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COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Office of the Governor
Timothy M. Kaine
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Governor
April 30, 2009
Contact: Gordon
Hickey Hollie S. Cammarasana,
DHCD
Phone:
(804) 225-4260
(804)
371-7006
Cell Phone: (804)
291-8977
(804)
382-2075
Internet: www.governor.virginia.gov
www.dhcd.virginia.gov
GOVERNOR KAINE ANNOUNCES FUNDING FOR
VIRGINIA MICROENTERPRISE
DEVELOPMENT
~ Department of Housing and
Community Development will provide funding for three Regional Service Providers
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RICHMOND
– Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that the Virginia Department of
Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will provide three Regional Service
Providers (RSP) with up to $108,000 each for their micro-enterprise efforts
through the agency’s Virginia Enterprise Initiative (VEI) program. The
organizations – ECDC Enterprise Development Group (Arlington), New Visions New Ventures (Richmond), and People,
Inc. Financial Services (Abingdon) – will provide entrepreneurial resources such
as credit, capital, training and technical support to underserved entrepreneurs
to start and expand their businesses.
“Today we see more and more business owners
affected by decreasing access to credit, and turning to their local
micro-enterprise organization for loans for payroll, supplies and overhead,”
Governor Kaine said. “With the funding they receive from VEI, service providers
will be able to provide loans and training for these small-business owners to
help them navigate through these rough times. The focus of this program is on
creating jobs, and we are committed to meeting this
goal.”
Micro-businesses are the smallest of the
small businesses, defined as those with five or fewer employees and less than
$35,000 in capital needs. Additionally, as the U.S.
unemployment rate has reached 9 percent, more Americans are deciding that now is
the time to become their own boss and start their own business. Through funding
from VEI, regional service providers will provide training and loans to current
and potential micro-business owners, developing business plans and providing
loans averaging $8,000.
In the wake of the 2001 recession,
Americans created nearly 900,000 jobs per year – through 2005 – by starting
their own business. Today, this trend continues, and many Americans are turning
to micro-enterprise nonprofit organizations to start or expand their
micro-businesses.
In Virginia nearly 800,000
workers are employed by firms with fewer than five employees, representing 15.6
percent of the workforce. Nationally, micro-enterprises account for nearly 18
percent of all private employment and 87 percent of all businesses, according to
the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AOE).
VEI, established in 1995, ties funding to
RSPs to three primary outcomes: jobs created, businesses/business plans created,
and number of loans made. In fiscal years 2007 and 2008, VEI has seen the
creation and retention of 2,126 jobs, 832 businesses created and/or
strengthened, and 363 micro loans made.
For more information on DHCD or VEI, visit:
www.dhcd.virginia.gov.
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