Who are Microentrepreneurs?
- 62 percent are from a minority ethnic or racial group
- 78 percent are women
- 83 percent are high school graduates
- 34 percent have employees
- 78 percent of their businesses have lasted at least 2 years
Attributes of Credit-Led (individual) Loan Programs from 328 programs surveyed by the Aspen Institute
- Average loans per program was 29
- Average loan size was $9,248
- Maximum loan size ranged from $1,000 to $500,000
- 40 percent of the programs made loans up to a maximum of $20,000
- 28 percent made loans up to a maximum of %5,000
- 36 lenders allow a maximum term of six years of longer
The Aspen Institute survey found 152 respondents who tried to get a business loan from a financial institution other than a microenterprise program. Of these:
- 47 percent received credit (71 people)
- 53 percent were denied credit (81 people)
The majority of respondents who were denied credit reported the following reasons for denial:
- business was too small or young
- lack of collateral
- inadequate or problem credit history
Bridges is a regular review of regional community and economic development issues. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the St. Louis Fed or Federal Reserve System.
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