ACCION USA Provides Credit Help for Strapped ''Main Street'' Entrepreneurs

Business Wire ^ | October 8, 2008 | Erika Eurkus

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ACCION USA Erika Eurkus, 617-616-1559 Senior Director of Capital and Brand Development ACCION USA, the nation's largest nonprofit microloan provider to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs, is reporting that more alternative credit sources are needed for the smallest of small businesses to help keep them viable in these tough economic times.

"With the current credit crunch affecting businesses of all sizes, we are seeing an exponential increase in the need for alternative credit sources for 'Main Street' entrepreneurs or microbusinesses," said Gina Harman, President and CEO of ACCION USA. "Our typical clients come to us even in times of economic prosperity because they simply can't access capital from commercial banks. In an economic crisis, businesses of this size are the first to go under and the last to benefit from the monies government is making available."

Today, ACCION USA provides access to capital and credit management training, both of which are critical to small businesses trying to survive and thrive during the credit crunch. Through charitable support from The Boston Beer Company, brewers of Samuel Adams, ACCION USA established a microloan fund and developed a series of financial and business literacy programs, specifically designed to meet the unique needs of food and beverage microentrepreneurs.

Today, the program, Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, is even more crucial. In recent one-on-one interviews with food and beverage entrepreneurs ACCION USA learned that the mortgage crisis, the rising cost of food ingredients, and now the credit crunch, are all having a significant impact on the inability of businesses to stay afloat.

Harman added, "For microbusiness owners, personal and business finances are often closely linked. So an event like the mortgage crisis can put a small business owner in personal financial jeopardy as well as pose a risk to their business."

While the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Microloan Fund at ACCION USA is strictly for food and beverage businesses, ACCION USA provides credit and other financial services to thousands of US small business owners who do not have access to traditional or appropriate sources of business capital. ACCION USA bases these loans on character and capability of a prospective business owner and not solely on their credit score as traditional banks do.

Note: Microentrepreneurs are available to talk with members of the media.

For more information about ACCION USA and how our clients are weathering the credit crunch, call Erika Eurkus, Senior Director of Capital and Brand Development at 617-616-1559.

The Samuel Adams Microloan Fund Earmarks Funds for Food & Beverage Microentrepreneurs