to provide follow-up
services to entrepreneurs and monitor the program's effectiveness. Begun in 1999, the road
shows have already had several early successes. One participant has started her own catering
business. Another entrepreneur successfully applied for and received a loan from the West
Virginia Microloan Program. And a non-profit organization has formed new partnerships to
promote local tourism. The Center plans to hold four road shows annually.
The Center strives to create a climate where entrepreneurs can thrive. The Center works with
local decision makers and established businesses to offer community-based economic education.
The purpose of these programs is to educate West Virginia residents about the important role that
locally-owned microenterprises play in the state's economic health To that end, the Center is
leading a major public education campaign on the West Virginia microenterprise industry and its
current and potential economic impact.
Customer Profile: Charlotte Chandler, Honey of an Herb Farm
After Charlotte Chandler won a bet with her husband, who is a stonemason, he had to build her a
stone herb garden. From that first small garden, Charlotte has grown her business, Honey of an
Herb Farm. Today, Charlotte is a successful microentrepreneur running a three-and-a-half acre
farm in Roane County, West Virginia.
"I've always enjoyed flowers and herbs, and owning my own greenhouse business is a dream
come true," said Charlotte. "Having my own business is wonderful. I have flexible hours, and I
really enjoy what I do. I don't dread getting up in the morning and going to work."
In 1994, Charlotte learned about the Center's new Appalachian Flower Network. She attended
the first meeting a few months later and has continued to be an active network member. Through
network training provided by the Center, she has learned production, business development, and
marketing skills.
Charlotte has become a consummate networker who has taken advantage of marketing events
sponsored by the Center to meet new customers and expand her market. In fact, her participation
in a Center event led to a major sale of more than 300 boxes of potpourri and gift boxes.
Expansion of her retail market is Charlotte's next step. She originally believed that her rural
location would limit customer traffic. However, the great success of her Christmas open-house
in 1998 made Charlotte see that retail is a viable option.
Charlotte says that the Center's comprehensive support has been the key to her ability to start
and grow her very successful business. "One of the most important things that the Center has
given me is encouragement," states Charlotte, "Every time I lost faith in myself, someone from
the Center was there to encourage and help me. I couldn't have done it without that."
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Program Innovation
Partners for the Common Good 2000
Location:
San Antonio, TX
Program Type:
Investor in Microenterprise Development Organizations
Service Area:
United States
Target Market:
Organizations working with Low-Income persons
Contact:
Sister Carol Coston, O.P.
(210) 431-0616
Working quietly and with little public fanfare, the Partners Group, Inc. created Partners for the
Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) in 1994 with $7.9 million from 99 religious institutions. The
Partner's Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York-based Christian Brothers
Investment Services. Among its investors are 68 congregations of Catholic Sisters, 19
congregations of Catholic Brothers and Priests, eight Catholic healthcare systems, and three
Protestant denominations. Sister Carol Coston, OP, an Adrian Dominican Sister, manages PCG
2000. Eighty-eight percent of the portfolio is comprised of investments from individual
congregations of Catholic Sisters, who have played a pioneering role in the field of alternative
investing and community development finance.
PCG 2000 was selected to receive a Program Innovation award because its unique limited
partnership model demonstrates a new type of vehicle through which investor capital can be
raised to support microenterprise. Structured as a six-year limited partnership, PCG 2000 makes
low-interest loans and deposits to support microenterprise organizations and credit unions
engaged in microenterprise lending and low-income housing. Eighty percent of PCG's portfolio
consists of activities in the United States with over 40% of its total portfolio supporting
microenterprise.
PCG 2000 is the second limited partnership created by the Partners Group, Inc.. The first five-
year limited partnership was created in 1989 and provided $3.25 million in support to
organizations that promote microenterprise development. Although other microenterprise
organizations have obtained support from religious investors, this is the first group to organize a
private sector venture capital vehicle to attract and manage investments in microenterprise. PCG
grew out of the corporate responsibility movement and provides a social investment vehicle
through which religious organizations can proactively share their financial resources in ventures
that generate a high social impact "return."
Its first partnership was so successful that the Partners Group had investors waiting before the
second partnership was established. These partnerships are innovative and exciting models for
generating community impact. PCG uses social screens to select organizations to receive
investments. These screens include benefiting women and minorities, creating jobs and
increasing the wages of low-income people, and leveraging private investment. PCG's
commitment to social justice has translated into a program that is high impact, financially self-
sustaining, and replicable. All operating expenses are paid through a management fee, which is
incorporated into each investment, thereby relieving staff of considerable fundraising activities.
PCG's unique structure provides an effective way to attract new funders to the microenterprise
field. This is an outstanding example of an innovative program and is one of the best-kept
secrets of the microenterprise field.
Customer Profile: The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center
Established in 1987, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center is a San Antonio, city-wide
community-based organization working for social justice and cultural enrichment through
programming in education and the arts. Esperanza has used a $150,000 low-interest loan from
Partners for the Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) to acquire a 9,500-square-foot building in
downtown San Antonio, Texas. Esperanza, which means "hope" in Spanish, works in a city
where the average family income is the lowest among the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the
country.
Through its MujerArtes program, Esperanza aims to combat the effects of discrimination and
poverty by providing low-income Mexican-American women with an opportunity 1) to nourish
their spirits by acquiring a greater understanding and appreciation of their culture, and 2) to gain
income-producing skills by learning the art of creating clay objects. This cooperative model
recognizes that women are often heads of households in need of employment, and that women
usually play a preeminent role in passing art and culture on to future generations. MujerArtes
recognizes that women must learn to respect their own culture, language, and history if they are
to offer succeeding generations a stronger sense of self-respect and respect for their community.
MujerArtes is built on the belief that every woman who participates in the cooperative venture --
whether as a student or teacher -- inspires the others.
The MujerArtes program includes an intensive training component for up to 20 participants, who
commit to 20 hours of class time each week over a two-year period. The training is offered by an
artist-in-residence, who is joined by community leaders, scholars, and other Latina women, who
share in the struggles of the participants. These leaders facilitate in-depth discussions on racism,
the economic condition of women, history and culture, economic literacy, and other issues.
The participating women sell their work through the Esperanza Center, which each year hosts a
"Spring Fair" and a pre-Christmas "Peace Market" that draw thousands of people from South
Texas. A percentage of the proceeds of the sale of women's artwork is reinvested in the
MujerArtes Cooperative. In the coming year, Esperanza plans to open a retail storefront
operation that will provide an ongoing outlet for selling the art of the women in MujerArtes, as
well as that of other San Antonio artisans.
When the PCG 2000 loan is repaid in full in September 2000, Esperanza will hold free title to the
building that houses its operations, ensuring a permanent presence in San Antonio as a vibrant
community center and source of esperanza for generations to come. The loan to the Esperanza
Peace and Justice Center is one of 78 loans and deposits totaling $8.5 million made to date by
PCG 2000.
Presidential Award for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills
Women's Initiative for Self Employment
Location:
San Francisco, CA
Program Type:
Regional non-profit that provides bilingual microenterprise
development training, consulting and financial services.
Service Area:
Five county San Francisco Bay Area
Target Group:
Low and very low-income women
Contact:
Barbara J. Johnson, Executive Director
(415) 247-9473
The Women's Initiative for Self Employment (Women's Initiative) is recognized for
excellence as a model for providing bilingual entrepreneurial skills development through
its comprehensive training, on-going business support and financial services. Women's
Initiatives is targeted to low and very low-income women in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A documented lack of entrepreneurial training services addressing the needs of women
led to the creation of Women's Initiative for Self Employment in 1988. To date, more
than 4,000 women have received training and technical assistance services from
Women's Initiative. The Awardee has assisted more than 700 women in starting or
expanding a business - two-thirds of whom were low-income when they first came to
Women's Initiative.
At the core of Women Initiative's success is its entrepreneurial screening and assessment
process. Applicants selected for the program enroll in a rigorous fourteen-week, 21
session entrepreneurial training program -- of which seven sessions focus on Personal
Effectiveness and Power (PEP) training. PEP is designed to integrate factors such as a
client's family life and relationship to her community into her entrepreneurial education.
Women's Initiative also offers on-going business development services such as business
plan writing, seminars and one-time workshops, one-on-one consulting, and matched
savings accounts for program graduates.
Women's Initiative offers its curriculum in both English and Spanish. Sessions are
designed for individuals who have had limited business experience or formal education.
The English language training is offered in a fourteen-week, 21-session workshop
entitled Managing Your Small Business. The goals of the workshop are to help
participants: (1) understand the basics of operating a business; (2) understand how to
engage in necessary industry and market research; (3) develop essential business skills;
and (4) develop a business plan.
Since 1991, Women's Initiative has provided entrepreneurial training to bilingual and
monolingual Latinas, through the Alternativas para Latinas en Autosuficiencia (ALAS)
program. ALAS was created in response to a significant lack of culturally and
linguistically relevant community development services available to entrepreneurial
Latinas. The ALAS program offers a comprehensive five-part training curriculum
designed for low-income Latinas who have recently settled in the United States.
Customer Profile: Danielle Franklin, Danielle's Touch, Skin & Body Care
Danielle Franklin began her business, Danielle's Touch, Skin & Body Care, in 1995. Her
business provides skin care, natural nail care, and spa body treatments. Within five years,
Danielle has gained a loyal following and fine reputation as a licensed aesthetician.
Danielle's road to success was not an easy one. Widowed at twenty-three, Danielle was
forced to be the sole provider for her two-year-old baby girl. With the help of disability
insurance and AFDC, she graduated from Beauty College, earned her cosmetology
license, and opened Danielle's Touch. However, Danielle stated, "I had no real sense of
business finance, so most of my decisions were made on faith and prayer. Some worked
and some didn't."
In 1996, Danielle began visting Women's Initiative to gain focus and the technical skills
that would allow her business to grow and prosper. After graduating from the Women's
Initiative training program, Danielle continued to utilize its services, including a peer
support group and one-on-one technical assistance. In her second year, Danielle obtained
a $2,000 loan from Women's Initiative that enabled her to relocate her business to a
central downtown location. The new location provided more visibility and the
opportunity to expand her customer base. After three years of operation, Danielle plans to
expand her business to a larger facility with more services,
Today, Danielle's business is thriving. She credits the support of the Women's Initiative
and the business skills she gained as key to operating a healthy business and earning
enough income to support her family.
"Public assistance should be used as a stepping stone and not a crutch," states Danielle,
who used the Women's Initiative program to build a solid foundation for her business.
"Today my business plan serves me well; it is the heart and soul of who I am as an
entrepreneur, what my business is, who it serves, and what it can be."
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.
all
PRESIDENT CLINTON:
CREATING OPPORTUNITY BY SUPPORTING MICROENTERPRISE
February 5, 1999
Today, President Clinton Will Unveil the Administration's Domestic and International
Microenterprise Agenda for FY2000 and Will Honor Recipients of the 1998 Presidential Awards
for Excellence in Microenterprise Development. Long a passionate interest of both President
Clinton and the First Lady, microenterprise has proven a powerful tool for empowering people left out
of the economic mainstream, providing them the skills and credit they need to improve their own lives.
President Clinton's FY2000 budget includes a 159-percent increase in support for domestic
microenterprise programs, with a significant strengthening of the Administration's commitment for
training and technical assistance an essential component on fully delivering the microenterprise
promise. President Clinton's budget also continues to ensure that America provides global leadership
on microenterprise through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
What Is Microenterprise? Microenterprise development programs provide access to
capital, other financial services, and training to those traditionally bypassed by the
mainstream financial sector, such as the poor, women, minorities, and those in areas of
economic downturn. With these resources, these people can start and/or build
businesses, creating jobs and opportunity. Recognized for the past twenty-five years as
a powerful tool for development in poorer countries, microenterprise has been
increasingly successful in providing opportunities in the United States. In this country,
a microenterprise is generally defined as a business with five or fewer employees -- at
least one of whom is the owner -- and that has a demand for small amounts of credit
(less than $25,000).
A 159-Percent Increase in Overall Budget To Support Microenterprise At Home.
President Clinton's domestic microenterprise agenda recognizes that in the new
economy, simply providing credit to microentrepreneurs is often not enough.
Microentrepreneurs often need training and mentoring to help them succeed, and
microenterprise organizations need technical assistance to build their capacity and
enhance their effectiveness. This year, the Administration seeks to dramatically
increase its support for these critical services, nearly tripling funding for training and
technical assistance. This year's budget also focuses on leveraging new resources
through Individual Development Accounts, and on making microenterprise and other
resources more widely available through the Small Business Administration's (SBA)
One-Stop Capital Shops. Specifically, the President's plan includes:
$15 Million To Support The Program for Investments in
Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) Act. The bipartisan PRIME Act -- introduced
by Senators Kennedy and Domenici and Representatives Rush, Leach and
LaFalce -- authorizes the Community Development Financial Institutions
(CDFI) Fund to establish a microenterprise technical assistance and capacity
building program to award grants on a competitive basis to microenterprise
development organizations and programs that focus on low-income
entrepreneurs. PRIME will also sponsor research on the most innovative and
successful ways of encouraging new businesses and enabling them to succeed.
PRIME, like all other CDFI programs, will leverage non-federal funding with
federal dollars by requiring that all assistance be matched. The PRIME Act
authorizes an appropriation level of $105 million over four years, starting with
$15 million in FY2000. The President's FY2000 budget includes $15
million for PRIME within CDFI, which the President proposes to expand
from $95 million in FY99 to $125 million in FY2000.
Double Support For Technical Assistance in SBA Microloan Program. Key
to the success of the SBA Microloan Program has been its capacity to link loans
to entrepreneurs with the provision of training and technical assistance. The
Administration's FY 2000 budget seeks to double funds devoted to training and
technical assistance from $16 million in FY99 to $32 million in FY2000.
Double Support for SBA Lending To Leverage Over $75 Million In New
Micro-Loans. The SBA Microloan program makes loans to microfinance
development organizations, which in turn re-lend the funds to small businesses.
Over the last seven years, well over 100 organizations have participated in the
program, making over $78 million in loans to more than 7,800
microentrepreneurs. The average loan to a business is roughly $10,000, and the
SBA has not incurred a single loss in that time period. The President's FY2000
budget doubles support for the SBA Microloan Program, from $3 million in
FY99 to $6 million in FY2000 -- which should help leverage over $75 million in
new loans.
Double Funding for Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). Since 1992,
President Clinton has supported the creation of Individual Development
Accounts (IDAs) to empower lower-income individuals to start a new business,
invest in a first home, or save for post-secondary education. Low-income
families will receive matching contributions of between $1 and $8 for each
dollar they save in an IDA. Last, year, President Clinton signed legislation
authorizing IDAs. The President's FY2000 budget doubles support for IDAs,
increasing the IDA budget from $10 million in FY99 to $20 million in FY2000.
Triple Funding for SBA's One-Stop Capital Shop Initiative. One-Stop
Capital Shops offer financial and training/mentoring services and products --
microenterprise development, personal finance, even credit repair -- in
Empowerment Zones to communities and individuals often passed-over by
economic booms. SBA is committed to providing a microloan presence in every
One-Stop Capital Shop, and will provide office space at each Shop for
microloan intermediaries. The President's FY2000 budget proposes to triple
funding for the One-Stop Capital Shop Initiative, from $3.1 million in FY99 to
$10 million in FY2000.
PRESIDENT CLINTON'S FY2000
BUDGET:
A 159-PERCENT INCREASE IN
MICROENTERPRISE
FY1999
FY2000
Percent Increase
PRIME Act
$15 million
n.a.
SBA Training
and Technical Assistance
$16 million
$32 million
100%
SBA Lending
$3 million
$6 million
100%
Individual Development Accounts
$10 million
$20 million
100%
SBA One-Stop Capital Shop
$3.1 million
$10 million
223%
TOTAL
$32.1 million
$83 million
159%
Focus on Countries in Crisis and Extending Microenterprise's International
Reach. Internationally, microenterprise has proven to be a compelling component of
effective development strategies, contributing substantially to a rise in the standard of
living for millions of families and providing a solid base for robust small business
sectors. Early in his Administration, the President launched the USAID
Microenterprise Initiative; today USAID is the world's leading donor in microenterprise
development (averaging $135 million per year over the past three years). This year, the
Administration will continue to provide global leadership through USAID, focusing
especially on the unique challenges presented by the global economic crisis and the
ravages of Hurricane Mitch, and on exploring new ways of leveraging support from
multi-lateral institutions for microenterprise.
Increased Funding for Countries in Crisis. In response to the financial and
natural crises that have afflicted so many this year, USAID and the
Administration have proposed several programs to assist microenterprise
intermediaries in rebuilding and expanding capacity, and in providing additional
liquidity to programs in need. These include:
An additional $7 million in USAID's FY2000 budget for microenterprise
to speed economic recovery for countries hit hard by the global financial
crisis;
The First Lady, during her visit to Central America in November,
announced a $17 million Microenterprise Recovery Fund for those
Central American countries most affected by Hurricane Mitch. The Fund
will include $5 million from USAID (which has already been approved),
and $12 million from the Inter-American Development Bank Multilateral
Investment Fund;
A further and substantial commitment of funds and technical assistance
for microenterprise support will be a part of a supplemental package of
relief for Hurricane Mitch. The Administration is currently working
with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders on the final details of
that plan.
Leveraging International Resources. The Administration has played a lead
role in the formation of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP),
which -- under World Bank auspices -- coordinates bi-lateral and multi-lateral
donors who now collectively provide more than $500 million in support for
microenterprise worldwide. This year, we will work with the World Bank and
other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to increase the portion of their
lending dedicated to building microenterprise retail and wholesale
intermediaries worldwide and, where possible, to channel those resources
directly to those intermediaries.
Developing Conducive Regulatory Environments. Access to credit for
microentrepreneurs in developing countries is quite often limited by banking and
other regulations that were not designed to accommodate the unique needs of
microenterprise lending institutions. To address this constraint, the Treasury
Department and USAID will work with the IMF, MDBs and microfinance
institutions to provide technical and other assistance to central banks and other
regulators in less-developed nations to develop legislative and regulatory
frameworks that support the unique needs of microenterprise.
###
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
February 5, 1999
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AND THE FIRST LADY
AT MICROENTERPRISE EVENT
The East Room
2:20 P.M. EST
MRS. CLINTON: Welcome and please be seated. The President and I are
delighted to have you all here for the second presentation of the Presidential
Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development.
Each of today's awardees is showing the power of microenterprise, the
power to transform welfare checks to paychecks, poverty to economic growth and
income, despair to hope. Later in the program we'll hear from Carol Willoughby,
who will tell us how her life and family was forever changed by microenterprise.
I had the chance to see Carol's work firsthand at a speech I gave last
April at a microenterprise meeting. She had made the banners hanging behind the
podium - or, rather, I should say, her company had made them because with
opportunity and hard work, that's what she has created, a thriving business.
And the name of that company, as you've heard, appropriately enough, is Let The
Whole World Know.
Well, when it came time to pick someone to participate in this program,
it was a very difficult choice because the stories from all of these award
winners are going to really warm your heart and make you understand our
commitment to microenterprise. But Let The Whole World Know really sounded a
theme that we wanted to make sure could be sounded here.
There are many people in this room who have worked for years to make
this day possible, and I want to recognize and thank them, starting with
Secretary Rubin, who has led the Treasury in exemplary ways at the micro level,
but also understood the importance of the micro, as well as the macro. And so
I'm grateful to him and the work that's been done at the Treasury Department.
Senator Don Riegle, I believe is here -- former Senator -- and Don,
thank you for the work you did in championing the Community Development
Financial Institutions Fund while you were in the Senate. And there are other
members of Congress I want to thank: Senator Harkin, Senator Kennedy, Senator
Wellstone, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressman Oberstar.
And as well as our officials from the Congress, we also have the
Lieutenant Governor of lowa, Sally Peterson, and a number of the agency heads
who are responsible for the government's microenterprise program, starting with
USAID Administrator Brian Atwood, as well as the Deputy Administrator, Hattie
Babbitt; Small Business Administrator Aida Alvarez; CDFI Director Ellen Lazar;
the Director of the National Economic Council, Gene Sperling; Mary Ellen
Withrow, the Treasurer of the United States; and a former OMB Director who was
on the team for microenterprise, Frank Raines.
I want to thank all of you, and the people you work with, for the
extraordinary job you have done.
You know, many of us have heard about microenterprise over a number of
years. Bill and I were trying to determine when we had heard about it -- and as
we get older it seems harder to remember. (Laughter.) We think it was
somewhere in the early '80s, somewhere between '84 and '86. And we had heard
about this because it was an idea that had been transplanted from Bangladesh to
the South Shore Bank in Chicago, a place that I am very familiar with. And I
was very anxious to learn more about how microenterprise was transforming both
rural areas, among some of the poorest people on our planet, and urban areas in
our own city.
I have been, now, around our country and around the world, meeting with
people who are the recipients of microenterprise awards. And I have been just
struck, time and time again, by the heroic stories that they tell. I'll never
forget the look of pride on the face of a woman I met from Guatemala, who told
me that with the help of a small loan, she had gone from being a mango seller on
the streets to owning a market stall, and eventually running a small business
with 15 employees. So from the time she had started on the streets selling
mangoes, to the age of 12, she had had a long, hard effort of a lot of work, but
it paid off. And she told me with great pride that she was sending her son to
college in the United States.
In Western India, I walked into a women's bank, which had only one room
and the teller's counter was an old kitchen table and bank clerks transcribed
all of the recorded transactions by hand on yellow sheets of paper. But while I
was there I met women who walked 12 to 15 hours from remote villages to take out
loans -- some as small as $1, to invest in dairy COWS, plows or goods to sell at
market. These women were among some of the poorest and least educated of all
Indians. But their loan repayment rate was nearly 100 percent, and they told me
what they had done with their loans and how that had transformed their lives,
enabling them to give their children better housing, health care and other
opportunities.
I was also very pleased last year in Africa when I accompanied the
President and the President of the Uganda to a microenterprise site in a village
some distance from the capital of Kampala. I don't think that a head of state
had ever visited a village site of a microenterprise group, and I know that two
heads of state at the same time have never done that. (Laughter.) And I was
delighted that both the President and President Museveni had the same reaction
that I always have -- a great deal of interest and a great deal of pride in what
they were hearing on behalf of the people who were telling their stories.
But microenterprise had not only transformed lives abroad, they are
transforming lives right here at home. I remember visiting the Mi Casa
Microlending Program in Denver and speaking to a group of women who told me
about how they had had good ideas, but they couldn't get any capital anywhere.
One woman memorably remarked, you know, a lot of good ideas die in the parking
lots of banks. (Laughter.) She said, you know, I knew I was a good baker, I
knew I could open a bakery, I knew I could employ people -- but I didn't have
any collateral and the amount of money that I wanted was below the lending limit
of the bank. Well, thanks to microenterprise, she was doing what she had
dreamed of.
The origin of these awards go back to the United Nations Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing, when I
pledged on behalf of the President and the administration a commitment to spread
microenterprise and microlending through our nations; and also to have these
awards, as well. We've now seen the fruits of that effort, from one end of our
country to the other and you're going to hear about some of the exemplary
programs in just a few minutes.
I believe that this is part of the President's strong initiative to try
to bring free enterprise and capital development to those parts of our country
that are still left out. You know, we've done extraordinarily well thanks to
the leadership of the President and the Secretary of Treasury and the others in
the administration.
But we still have a ways to go in some of our inner- city neighborhoods
in some of our rural areas, and in some of our Indian communities, particularly.
So what we're trying to do is to say we want a multi-pronged strategy to provide
economic opportunity to every American willing to work hard to achieve it on his
or her behalf.
And no one understands the importance of the free enterprise system, and
the need for us to spread its benefits to every American, than someone who has
worked tirelessly over the past years to ensure that every American would have
an opportunity to be successful. And it is my great honor and personal
privilege to introduce to you the Secretary of the Treasury, Bob Rubin.
(Applause.)
*****
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Carol, you better watch it, before you know
it you'll be running for office. (Laughter.) What a remarkable statement - --
thank you so much.
I'd like to take a little - a few moments more than I normally would by
way of introduction today. Hillary and I and Bob Rubin are real happy today,
because this is one of the things that I ran for President to do. To see these
stories, to see the spirit, and to see the potential.
I want to thank Secretary Rubin. You know, I used to tell a joke about
Bob Rubin. He's been here a long time now, and he left this fabulous career on
Wall Street. And I used to tell everybody that I asked Bob Rubin to come to
Washington in 1993 to help me save the middle class, and by the time he leaves
he'll be one of them. (Laughter.)
SECRETARY RUBIN: That always seems a lot funnier to you, Mr. President.
(Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. I don't know how much it's cost him to stay here
these six years, but one of the reasons that I really wanted him to come is that
when we -- even in the beginning, when we began talking about these matters in
'92, he always said, you know, I'd like to get the economy going again and
working again, and then we could maybe really do something for poor people in
this country. Maybe we could really bring the spirit of enterprise to all these
places that have been left behind.
I don't know how many Secretaries of the Treasury in our country's
history have ever had that sort of driving passion. But I know we had one, and
he's done a magnificent job. And I'm very grateful to him. (Applause.)
I want to thank Senator Harkin, Senator Kennedy,
Senator Wellstone, Congressman Oberstar, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton for
supporting this economic vision so strongly. I thank former Senator Riegle, who
is here, who was the committee chairman who helped us to make this a critical
part, this whole microenterprise, a critical part of our economic strategy way
back in 1993.
I welcome Lieutenant Governor Sally Peterson from lowa; we're delighted
to have her here with her honorees. I want to thank our former OMB Director,
Frank Raines; Mary Ellen Withrow, our Treasurer; Ellen Lazar and others who have
supported our efforts here. A special word of thanks to Aida Alvarez and Betsy
Myers and all the other members of her team from SBA who are here. And to Brian
Atwood and Hattie Babbitt and the others from AID -- I believe that under our
administration we funded 2 million of these small microenterprise loans, from
Africa to Asia to Latin America, last year.
There's one group of people who have not been acknowledged -- and
Hillary and I were talking about it -- who were out there ahead of the federal
government for years, without whom microenterprise never would have really taken
off in America, and that's all the members of the foundation community. I'd
like to -- all the representatives of the foundations that are here that have
supported microenterprise lending, I'd like to ask you to stand, please, and be
acknowledged. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
And I'll say more about this in a minute, but this whole issue has been
a passion for the First Lady for, as she said, about 15 years. We had a friend
who was working at the South Shore Bank in Chicago, which had a microenterprise
loan program. We went there, we saw what they were doing.
Then in 1984 I was able to meet, here in Washington -- I was here at a
governor's meeting, I'll never forget it. I got up early one morning and had
breakfast with Muhammad Yunus, who had been trained as an economist in the
United States and then gone to Bangladesh and set up the Grameen Bank. Hundreds
of thousands of loans had been made market interest rates -- very tiny loans,
almost all to poor village women. The repayment rate was better than the
commercial banks in Bangladesh, and it changed my thinking about this forever.
And then Hillary scrounged up some foundation money, and other money,
and I squeezed some out of the Arkansas legislature and we started a development
bank with a microenterprise program in Arkansas. And after I became President,
she literally has gone all across the world. She's been in small villages on
every continent, where people like her never go.
And I should tell the rest of the story because I don't think President
Museveni would object. I have the highest regard for the President of Uganda.
He's one of the most intelligent and effective leaders of any developing country
anywhere in the world. But when we were walking on this little rocky pathway
into this village to see all these village women who now had their own
businesses, he looked at me and he said, that's some wife you've got. He said,
until you showed up here I didn't even know we had these programs in our
country. (Laughter.)
So, without her we probably wouldn't be here today. And I'm very, very
grateful for everything that Hillary has done to champion this cause.
(Applause.)
I also want to say a word of appreciation to Carol and all the other
small business owners here. It takes a lot of courage to run a small business.
Hillary and I have talked about this a lot -- she talked to me about one time
when she was a high school girl she worked in a small business in her home town,
and there were days when no one came in. Every day, if you open a small
business, you feel like politicians feel on election day. (Laughter.)
I'll never forget -- I can't remember, one of the great old Hollywood
moguls said, you know, if you make a bad movie, the people will stay away and
you cannot stop them. (Laughter.) Which I think is a great -- so I want to
thank all of you for having the spirit of enterprise and the vision and the
courage.
This whole country is basically built by entrepreneurs, whether they're
in Silicon Valley or young investment bankers in Manhattan or people running the
street-vending operations out here for the tourists in Washington. The genius
of actually being able to have an idea and act on it, and having people respond
to it and invest in it and be your customers and, as Carol said, in a way
validate your ideas, your character and your hard work, it's the whole secret of
America.
And because of the strength of our economy, I believe we have an
obligation to give that opportunity to everyone. Just this morning we learned
that what is now the longest peacetime expansion in American history has grown
longer. Last month our economy created nearly another quarter-million jobs, and
unemployment stayed at 4.3 percent. That's the lowest peacetime rate since
1957. Wages now rising at over twice the rate of inflation; again, unemployment
rates among Hispanic and African Americans dropped to their lowest recorded
levels ever.
Now, if we cannot expand opportunity into every corner of America now,
we will never get around to it. We have an obligation now to spread the spirit
and the opportunity for enterprise to all the American people.
As
you've heard from others, we've been working on this for six years now --
working to bring opportunities to some of our most distressed communities, with
an agenda of empowerment. That's what we celebrate here. Not a hand out, a
hand up. This microenterprise program is the embodiment of empowerment.
We know -- and I was so glad to hear what Carol said about self-esteem,
because sometimes a crisis of economic distress is a crisis of the spirit as
well; a shortage of confidence that is just as debilitating as a shortage of
cash. And these stories today -- I want all of you to imagine not only the
economic success, but what it has done to these people's lives. There are
stories like this all over America and all over the world.
What does it mean to a single mom's life when she goes to the mailbox in
the morning and sees a bank statement instead of a welfare check? What does it
mean to a child when he or she can go to school and say, when they ask, "What
does your mother do for a living?" -- she owns a beauty shop? What does it mean
to a neighborhood when, all of a sudden, an old building that has been vacant
for 10 years has a "help wanted" sign out in front of it?
This is about more than economics. And through our network of community
development banks -- or CDFIs, as we call them, community development financial
institutions -- through the strengthened and streamlined Community Reinvestment
Act -- and I will say that even though that act has been on the books for more
than 20 years now, 95 percent of all the investment under Community Reinvestment
has been done in the last six years, in our administration. And I'm proud of
that. (Applause.) And the banks are doing quite well. (Laughter.) They're
doing well by doing good. And it's important to remember as the debate develops
this year about that. And through these empowerment zones, we've seen the
steady expansion of opportunity.
Last month, as the Secretary said, I announced this new markets
initiative, to spur even more private investment in under-served areas. And we
want to reach -- building a bridge from Wall Street to Harlem to Appalachia, to
the Mississippi Delta, to South Texas, to Pine Ridge, South Dakota -- everywhere
there are opportunities still untapped.
Today I am proud to announce that, as a part of our budget, we would
more than double our support for microenterprise in America. We would continue
our -- (applause) -- thank you.
We also want to continue our efforts to promote microenterprise abroad,
especially in the nations that have been hardest hit by the global financial
crisis, or by our neighbors hit by natural disasters. And I think that is very
important, because we are giving courage and awareness to other governments, and
other countries, to do more for their own people in this regard.
First, we recognize that, for the vast majority of micro-entrepreneurs,
good ideas and credit are just the beginning. A little guidance -- lessons on
accounting, billing, planning -- those things are essential for any business to
thrive in a complex economy. The budget doubles the Small Business
Administration's capacity to provide such training through its micro-loan
program, triples support for SBA's one-stop capital shops, which offer
micro-lending advice and other assistance in disadvantaged communities. I'm
also proud to support the bipartisan program for investments in
micro-entrepreneurs -- the PRIME Act, sponsored by Senator Kennedy and Senator
Domenici from New Mexico, Representatives -- (applause) -- and Representatives
Rush, Leach and LaFalce, so that we can expand our technical assistance through
the Treasury's CDFI fund.
Second, we want to make even more credit available to low-income
Americans with good business ideas. That's why I'm proposing to leverage more
than $75 million in new loans by doubling our support for the SBA's micro-loan
program. (Applause.)
Third, we want to keep encouraging Americans to save some of their own
hard-earned money, to start or expand businesses. Last year, I was proud to
sign new individual development accounts into law, fulfilling a campaign pledge
from 1992, and thanks in no small measure to the leadership of Senator Tom
Harkin from lowa and former Senator Dan Coats from Indiana. We thank you very
much, Senators, for that. Thank you. (Applause.)
For those of you who don't know, these individual development accounts
-- IDAs -- are special accounts that provide federal matching funds to
low-income Americans who save money to invest in their business, buy a first
home, pay for a college education. I want to double support for these accounts
in our budget.
Next, we will continue to lead the world through USAID to promote
microenterprise for millions of families to get out of poverty in other
countries. The recent local financial crisis and the hurricanes in Central
America and the Caribbean have literally upended the lives of tens of thousands,
hundreds of thousands of people. As you have heard from the First Lady's
account, we have seen firsthand how these loans -- sometimes in other countries
loans as small at $10, $15, $25, $50 can make all the difference in helping
families to get back on their feet.
Our balanced budget will target extra microenterprise assistance to the
countries that are in trouble. And to break down the bureaucratic walls that
block microenterprise in some developing countries, we'll continue to work with
the World Bank and other financial institutions to reform the regulatory
structures so we can make more of these loans available. There is a virtually
unlimited potential abroad and at home for this, and I keep hoping if we just
keep pushing and keep pushing and keep pushing we will reach a critical mass of
investment which will explode it and let the whole world know that this works.
(Applause.)
And this ceremony today is a part of letting the whole world know. So we
come here not only to honor you with these Presidential Awards for Excellence in
Microenterprise, but to say to the world that these six organizations whose
vision and commitment have made such a profound difference in the lives of the
business owners, their employees and their customers are but a small beginning
of what we could achieve together in the United States and throughout the world
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Public or Private Support for Microenterprise Development
Ms. Foundation for Women
Location:
New York, New York
Program Type:
Foundation-based national microenterprise support program
Service Area:
National
Target Market:
Community-based organizations primarily serving low-income women
Contact:
Anna Wadia, Senior Program Officer
(212) 742-2300, ext. 319
The Ms. Foundation for Women was selected for a Presidential Award for its long-term
commitment to the microenterprise development field. The Foundation's Collaborative Fund for
Women's Economic Development (Collaborative Fund) has created a unique partnership among
28 foundations, corporations, and individuals that have pooled their resources to support
microenterprise development organizations (MDOs) across the country. Since 1991, the
Collaborative Fund has provided over $4 million in multi-year grants and technical assistance to
MDOs. The Collaborative Fund is currently soliciting partners for its third funding round, which
will invest another $4 million into the microenterprise field.
The Collaborative Fund is part of the Ms. Foundation's Women's Economic Security Program.
The program's purpose is to improve and create economic opportunities for low-income women,
their families, and their communities. The program and Collaborative Fund are integral parts of
the Ms. Foundation's overall mission to support the efforts of women and girls to govern their
lives and influence the world around them.
The Collaborative Fund has significantly enhanced the overall funding environment for MDOs.
The Ms. Foundation has attracted a new category of donor to the microenterprise field -- family
foundations. Participation in the Collaborative Fund by family foundations and individuals has
grown from $312,000 in 1991 to $1.3 million today. Furthermore, many of the Collaborative
Fund donors who had never previously funded microenterprise now make their own direct grants
to MDOs. One such foundation has made nearly $400,000 in direct grants to MDOs since
joining the Collaborative Fund. Finally, the Collaborative Fund provides seed money to MDOs
to experiment with new program strategies - such as working with welfare recipients. The
success of these MDOs has played a key role in attracting new federal funding.
The Ms. Foundation supports MDOs through an integrated and comprehensive set of initiatives.
For more than ten years, the Ms. Foundation has sponsored the Institute on Women and
Economic Development. The Institute has trained more than 2,000 women from across the
country on the basics of microenterprise development. Since 1987, the Ms. Foundation has
sponsored a Peer-to-Peer Assistance Program. Through this unique and innovative program,
some 25 MDOs have come together to collaborate and share their expertise. Finally, the Ms.
Foundation documents and widely disseminates lessons learned by practioners about
microenterprise development as a poverty alleviation strategy for low-income women.
Customer Profile: Acre Family Day Care Corporation, Lowell, Massachusetts and
Marea Washington, Family Day Care Business Owner
From its early days as a small project of a local community organization to its current status as a
$2 million organization, the Acre Family Day Care Corporation (Acre) provides a clear
illustration of the Ms. Foundation's work. Based in Lowell, MA, Acre provides training to
Spanish-speaking residents on how to start childcare businesses in their homes. Over the past 12
years, more than 250 child care providers have graduated from the Acre training program.
The Ms. Foundation began funding the fledgling Acre in 1991 with a $150,000 grant from the
Collaborative Fund. The Collaborative Fund's award legitimized the Acre program's vision to
other funders. This support lead to new resources that Acre needed to transform itself from a
pilot project into a full-fledged organization. After receiving the grant, Acre created a training
program for a growing population of Cambodian immigrants in Lowell. Acre was able to
enhance its support services to child care providers, including business improvement loans,
monthly workshops, and scholarships for continuing education. In 1996, Acre received another
$150,000 grant from the Collaborative Fund. This grant was used to create a training program in
English and modify Acre's curriculum to better meet the needs of welfare recipients.
Marea Washington, 27, is one of Acre's graduate. As a single mother, she is the sole supporter
for her three children. She spent three years on welfare after her second child was born -- an
experience she did not want to repeat. When her third child was just two weeks old, Marea
enrolled in Acre's 12-week Family Child Care and Entrepreneur training program. The program
offered Marea the promise of being able to earn a decent living while caring for her infant.
Marea became a licensed child care provider in April 1998. In her first year of operation, Marea
earned $14,000 in business revenue. Last year, her business revenue rose to $22,000. This year,
she's on her way to bringing in more than $30,000. Last year, the average provider in the Acre
network earned $33,600 in business revenue with some reporting as much as $54,000.
Marea is among the 50 Acre customers who have signed up for its new Individual Development
Account program. Through this program, Marea deposits $25 a month into a special savings
account, which is matched by $75 from public and private monies. By the end of two years,
Marea will have saved $2,400 for a down payment on a house. Purchase of a house will enable
Marea to begin caring for children with physical disabilities. Marea plans to continue operating
her home child care business until her youngest child begins school in three years. Afterwards.
she would like to return to school to obtain the credentials that are needed to work with children
with special needs. Acre will be there to help Marea with that goal through its early childhood
education scholarship program.
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Program Innovation
Center for Economic Options
Location:
Charleston, West Virginia
Program Type:
Comprehensive business support services
Service Area:
West Virginia
Target Market:
Economically vulnerable individuals in West Virginia, particularly women
Contact:
Pam Curry, Executive Director
(304) 345-1298
The Center for Economic Options (the Center) was selected to receive a Presidential Award
because of its success in developing strategies to meet the unique needs of microentrepreneurs
living in isolated rural communities. The Center provides a holistic approach to microenterprise
development for economically vulnerable West Virginia residents. Its comprehensive set of
business support services include business development training and technical assistance,
marketing assistance, and one-on-one business assessment and counseling.
Founded in 1979, the Center began providing service to entrepreneurs in 1983. In 1995, the
Center changed its mission to exclusively focus on microenterprise development as a strategy for
promoting rural economic development. In 1999, the Center served nearly 900 current and
prospective entrepreneurs.
The key innovation that the Center is recognized for is the creation of sectoral enterprise
networks. Sectoral networks are groups of very small, rural businesses that cooperatively access
training and marketing services, as well as share information and lessons learned. As a group,
the businesses that are members of the networks achieve outcomes that one business alone could
not accomplish. The Center's most famous sectoral network is Appalachian by Design. This
network was so successful that it was spun off into an independent nonprofit organization in
1995. Today, many-hand crafted items bearing the Appalachian by Design label can be found in
upscale craft and home décor retail stores. The Center currently coordinates three networks-the
Appalachian Flower Network, the Forest Enterprise, Network, and the Small Farms Network.
A new Center innovation is the creation of "road show" events. The road shows bring the
Center's training and technical assistance services to entrepreneurs who reside in rural, mountain
communities - far from urban centers where training services are usually provided. The Center
tailors its road shows to the needs of entrepreneurs and residents of the community in which the
event is held. The Center works through local community organizations to provide follow-up
services to entrepreneurs and monitor the program's effectiveness. Begun in 1999, the road
shows have already had several early successes. One participant has started her own catering
business. Another entrepreneur successfully applied for and received a loan from the West
Virginia Microloan Program. And a non-profit organization has formed new partnerships to
promote local tourism. The Center plans to hold four road shows annually.
The Center strives to create a climate where entrepreneurs can thrive. The Center works with
local decision makers and established businesses to offer community-based economic education.
The purpose of these programs is to educate West Virginia residents about the important role that
locally-owned microenterprises play in the state's economic health To that end, the Center is
leading a major public education campaign on the West Virginia microenterprise industry and its
current and potential economic impact.
Customer Profile: Charlotte Chandler, Honey of an Herb Farm
After Charlotte Chandler won a bet with her husband, who is a stonemason, he had to build her a
stone herb garden. From that first small garden, Charlotte has grown her business, Honey of an
Herb Farm. Today, Charlotte is a successful microentrepreneur running a three-and-a-half acre
farm in Roane County, West Virginia.
"I've always enjoyed flowers and herbs, and owning my own greenhouse business is a dream
come true," said Charlotte. "Having my own business is wonderful. I have flexible hours, and I
really enjoy what I do. I don't dread getting up in the morning and going to work."
In 1994, Charlotte learned about the Center's new Appalachian Flower Network. She attended
the first meeting a few months later and has continued to be an active network member. Through
network training provided by the Center, she has learned production, business development, and
marketing skills.
Charlotte has become a consummate networker who has taken advantage of marketing events
sponsored by the Center to meet new customers and expand her market. In fact, her participation
in a Center event led to a major sale of more than 300 boxes of potpourri and gift boxes.
Expansion of her retail market is Charlotte's next step. She originally believed that her rural
location would limit customer traffic. However, the great success of her Christmas open-house
in 1998 made Charlotte see that retail is a viable option.
Charlotte says that the Center's comprehensive support has been the key to her ability to start
and grow her very successful business. "One of the most important things that the Center has
given me is encouragement," states Charlotte, "Every time I lost faith in myself, someone from
the Center was there to encourage and help me. I couldn't have done it without that."
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Program Innovation
Partners for the Common Good 2000
Location:
San Antonio, TX
Program Type:
Investor in Microenterprise Development Organizations
Service Area:
United States
Target Market:
Organizations working with Low-Income persons
Contact:
Sister Carol Coston, O.P.
(210) 431-0616
Working quietly and with little public fanfare, the Partners Group, Inc. created Partners for the
Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) in 1994 with $7.9 million from 99 religious institutions. The
Partner's Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York-based Christian Brothers
Investment Services. Among its investors are 68 congregations of Catholic Sisters, 19
congregations of Catholic Brothers and Priests, eight Catholic healthcare systems, and three
Protestant denominations. Sister Carol Coston, OP, an Adrian Dominican Sister, manages PCG
2000. Eighty-eight percent of the portfolio is comprised of investments from individual
congregations of Catholic Sisters, who have played a pioneering role in the field of alternative
investing and community development finance.
PCG 2000 was selected to receive a Program Innovation award because its unique limited
partnership model demonstrates a new type of vehicle through which investor capital can be
raised to support microenterprise. Structured as a six-year limited partnership, PCG 2000 makes
low-interest loans and deposits to support microenterprise organizations and credit unions
engaged in microenterprise lending and low-income housing. Eighty percent of PCG's portfolio
consists of activities in the United States with over 40% of its total portfolio supporting
microenterprise.
PCG 2000 is the second limited partnership created by the Partners Group, Inc.. The first five-
year limited partnership was created in 1989 and provided $3.25 million in support to
organizations that promote microenterprise development. Although other microenterprise
organizations have obtained support from religious investors, this is the first group to organize a
private sector venture capital vehicle to attract and manage investments in microenterprise. PCG
grew out of the corporate responsibility movement and provides a social investment vehicle
through which religious organizations can proactively share their financial resources in ventures
that generate a high social impact "return."
Its first partnership was so successful that the Partners Group had investors waiting before the
second partnership was established. These partnerships are innovative and exciting models for
generating community impact. PCG uses social screens to select organizations to receive
investments. These screens include benefiting women and minorities, creating jobs and
increasing the wages of low-income people, and leveraging private investment. PCG's
commitment to social justice has translated into a program that is high impact, financially self-
sustaining, and replicable. All operating expenses are paid through a management fee, which is
incorporated into each investment, thereby relieving staff of considerable fundraising activities.
PCG's unique structure provides an effective way to attract new funders to the microenterprise
field. This is an outstanding example of an innovative program and is one of the best-kept
secrets of the microenterprise field.
Customer Profile: The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center
Established in 1987, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center is a San Antonio, city-wide
community-based organization working for social justice and cultural enrichment through
programming in education and the arts. Esperanza has used a $150,000 low-interest loan from
Partners for the Common Good 2000 (PCG 2000) to acquire a 9,500-square-foot building in
downtown San Antonio, Texas. Esperanza, which means "hope" in Spanish, works in a city
where the average family income is the lowest among the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the
country.
Through its MujerArtes program, Esperanza aims to combat the effects of discrimination and
poverty by providing low-income Mexican-American women with an opportunity 1) to nourish
their spirits by acquiring a greater understanding and appreciation of their culture, and 2) to gain
income-producing skills by learning the art of creating clay objects. This cooperative model
recognizes that women are often heads of households in need of employment, and that women
usually play a preeminent role in passing art and culture on to future generations. MujerArtes
recognizes that women must learn to respect their own culture, language, and history if they are
to offer succeeding generations a stronger sense of self-respect and respect for their community.
MujerArtes is built on the belief that every woman who participates in the cooperative venture --
whether as a student or teacher -- inspires the others.
The MujerArtes program includes an intensive training component for up to 20 participants, who
commit to 20 hours of class time each week over a two-year period. The training is offered by an
artist-in-residence, who is joined by community leaders, scholars, and other Latina women, who
share in the struggles of the participants. These leaders facilitate in-depth discussions on racism,
the economic condition of women, history and culture, economic literacy, and other issues.
The participating women sell their work through the Esperanza Center, which each year hosts a
"Spring Fair" and a pre-Christmas "Peace Market" that draw thousands of people from South
Texas. A percentage of the proceeds of the sale of women's artwork is reinvested in the
MujerArtes Cooperative. In the coming year, Esperanza plans to open a retail storefront
operation that will provide an ongoing outlet for selling the art of the women in MujerArtes, as
well as that of other San Antonio artisans.
When the PCG 2000 loan is repaid in full in September 2000, Esperanza will hold free title to the
building that houses its operations, ensuring a permanent presence in San Antonio as a vibrant
community center and source of esperanza for generations to come. The loan to the Esperanza
Peace and Justice Center is one of 78 loans and deposits totaling $8.5 million made to date by
PCG 2000.
Presidential Award for Excellence in Microenterprise Development
Excellence in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills
Women's Initiative for Self Employment
Location:
San Francisco, CA
Program Type:
Regional non-profit that provides bilingual microenterprise
development training, consulting and financial services.
Service Area:
Five county San Francisco Bay Area
Target Group:
Low and very low-income women
Contact:
Barbara J. Johnson, Executive Director
(415) 247-9473
The Women's Initiative for Self Employment (Women's Initiative) is recognized for
excellence as a model for providing bilingual entrepreneurial skills development through
its comprehensive training, on-going business support and financial services. Women's
Initiatives is targeted to low and very low-income women in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A documented lack of entrepreneurial training services addressing the needs of women
led to the creation of Women's Initiative for Self Employment in 1988. To date, more
than 4,000 women have received training and technical assistance services from
Women's Initiative. The Awardee has assisted more than 700 women in starting or
expanding a business - two-thirds of whom were low-income when they first came to
Women's Initiative.
At the core of Women Initiative's success is its entrepreneurial screening and assessment
process. Applicants selected for the program enroll in a rigorous fourteen-week, 21
session entrepreneurial training program -- of which seven sessions focus on Personal
Effectiveness and Power (PEP) training. PEP is designed to integrate factors such as a
client's family life and relationship to her community into her entrepreneurial education.
Women's Initiative also offers on-going business development services such as business
plan writing, seminars and one-time workshops, one-on-one consulting, and matched
savings accounts for program graduates.
Women's Initiative offers its curriculum in both English and Spanish. Sessions are
designed for individuals who have had limited business experience or formal education.
The English language training is offered in a fourteen-week, 21-session workshop
entitled Managing Your Small Business. The goals of the workshop are to help
participants: (1) understand the basics of operating a business; (2) understand how to
engage in necessary industry and market research; (3) develop essential business skills;
and (4) develop a business plan.
Since 1991, Women's Initiative has provided entrepreneurial training to bilingual and
monolingual Latinas, through the Alternativas para Latinas en Autosuficiencia (ALAS)
program. ALAS was created in response to a significant lack of culturally and
linguistically relevant community development services available to entrepreneurial
Latinas. The ALAS program offers a comprehensive five-part training curriculum
designed for low-income Latinas who have recently settled in the United States.
Customer Profile: Danielle Franklin, Danielle's Touch, Skin & Body Care
Danielle Franklin began her business, Danielle's Touch, Skin & Body Care, in 1995. Her
business provides skin care, natural nail care, and spa body treatments. Within five years,
Danielle has gained a loyal following and fine reputation as a licensed aesthetician.
Danielle's road to success was not an easy one. Widowed at twenty-three, Danielle was
forced to be the sole provider for her two-year-old baby girl. With the help of disability
insurance and AFDC, she graduated from Beauty College, earned her cosmetology
license, and opened Danielle's Touch. However, Danielle stated, "I had no real sense of
business finance, so most of my decisions were made on faith and prayer. Some worked
and some didn't."
In 1996, Danielle began visting Women's Initiative to gain focus and the technical skills
that would allow her business to grow and prosper. After graduating from the Women's
Initiative training program, Danielle continued to utilize its services, including a peer
support group and one-on-one technical assistance. In her second year, Danielle obtained
a $2,000 loan from Women's Initiative that enabled her to relocate her business to a
central downtown location. The new location provided more visibility and the
opportunity to expand her customer base. After three years of operation, Danielle plans to
expand her business to a larger facility with more services,
Today, Danielle's business is thriving. She credits the support of the Women's Initiative
and the business skills she gained as key to operating a healthy business and earning
enough income to support her family.
"Public assistance should be used as a stepping stone and not a crutch," states Danielle,
who used the Women's Initiative program to build a solid foundation for her business.
"Today my business plan serves me well; it is the heart and soul of who I am as an
entrepreneur, what my business is, who it serves, and what it can be."
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
February 5, 1999
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AND THE FIRST LADY
AT MICROENTERPRISE EVENT
The East Room
2:20 P.M. EST
MRS. CLINTON: Welcome and please be seated. The President and I are
delighted to have you all here for the second presentation of the Presidential
Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development.
Each of today's awardees is showing the power of microenterprise, the
power to transform welfare checks to paychecks, poverty to economic growth and
income, despair to hope. Later in the program we'll hear from Carol Willoughby,
who will tell us how her life and family was forever changed by microenterprise.
I had the chance to see Carol's work firsthand at a speech I gave last
April at a microenterprise meeting. She had made the banners hanging behind the
podium -- or, rather, I should say, her company had made them because with
opportunity and hard work, that's what she has created, a thriving business.
And the name of that company, as you've heard, appropriately enough, is Let The
Whole World Know.
Well, when it came time to pick someone to participate in this program,
it was a very difficult choice because the stories from all of these award
winners are going to really warm your heart and make you understand our
commitment to microenterprise. But Let The Whole World Know really sounded a
theme that we wanted to make sure could be sounded here.
There are many people in this room who have worked for years to make
this day possible, and I want to recognize and thank them, starting with
Secretary Rubin, who has led the Treasury in exemplary ways at the micro level,
but also understood the importance of the micro, as well as the macro. And so
I'm grateful to him and the work that's been done at the Treasury Department.
Senator Don Riegle, I believe is here -- former Senator -- and Don,
thank you for the work you did in championing the Community Development
Financial Institutions Fund while you were in the Senate. And there are other
members of Congress I want to thank: Senator Harkin, Senator Kennedy, Senator
Wellstone, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressman Oberstar.
And as well as our officials from the Congress, we also have the
Lieutenant Governor of lowa, Sally Peterson, and a number of the agency heads
who are responsible for the government's microenterprise program, starting with
USAID Administrator Brian Atwood, as well as the Deputy Administrator, Hattie
Babbitt; Small Business Administrator Aida Alvarez; CDFI Director Ellen Lazar;
the Director of the National Economic Council, Gene Sperling; Mary Ellen
Withrow, the Treasurer of the United States; and a former OMB Director who was
on the team for microenterprise, Frank Raines.
I want to thank all of you, and the people you work with, for the
extraordinary job you have done.
You know, many of us have heard about microenterprise over a number of
years. Bill and I were trying to determine when we had heard about it -- and as
we get older it seems harder to remember. (Laughter.) We think it was
somewhere in the early '80s, somewhere between '84 and '86. And we had heard
about this because it was an idea that had been transplanted from Bangladesh to
the South Shore Bank in Chicago, a place that I am very familiar with. And I
was very anxious to learn more about how microenterprise was transforming both
rural areas, among some of the poorest people on our planet, and urban areas in
our own city.
I have been, now, around our country and around the world, meeting with
people who are the recipients of microenterprise awards. And I have been just
struck, time and time again, by the heroic stories that they tell. I'll never
forget the look of pride on the face of a woman I met from Guatemala, who told
me that with the help of a small loan, she had gone from being a mango seller on
the streets to owning a market stall, and eventually running a small business
with 15 employees. So from the time she had started on the streets selling
mangoes, to the age of 12, she had had a long, hard effort of a lot of work, but
it paid off. And she told me with great pride that she was sending her son to
college in the United States.
In Western India, I walked into a women's bank, which had only one room
and the teller's counter was an old kitchen table and bank clerks transcribed
all of the recorded transactions by hand on yellow sheets of paper. But while I
was there I met women who walked 12 to 15 hours from remote villages to take out
loans -- some as small as $1, to invest in dairy cows, plows or goods to sell at
market. These women were among some of the poorest and least educated of all
Indians. But their loan repayment rate was nearly 100 percent, and they told me
what they had done with their loans and how that had transformed their lives,
enabling them to give their children better housing, health care and other
opportunities.
I was also very pleased last year in Africa when I accompanied the
President and the President of the Uganda to a microenterprise site in a village
some distance from the capital of Kampala. I don't think that a head of state
had ever visited a village site of a microenterprise group, and I know that two
heads of state at the same time have never done that. (Laughter.) And I was
delighted that both the President and President Museveni had the same reaction
that I always have -- a great deal of interest and a great deal of pride in what
they were hearing on behalf of the people who were telling their stories.
But microenterprise had not only transformed lives abroad, they are
transforming lives right here at home. I remember visiting the Mi Casa
Microlending Program in Denver and speaking to a group of women who told me
about how they had had good ideas, but they couldn't get any capital anywhere.
One woman memorably remarked, you know, a lot of good ideas die in the parking
lots of banks. (Laughter.) She said, you know, I knew I was a good baker, I
knew I could open a bakery, I knew I could employ people -- but I didn't have
any collateral and the amount of money that I wanted was below the lending limit
of the bank. Well, thanks to microenterprise, she was doing what she had
dreamed of.
The origin of these awards go back to the United Nations Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing, when I
pledged on behalf of the President and the administration a commitment to spread
microenterprise and microlending through our nations; and also to have these
awards, as well. We've now seen the fruits of that effort, from one end of our
country to the other and you're going to hear about some of the exemplary
programs in just a few minutes.
I believe that this is part of the President's strong initiative to try
to bring free enterprise and capital development to those parts of our country
that are still left out. You know, we've done extraordinarily well thanks to
the leadership of the President and the Secretary of Treasury and the others in
the administration.
But we still have a ways to go in some of our inner- city neighborhoods
in some of our rural areas, and in some of our Indian communities, particularly.
So what we're trying to do is to say we want a multi-pronged strategy to provide
economic opportunity to every American willing to work hard to achieve it on his
or her behalf.
And no one understands the importance of the free enterprise system, and
the need for us to spread its benefits to every American, than someone who has
worked tirelessly over the past years to ensure that every American would have
an opportunity to be successful. And it is my great honor and personal
privilege to introduce to you the Secretary of the Treasury, Bob Rubin.
(Applause.)
*****
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Carol, you better watch it, before you know
it you'll be running for office. (Laughter.) What a remarkable statement --
thank you so much.
I'd like to take a little -- a few moments more than I normally would by
way of introduction today. Hillary and I and Bob Rubin are real happy today,
because this is one of the things that I ran for President to do. To see these
stories, to see the spirit, and to see the potential.
I want to thank Secretary Rubin. You know, I used to tell a joke about
Bob Rubin. He's been here a long time now, and he left this fabulous career on
Wall Street. And I used to tell everybody that I asked Bob Rubin to come to
Washington in 1993 to help me save the middle class, and by the time he leaves
he'll be one of them. (Laughter.)
SECRETARY RUBIN: That always seems a lot funnier to you, Mr. President.
(Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. I don't know how much it's cost him to stay here
these six years, but one of the reasons that I really wanted him to come is that
when we -- even in the beginning, when we began talking about these matters in
'92, he always said, you know, I'd like to get the economy going again and
working again, and then we could maybe really do something for poor people in
this country. Maybe we could really bring the spirit of enterprise to all these
places that have been left behind.
I don't know how many Secretaries of the Treasury in our country's
history have ever had that sort of driving passion. But I know we had one, and
he's done a magnificent job. And I'm very grateful to him. (Applause.)
I want to thank Senator Harkin, Senator Kennedy,
Senator Wellstone, Congressman Oberstar, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton for
supporting this economic vision so strongly. I thank former Senator Riegle, who
is here, who was the committee chairman who helped us to make this a critical
part, this whole microenterprise, a critical part of our economic strategy way
back in 1993.
I welcome Lieutenant Governor Sally Peterson from lowa; we're delighted
to have her here with her honorees. I want to thank our former OMB Director,
Frank Raines; Mary Ellen Withrow, our Treasurer; Ellen Lazar and others who have
supported our efforts here. A special word of thanks to Aida Alvarez and Betsy
Myers and all the other members of her team from SBA who are here. And to Brian
Atwood and Hattie Babbitt and the others from AID -- I believe that under our
administration we funded 2 million of these small microenterprise loans, from
Africa to Asia to Latin America, last year.
There's one group of people who have not been acknowledged -- and
Hillary and I were talking about it -- who were out there ahead of the federal
government for years, without whom microenterprise never would have really taken
off in America, and that's all the members of the foundation community. I'd
like to -- all the representatives of the foundations that are here that have
supported microenterprise lending, I'd like to ask you to stand, please, and be
acknowledged. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
And I'll say more about this in a minute, but this whole issue has been
a passion for the First Lady for, as she said, about 15 years. We had a friend
who was working at the South Shore Bank in Chicago, which had a microenterprise
loan program. We went there, we saw what they were doing.
Then in 1984 I was able to meet, here in Washington -- I was here at a
governor's meeting, I'll never forget it. I got up early one morning and had
breakfast with Muhammad Yunus, who had been trained as an economist in the
United States and then gone to Bangladesh and set up the Grameen Bank. Hundreds
of thousands of loans had been made market interest rates -- very tiny loans,
almost all to poor village women. The repayment rate was better than the
commercial banks in Bangladesh, and it changed my thinking about this forever.
And then Hillary scrounged up some foundation money, and other money,
and I squeezed some out of the Arkansas legislature and we started a development
bank with a microenterprise program in Arkansas. And after I became President,
she literally has gone all across the world. She's been in small villages on
every continent, where people like her never go.
And I should tell the rest of the story because I don't think President
Museveni would object. I have the highest regard for the President of Uganda.
He's one of the most intelligent and effective leaders of any developing country
anywhere in the world. But when we were walking on this little rocky pathway
into this village to see all these village women who now had their own
businesses, he looked at me and he said, that's some wife you've got. He said,
until you showed up here I didn't even know we had these programs in our
country. (Laughter.)
So, without her we probably wouldn't be here today. And I'm very, very
grateful for everything that Hillary has done to champion this cause.
(Applause.)
I also want to say a word of appreciation to Carol and all the other
small business owners here. It takes a lot of courage to run a small business.
Hillary and I have talked about this a lot -- she talked to me about one time
when she was a high school girl she worked in a small business in her home town,
and there were days when no one came in. Every day, if you open a small
business, you feel like politicians feel on election day. (Laughter.)
I'll never forget -- I can't remember, one of the great old Hollywood
moguls said, you know, if you make a bad movie, the people will stay away and
you cannot stop them. (Laughter.) Which I think is a great -- so I want to
thank all of you for having the spirit of enterprise and the vision and the
courage.
This whole country is basically built by entrepreneurs, whether they're
in Silicon Valley or young investment bankers in Manhattan or people running the
street-vending operations out here for the tourists in Washington. The genius
of actually being able to have an idea and act on it, and having people respond
to it and invest in it and be your customers and, as Carol said, in a way
validate your ideas, your character and your hard work, it's the whole secret of
America.
And because of the strength of our economy, I believe we have an
obligation to give that opportunity to everyone. Just this morning we learned
that what is now the longest peacetime expansion in American history has grown
longer. Last month our economy created nearly another quarter-million jobs, and
unemployment stayed at 4.3 percent. That's the lowest peacetime rate since
1957. Wages now rising at over twice the rate of inflation; again, unemployment
rates among Hispanic and African Americans dropped to their lowest recorded
levels ever.
Now, if we cannot expand opportunity into every corner of America now,
we will never get around to it. We have an obligation now to spread the spirit
and the opportunity for enterprise to all the American people.
As
you've heard from others, we've been working on this for six years now --
working to bring opportunities to some of our most distressed communities, with
an agenda of empowerment. That's what we celebrate here. Not a hand out, a
hand up. This microenterprise program is the embodiment of empowerment.
We know -- and I was so glad to hear what Carol said about self-esteem,
because sometimes a crisis of economic distress is a crisis of the spirit as
well; a shortage of confidence that is just as debilitating as a shortage of
cash. And these stories today -- I want all of you to imagine not only the
economic success, but what it has done to these people's lives. There are
stories like this all over America and all over the world.
What does it mean to a single mom's life when she goes to the mailbox in
the morning and sees a bank statement instead of a welfare check? What does it
mean to a child when he or she can go to school and say, when they ask, "What
does your mother do for a living?" -- she owns a beauty shop? What does it mean
to a neighborhood when, all of a sudden, an old building that has been vacant
for 10 years has a "help wanted" sign out in front of it?
This is about more than economics. And through our network of community
development banks -- or CDFIs, as we call them, community development financial
institutions -- through the strengthened and streamlined Community Reinvestment
Act -- and I will say that even though that act has been on the books for more
than 20 years now, 95 percent of all the investment under Community Reinvestment
has been done in the last six years, in our administration. And I'm proud of
that. (Applause.) And the banks are doing quite well. (Laughter.) They're
doing well by doing good. And it's important to remember as the debate develops
this year about that. And through these empowerment zones, we've seen the
steady expansion of opportunity.
Last month, as the Secretary said, I announced this new markets
initiative, to spur even more private investment in under-served areas. And we
want to reach -- building a bridge from Wall Street to Harlem to Appalachia, to
the Mississippi Delta, to South Texas, to Pine Ridge, South Dakota -- everywhere
there are opportunities still untapped.
Today I am proud to announce that, as a part of our budget, we would
more than double our support for microenterprise in America. We would continue
our -- (applause) -- thank you.
We also want to continue our efforts to promote microenterprise abroad,
especially in the nations that have been hardest hit by the global financial
crisis, or by our neighbors hit by natural disasters. And I think that is very
important, because we are giving courage and awareness to other governments, and
other countries, to do more for their own people in this regard.
First, we recognize that, for the vast majority of micro-entrepreneurs,
good ideas and credit are just the beginning. A little guidance -- lessons on
accounting, billing, planning -- those things are essential for any business to
thrive in a complex economy. The budget doubles the Small Business
Administration's capacity to provide such training through its micro-loan
program, triples support for SBA's one-stop capital shops, which offer
micro-lending advice and other assistance in disadvantaged communities. I'm
also proud to support the bipartisan program for investments in
micro-entrepreneurs -- the PRIME Act, sponsored by Senator Kennedy and Senator
Domenici from New Mexico, Representatives -- (applause) -- and Representatives
Rush, Leach and LaFalce, so that we can expand our technical assistance through
the Treasury's CDFI fund.
Second, we want to make even more credit available to low-income
Americans with good business ideas. That's why I'm proposing to leverage more
than $75 million in new loans by doubling our support for the SBA's micro-loan
program. (Applause.)
Third, we want to keep encouraging Americans to save some of their own
hard-earned money, to start or expand businesses. Last year, I was proud to
sign new individual development accounts into law, fulfilling a campaign pledge
from 1992, and thanks in no small measure to the leadership of Senator Tom
Harkin from lowa and former Senator Dan Coats from Indiana. We thank you very
much, Senators, for that. Thank you. (Applause.)
For those of you who don't know, these individual development accounts
-- IDAs -- are special accounts that provide federal matching funds to
low-income Americans who save money to invest in their business, buy a first
home, pay for a college education. I want to double support for these accounts
in our budget.
Next, we will continue to lead the world through USAID to promote
microenterprise for millions of families to get out of poverty in other
countries. The recent local financial crisis and the hurricanes in Central
America and the Caribbean have literally upended the lives of tens of thousands,
hundreds of thousands of people. As you have heard from the First Lady's
account, we have seen firsthand how these loans -- sometimes in other countries
loans as small at $10, $15, $25, $50 can make all the difference in helping
families to get back on their feet.
Our balanced budget will target extra microenterprise assistance to the
countries that are in trouble. And to break down the bureaucratic walls that
block microenterprise in some developing countries, we'll continue to work with
the World Bank and other financial institutions to reform the regulatory
structures so we can make more of these loans available. There is a virtually
unlimited potential abroad and at home for this, and I keep hoping if we just
keep pushing and keep pushing and keep pushing we will reach a critical mass of
investment which will explode it and let the whole world know that this works.
(Applause.)
And this ceremony today is a part of letting the whole world know. So we
come here not only to honor you with these Presidential Awards for Excellence in
Microenterprise, but to say to the world that these six organizations whose
vision and commitment have made such a profound difference in the lives of the
business owners, their employees and their customers are but a small beginning
of what we could achieve together in the United States and throughout the world
if we work harder to make the economy work for ordinary citizens.
And so this, too, is a part of letting the whole world know. And when
you come up here and get your awards I hope that you will not only feel enormous
pride, I hope that you will not only feel an enormous sense of rededication to
further success, I hope you will feel that you are sending a message to people
who will see this all over America, or read about it in their newspapers. And
you may be sparking someone else's conviction either that, A, they ought to set
up one of these funds, or B, they ought to find one and get a loan.
And I believe that we will continue to see the steady march of progress
here. This has the potential to revolutionize not only the lives of ordinary
Americans, but the whole way we organize our economy here and around the world.
So, first: For excellence in the category of Access to Capital, the
Microcredit Industry Rural Organization. Since 1987, MICRO has provided some
$5.5 million in loans to more than 1,000 entrepreneurs living in rural Arizona's
poorest Hispanic communities. Accepting this award is Executive Director Frank
Ballesteros, and entrepreneur Maria Jesus Gaxiola, a former migrant farm worker
who used a $1,500 loan to build her own cosmetics business -- and I might say,
she's a remarkable walking advertisement for her success. (Laughter.) Please
come up here. (Applause.)
Next, for excellence in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills, the Detroit
Entrepreneurship Institute. Founded at Wayne State University, the Institute
has worked to teach low-income clients the full range of business skills.
Clients can also take advantage of a free computer center, a tax preparation
service, and graphic design department to help launch and expand their
businesses. Accepting this award is Cathy McClelland, the President and CEO;
and Jackie Tucker, who started a successful catering business after training at
the Institute. I'd like to ask them to come up now. (Applause.)
Also for excellence in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills, the Northeast
Entrepreneur Fund of Virginia, Minnesota. (Laughter.) In the Iron Range, north
of Duluth. Serving rural communities throughout a 20,000 square mile area, the
Fund offers one-on-one counseling to clients, helping them to tailor their
studies to specific needs. Accepting this award is the Fund's President, Mary
Mathews; and our star speaker today -- (laughter) -- Carol Willoughby.
(Applause.)
For excellence in Poverty Alleviation, the Institute for Social and
Economic Development of lowa. One of the earliest statewide microenterprise
efforts in the nation, the Institute -- listen to this -- has helped 90 percent
of its welfare clients free themselves from lives of dependency through
self-employment.
Accepting this award today is John Else, founder and president; and
entrepreneur Rhonda Auten, a former welfare recipient who started her own dance
school with help from ISED. (Applause.)
(The award was presented.)
For excellence in private support for microenterprise development, the
Corporation for Enterprise Development. For two decades -- through research,
public advocacy and technical assistance to microenterprise organizations -- the
Corporation has fostered so much of the progress we see today, including the
success of three of this year's award winners. We are all -- including all of
us in this administration profoundly indebted to the awardee, the
Corporation, and its founder and chairman, Mr. Robert Friedman. (Applause.)
(The award was presented.)
For excellence in public support for microenterprise development, the
Montana Microbusiness Finance Program. As part of the Montana Department of
Commerce, this program has helped to launch or sustain a dozen microlending
organizations serving communities throughout that vast and beautiful state.
Accepting this award are program officer Robyn Hampton and entrepreneurs Kevin
and Heidi Snyder, who used a microloan to start their racquetball and fitness
centers. They are two walking advertisements for what they're doing, as you can
see. (Laughter.) Come on up. (Applause.)
(The award was presented.)
Now, don't you feel better than you did when you got up this morning?
(Laughter.) Isn't this great?
Henry Ford -- a small entrepreneur -- once said that the best Americans
were those with "an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done." We honor
today those kinds of Americans -- testaments to the power of enterprise, and the
strength of the human spirit.
I ask you to leave here committed to work in the years ahead to bring
this spirit, and this opportunity, to every corner of every community in our
land and on our globe.
Thank you very much, and God bless you. (Applause.)
END
3:03 P.M. EST
PRESIDENT CLINTON:
CREATING OPPORTUNITY BY SUPPORTING MICROENTERPRISE
February 5, 1999
Today, President Clinton Will Unveil the Administration's Domestic and International
Microenterprise Agenda for FY2000 and Will Honor Recipients of the 1998 Presidential Awards
for Excellence in Microenterprise Development. Long a passionate interest of both President
Clinton and the First Lady, microenterprise has proven a powerful tool for empowering people left out
of the economic mainstream, providing them the skills and credit they need to improve their own lives.
President Clinton's FY2000 budget includes a 159-percent increase in support for domestic
microenterprise programs, with a significant strengthening of the Administration's commitment for
training and technical assistance -- an essential component on fully delivering the microenterprise
promise. President Clinton's budget also continues to ensure that America provides global leadership
on microenterprise through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
What Is Microenterprise? Microenterprise development programs provide access to
capital, other financial services, and training to those traditionally bypassed by the
mainstream financial sector, such as the poor, women, minorities, and those in areas of
economic downturn. With these resources, these people can start and/or build
businesses, creating jobs and opportunity. Recognized for the past twenty-five years as
a powerful tool for development in poorer countries, microenterprise has been
increasingly successful in providing opportunities in the United States. In this country,
a microenterprise is generally defined as a business with five or fewer employees -- at
least one of whom is the owner -- and that has a demand for small amounts of credit
(less than $25,000).
A 159-Percent Increase in Overall Budget To Support Microenterprise At Home.
President Clinton's domestic microenterprise agenda recognizes that in the new
economy, simply providing credit to microentrepreneurs is often not enough.
Microentrepreneurs often need training and mentoring to help them succeed, and
microenterprise organizations need technical assistance to build their capacity and
enhance their effectiveness. This year, the Administration seeks to dramatically
increase its support for these critical services, nearly tripling funding for training and
technical assistance. This year's budget also focuses on leveraging new resources
through Individual Development Accounts, and on making microenterprise and other
resources more widely available through the Small Business Administration's (SBA)
One-Stop Capital Shops. Specifically, the President's plan includes:
$15 Million To Support The Program for Investments in
Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) Act. The bipartisan PRIME Act -- introduced
by Senators Kennedy and Domenici and Representatives Rush, Leach and
LaFalce -- authorizes the Community Development Financial Institutions
(CDFI) Fund to establish a microenterprise technical assistance and capacity
building program to award grants on a competitive basis to microenterprise
development organizations and programs that focus on low-income
entrepreneurs. PRIME will also sponsor research on the most innovative and
successful ways of encouraging new businesses and enabling them to succeed.
PRIME, like all other CDFI programs, will leverage non-federal funding with
federal dollars by requiring that all assistance be matched. The PRIME Act
authorizes an appropriation level of $105 million over four years, starting with
$15 million in FY2000. The President's FY2000 budget includes $15
million for PRIME within CDFI, which the President proposes to expand
from $95 million in FY99 to $125 million in FY2000.
Double Support For Technical Assistance in SBA Microloan Program. Key
to the success of the SBA Microloan Program has been its capacity to link loans
to entrepreneurs with the provision of training and technical assistance. The
Administration's FY 2000 budget seeks to double funds devoted to training and
technical assistance from $16 million in FY99 to $32 million in FY2000.
Double Support for SBA Lending To Leverage Over $75 Million In New
Micro-Loans. The SBA Microloan program makes loans to microfinance
development organizations, which in turn re-lend the funds to small businesses.
Over the last seven years, well over 100 organizations have participated in the
program, making over $78 million in loans to more than 7,800
microentrepreneurs. The average loan to a business is roughly $10,000, and the
SBA has not incurred a single loss in that time period. The President's FY2000
budget doubles support for the SBA Microloan Program, from $3 million in
FY99 to $6 million in FY2000 -- which should help leverage over $75 million in
new loans.
Double Funding for Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). Since 1992,
President Clinton has supported the creation of Individual Development
Accounts (IDAs) to empower lower-income individuals to start a new business,
invest in a first home, or save for post-secondary education. Low-income
families will receive matching contributions of between $1 and $8 for each
dollar they save in an IDA. Last year, President Clinton signed legislation
authorizing IDAs. The President's FY2000 budget doubles support for IDAs,
increasing the IDA budget from $10 million in FY99 to $20 million in FY2000.
Triple Funding for SBA's One-Stop Capital Shop Initiative. One-Stop
Capital Shops offer financial and training/mentoring services and products --
microenterprise development, personal-finance, even credit repair -- in
Empowerment Zones to communities and individuals often passed-over by
economic booms. SBA is committed to providing a microloan presence in every
One-Stop Capital Shop, and will provide office space at each Shop for
microloan intermediaries. The President's FY2000 budget proposes to triple
funding for the One-Stop Capital Shop Initiative, from $3.1 million in FY99 to
$10 million in FY2000.
PRESIDENT CLINTON'S FY2000
BUDGET:
A 159-PERCENT INCREASE IN
MICROENTERPRISE
FY1999
FY2000
Percent Increase
PRIME Act
$15 million
n.a.
SBA Training
and Technical Assistance
$16 million
$32 million
100%
SBA Lending
$3 million
$6 million
100%
Individual Development Accounts
$10 million
$20 million
100%
SBA One-Stop Capital Shop
$3.1 million
$10 million
223%
TOTAL
$32.1 million
$83 million
159%
Focus on Countries in Crisis and Extending Microenterprise's International
Reach. Internationally, microenterprise has proven to be a compelling component of
effective development strategies, contributing substantially to a rise in the standard of
living for millions of families and providing a solid base for robust small business
sectors. Early in his Administration, the President launched the USAID
Microenterprise Initiative; today USAID is the world's leading donor in microenterprise
development (averaging $135 million per year over the past three years). This year, the
Administration will continue to provide global leadership through USAID, focusing
especially on the unique challenges presented by the global economic crisis and the
ravages of Hurricane Mitch, and on exploring new ways of leveraging support from
multi-lateral institutions for microenterprise.
Increased Funding for Countries in Crisis. In response to the financial and
natural crises that have afflicted so many this year, USAID and the
Administration have proposed several programs to assist microenterprise
intermediaries in rebuilding and expanding capacity, and in providing additional
liquidity to programs in need. These include:
An additional $7 million in USAID's FY2000 budget for microenterprise
to speed economic recovery for countries hit hard by the global financial
crisis;
The First Lady, during her visit to Central America in November,
announced a $17 million Microenterprise Recovery Fund for those
Central American countries most affected by Hurricane Mitch. The Fund
will include $5 million from USAID (which has already been approved),
and $12 million from the Inter-American Development Bank Multilateral
Investment Fund;
A further and substantial commitment of funds and technical assistance
for microenterprise support will be a part of a supplemental package of
relief for Hurricane Mitch. The Administration is currently working
with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders on the final details of
that plan.
Leveraging International Resources. The Administration has played a lead
role in the formation of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP),
which -- under World Bank auspices -- coordinates bi-lateral and multi-lateral
donors who now collectively provide more than $500 million in support for
microenterprise worldwide. This year, we will work with the World Bank and
other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to increase the portion of their
lending dedicated to building microenterprise retail and wholesale
intermediaries worldwide and, where possible, to channel those resources
directly to those intermediaries.
Developing Conducive Regulatory Environments. Access to credit for
microentrepreneurs in developing countries is quite often limited by banking and
other regulations that were not designed to accommodate the unique needs of
microenterprise lending institutions. To address this constraint, the Treasury
Department and USAID will work with the IMF, MDBs and microfinance
institutions to provide technical and other assistance to central banks and other
regulators in less-developed nations to develop legislative and regulatory
frameworks that support the unique needs of microenterprise.
###
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.
504
###
FEB-07-1900 02:43
P.01
66244
THE PRESIDENT AND MRS. CLIN
welcome you to
THE WHITE HOUSE
1:15 pm amal armal
On the occasion of the
inaugural presentation of the
PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS
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FOR
EXCELLENCE
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Thursday, January 30, 1997
TOTAL P.01
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WORKING CAPITAL
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P.02
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FEB-07-1900 02:44
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P.03
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Presentation of Awards
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The President
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FEB-07-1900 02:45
P.05
66-244
THE PRESIDENT AND MRS. CLINT
welcome you to
THE WHITE HOUSE
1:15pmariual annal
On the occasion of the
inaugural presentation of the
PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS
1:30p.invite
FOR
EXCELLENCE
IN
MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMEN
Thursday, January 30, 1997
TOTAL P.05
Presidential Awards for Excellence
in Microenterprise Development
FEB-07-1900 02:44
The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Devel-
opinent 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 re.
flect an on-gaing commitment by President Clinton to advance the
role that microenterprise development plays in enhancing eco-
nomic opportunities of all Americans, especially those who have
traditionally lacked access to traditional sources of credit such as
women, low income people, and minorities. President Clinton di-
rected the Treasury Department to establish the Presidential
Awards, which are administered by the Community Development
Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. By recognizing outstanding
microenterprise organizations, these non-monetary awards will
bring wider public attention to the important role and successes of
microenterprise development in the domestic economy.
P.01
OCT-06-1999 11:56
P.01/03
(caly, Dr we need schedule to do
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL a request
INSTITUTIONS FUND
FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL SHEET
To:
From: Helen Szablya
Organization: Katy Button
Date: 10/6/99
Fax Number: 456-6244
Total No. of Pages:
(including cover)
3
Phone Number: 456-6266
Phone Number: 202-622-8401
(direct dial)
URGENT
FOR REVIEW
PLEASE COMMENT
PLEASE REPLY
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Notes/Comments:
Katy-
\
Please review with
melanne and forward to
White House. weekive me mea
call next when you
come up for air!
Ilen
Department of the Treasury
601 Thirteenth Street, N.W., Suite 200 South
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone (202) 622-8662
Facsimile (202) 622-7754
CCT-06-1999 11:56
P.02/03
DEPARTMENT THE THE TREASURY
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1759
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FUND
October 6, 1999
MEMORANDUM FOR MELANNE VERVEER
FROM:
Ellen Lazar /Even layar
REQUEST: That President Clinton and the First Lady host the third Presidential
Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development at a White House
ceremony. The awards are administered by the Community Development
Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, US Treasury.
PURPOSE: To demonstrate the President's and the First Lady's support for
Microenterprise Development and follow-through on commitment to
establish this award. This event will also demonstrate the
Administration's commitment to bring America's distressed urban and
rural communities into the economic mainstream by recognizing those
individuals and institutions that are expanding access to private-sector
capital through microenterprise development for people living in these
communities.
Request
Accept
Decline
Pending
BACKGROUND ANALYSIS:
In response to the Beijing Conference in 1995, the President issued a memorandum
directing the CDFI Fund to establish a Presidential Award that celebrated the energy,
creativity and vitality of Americans who have the courage to pursue their dreams.
Administered by the CDFI Fund, the non-monetary awards recognize those organizations
that have demonstrated excellence and leadership in enabling people to build their own
businesses.
OCT-06-1999 11:57
P.03/03
In 1997 and 1998, the President honored the seven and six awardees respectively, at a
White House Ceremony with the First Lady and Secretary Rubin. 1997 Awardees
represented organizations from Washington, DC, Washington State, Illinois,
Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Nebraska. 1998 Awardees represented Iowa,
Michigan, Montana, Washington, DC, Minnesota and New Mexico.
During the 1992 campaign, President Clinton promised to help create a nationwide
network of community development banks. In 1994, the President signed legislation
establishing the CDFI Fund. 1999 marks the Fund's fourth round of funding (1996, 1997,
1998 & 1999) and to date, more than $290 million in awards have been made through the
Fund's programs. The CDFI Program awardees range in institution type from loan funds
and credit unions to venture capital funds and community development banks. Through
the BEA Program, banks and thrifts are provided an incentive to increase their eligible
community development investments. The Administration's FY 2000 budget request for
CDFI is $125 million. The Appropriations bill has passed both the Senate, at $80 million
with no authorization for PRIME and the House at $70 million, including PRIME.
PREVIOUS
PARTICIPATION: December 1997 and January 1999, Presidential Awards Ceremony
in the White House
DATE/TIME:
Early December
DURATION:
30 to 45 minutes
LOCATION:
White House
MEDIA:
Open press.
ATTENDANCE:
The President, First Lady, Secretary Lawrence Summers, Under
Secretary Gary Gensler and CDFI Fund Director Ellen Lazar.
CONTACT:
Helen Szablya, 622-8401
TOTAL P.03
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
September 28, 2000
Ms. Ellen W. Lazar
Director
Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund
Department of the Treasury
Washington, D.C.
Dear Ellen:
As you leave your position as Director of the Community
Development Financial Institutions Fund at the Department of the
Treasury, I want to thank you for your outstanding contributions
to my Administration and to our nation.
Throughout your tenure, you have carried out your demanding
responsibilities with energy, dedication, and a steadfast commitment
to excellence. I am especially grateful for all you have done in
the Interagency Workgroup on Microenterprise Development. As co-chair
of the Workgroup, you have played a key role in ensuring that federal
microenterprise programs run as efficiently as possible and that more
Americans are aware of the purpose and availability of these programs.
And, by promoting the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenter-
prise Development, you have done much to inspire those working in this
promising field.
You can take great pride in knowing that your leadership has
helped improve the lives of many American families, giving them a
greater opportunity to share in our nation's unprecedented prosperity
and economic growth. Your efforts have been a true investment in
America's future.
On behalf of all those who have benefited from your service,
I thank you for a job well done. As you move on to new challenges,
Hillary joins me in extending best wishes for continued success
and every happiness.
Sincerely,
Biu Crinton
EÍS
HESTAR
ICELANDIC RIDING TOURS
8993420
EINAR G. BOLLASON
Managing Director
Bæjarhrauni 2 . 220 Hafnarfjörður . Iceland
Tel.: 354-565 3044
Fax 354-565 2113