Articles Archive

• Get

• Give

• Learn

• Support

U.S. Treasury Award Puts New Mexico in National Spotlight

ACCION New Mexico is receiving national recognition and top funding from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s community development program for its grass-roots approach to small business financing.

Federal officials traveled to Albuquerque to announce national community development awards Friday, singling out ACCION New Mexico for performance that has earned the nonprofit small business lender $585,000. It is the top level of funding any 2006 award recipient received from the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund and is the largest grant to date for New Mexico's highest-volume microlender.

"ACCION New Mexico is on the front lines of creating needed jobs and helping foster economic growth in rural and urban low-income communities," CDFI Fund Director Arthur A. Garcia said. "Through its community-based lending approach that provides much-needed capital investment for small businesses, ACCION is creating the kind of economic vitality that can transform entrepreneurs, their families and their communities."

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., joined Garcia at ACCION client business Golden Crown Panadería to announce $26.4 million in awards from the CDFI Fund. The bakery is among the more than 2,145 businesses ACCION has supported statewide through small business loans. ACCION has extended two loans to the bakery totaling $50,000. Together, Golden Crown and ACCION are contributing to the revitalization of one of Albuquerque’s oldest neighborhoods.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our state economy,” Domenici said. “The microloans and technical assistance offered by ACCION New Mexico all around the state give more people who have an entrepreneurial spirit a true chance of making a small business work and grow.”

The CDFI Fund supports institutions that serve low-income people and communities lacking adequate access to affordable financial products and services. ACCION New Mexico was selected this year through a competitive review of 172 applications from organizations nationwide requesting more than $149 million in funding. ACCION, which has previously received $550,000 in CDFI Fund grants, was the only award recipient in New Mexico.

ACCION’s mission is to break down barriers to credit for emerging entrepreneurs whose small capital needs, credit history or lack of collateral may prevent them from qualifying for bank financing. ACCION uses the loan application process to deepen applicants' financial literacy and potential for business success.

Last year, ACCION New Mexico put more than $5.4 million into the hands of entrepreneurs through 479 small business loans. More than 90 percent of those loans went to low-income, minority or women entrepreneurs. Since its inception, ACCION’s lending has helped to create or sustain more than 3,400 jobs through 3,579 loans totaling more than $19 million.

“This award of $585,000 will help ACCION empower even more families and expand our reach across the state, especially in New Mexico’s rural communities,” said Robert Wertheim, chairman of ACCION’s board of directors.

Saul and Carmen Manriquez are among those who have used ACCION funding to create economic opportunity for their family. The immigrant couple from Juarez, Mexico, started with a modest business selling Mexican candy and other imported specialty goods at a flea market in Albuquerque’s South Valley.

They came to ACCION in 1997 and started with a $500 loan. Little by little, they were able to import more goods and increase sales. With hard work and help from ACCION, they were eventually able to open their own grocery and meat market, Carnicería La Especial. Last July, the Manriquezes paid off their fifth ACCION loan of $40,000. Today, they own their own home, their store and another commercial property they hope to turn into a wholesale business. Their 16-year-old daughter Yanette has dreams of becoming an architect while her 12-year-old sister, Cynthia, already has an eye for the family business.

“ACCION believed in me when no one else would,” Saul Manriquez said.

Friday’s announcement is the latest in a series of national accolades for ACCION New Mexico. Earlier this year, the Aspen Institute's Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination selected ACCION among hundreds of programs nationwide to highlight in a national guide on performance. A leading national economic development entity, CFED, named ACCION a national promising practice in entrepreneurship last year for its performance and innovative approach to small business and community development. The industry group is known for its annual Development Report Card for the States, a state-by-state assessment of the economies of the 50 states.


Contact:
Leslie Hoffman, ACCION communications director
(505) 243-8844 ext. 238
(505) 270-0285 cell
Bill Luecht, U.S. Department of Treasury CDFI Fund
(202) 622-8042