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Association for Enterprise Opportunity Names ACCION Clients Saul and Carmen Manriquez Nation's Best Community Business of the Year; Aspen Institute Announces ACCION Participation in Selective New Program

ACCION New Mexico and its hardworking clients were honored to be the focus of two major announcements today at a national conference on microenterprise development in Kansas City. ACCION clients Saul and Carmen Manriquez's Carniceria La Especial in Albuquerque was named the nation's Best Community Business of Year by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO). A business that started with $200 in savings and a space at a flea market a decade ago is today a booming grocery and meat market that serves as many as 3,000 customers in a single weekend. Read the AEO official announcement below!

The Aspen Institute also announced at the AEO conference that ACCION New Mexico has been selected to participate in a new, selective national program, the Scale Academy for Microenterprise Development.. The program is designed to provide financing, training and technical support for a set of high-performing microenterprise organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to scaling-up operations to serve more clients.

To read more about the Aspen program and today's announcement, click on the following link: www.fieldus.org/Projects/ScaleAcademy.html

ASSOCIATION FOR ENTERPRISE OPPORTUNITY

For Immediate Release
Contact: Sara Ignas, AEO
signas@assoceo.org
828/693-3544


ENTREPRENEURS AND INNOVATORS SPOTLIGHTED AT THE ASSOCIATION FOR ENTERPRISE OPPORTUNITY ANNUAL CONFERENCE.

Arlington, Va., May 16 – Outstanding small business entrepreneurs and innovators from across the country were recognized today by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), the national leadership organization for the microenterprise development field. AEO announced its Entrepreneur of the Year and Innovator Awards during its Annual Conference and Expo taking place this week in Kansas City. Entrepreneurs were recognized for Best Community Business and Best Product or Service-based Business Innovation. The Innovator Award spotlights AEO member organizations that have increased entrepreneur success with a new business training or lending product. The awards celebrate the sprit of U.S. entrepreneurs and innovative microenterprise development programs dedicated to helping business owners succeed.

Entrepreneur of the Year Awards
The AEO Entrepreneur of the Year Awards celebrate those who started the smallest of small businesses, known as microenterprises, which have five or fewer employees, and have grown those operations into thriving businesses that contribute to their local and the national economy.

AEO’s award-winning entrepreneurs are Saul and Carmen Manriquez, owners of Carniceria La Especial in Albuquerque, N.M., who were named Best Community Business, and Deborah Crane, owner of Treats for Troops, who received the Best Product or Service-based Business Innovation Award.

Using $200 of their savings, the Manriquezes started their entrepreneurial journey selling specialty Mexican goods at a flea market in 1996. It was a true “mom and pop” operation that helped the Manriquezes support their two young daughters. Since receiving five microloans from
AEO member, ACCION New Mexico, the Manriquez’s business has grown from its humble flea-market beginnings into a thriving grocery and meat market that serves as an important fixture in Albuquerque’s Mexican and Mexican-American community. Carniceria La Especial is a cornerstone of its local area’s economic landscape, having posted gross sales of more than $1.7 million last year. The booming business provides employment for the Manriquez family and 12 employees in a neighborhood with limited employment options.

Treats for Troops is a Web-based business founded in early 2003 by Denver business woman Deborah Crane, whose mission is to provide a safe, easy way to support America’s soldiers all over the world. Since the business was launched, more than 20 tons of treats have been shipped to soldiers all over the world and last year the business grossed $1.4 million. This million dollar business was launched with the help of AEO member, Micro Business Development (MBD) in Denver, which provided Deborah with a loan after she was turned down by banks.

Entrepreneurs are nominated by AEO member organizations and selected through an internal scoring process.

Innovator Awards
Since 2002, AEO has honored leading innovators in the microenterprise development field with its Innovator Awards. This year, the organization is recognizing its Denver member, Micro Business Development for initiating a program that provides their clients access to affordable health care. With lack of health insurance identified as a major challenge for many Denver-based entrepreneurs, MBD partnered with Kaiser Permeanente to provide state-standard coverage to low-income MBD clients.

Microenterprise development means big changes in the lives of underserved emerging entrepreneurs through small investments. It is the concept of providing small loans – usually $35,000 or less – as well as business training and technical assistance to aspiring entrepreneurs, helping them to start or expand a small business. It is the link to business ownership for the underserved, among others, and a way for communities to create jobs.

AEO’s Annual Conference and Expo is attended by more than 500 practitioners who create and operate microenterprise development programs in communities throughout the country.

Citi is the lead sponsor of the 2007 Conference and Expo.

The Association for Enterprise Opportunity, (AEO) is the national leadership organization for microenterprise development. As the voice for the U.S. microenterprise movement, AEO’s members include hundreds of organizations that assist thousands of entrepreneurs each year in realizing their dreams of small business ownership. By providing core services such as cutting edge training, information sharing, public policy and communications, we enable our members to be effective providers of services to their program participants. AEO is based in Arlington, Va.