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Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Abstract

To better understand the dynamics of the market and to improve ACCION's own capacity for delivering credit, the ACCION USA Network (ACCION) hired a research firm to conduct a study estimating the number of microentrepreneurs in the United States, the number that had never received a bank loan for their business, and qualitative information. The firm conducted twenty focus groups of 108 potential and current ACCION customers in New York, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, Atlanta, and Miami. This paper reports the key findings of these focus groups and describes some of the changes ACCION has made in its programs to address the findings.

Biography

Elaine L. Edcomb is director of The Aspen Institute's Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination (FIELD), a program advancing U.S. microenterprise practice through grantmaking, research, documentation, and dissemination. Previously, she served as founding Executive Director of the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network, representing forty North American organizations engaged in international microenterprise.

Section

Articles

Journal Title

Journal of Microfinance

Issue and Volume

4-1

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