The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) PRIME grants funded 24 Micro-lenders across the U.S. that serve disadvantaged small businesses, totaling $3.5 million. This year’s PRIME grantees included five Micro-lenders who are doing micro-lending in New York.
One award winner, Renaissance Economic Development Corporation, as an SBA-approved, non-profit, Micro-lender provides direct financing and technical assistance services to low-income entrepreneurs throughout New York City.
REDC’s goal is to increase business opportunities among low-income, minority, women, foreign, and community business entrepreneurs, assisting many disadvantaged businesses’ success around the state. The PRIME grant will assist REDC in offering services to small businesses in NY such as direct lending, technical assistance and training, and The Entrepreneurship Assistance Program (EAP). REDC also has a subsidiary Renaissance Tour that is organized to help manifest Chinatown’s attractions and businesses. REDC is certified as a community development financial institution through the United States Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
SBA offers many different kinds of financial assistance programs for businesses around America in which are designated help others meet their financial needs, but cannot yet meet their own. SBA administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, alongside the House Small Business Committee Ranking Member, Congresswomen Nydia Velazquez, personally presented Renaissance Economic Development Corporation (REDC), with their $100,000 check on Monday, September 15th during this year’s conference.
PRIME, Program for Investment in Micro-entrepreneurs Act, is an additional program developed by SBA in 2009 to provide financial assistance to eligible businesses. Such assistance includes technical assistance grants, capacity building grants, research and development grants, and even discretionary grants. them, but those small businesses will produce local jobs, and boost the economic growth SBA’s goal in targeting small, local businesses as being eligible for grants is not only to establish and expand in low-income neighborhoods as well.
This year’s program focused on strengthening entrepreneur’s financial accounting, reporting, and inventory management, while also assisting in the development of worker ownership and worker-owed cooperatives.
