The Quick Read

Our Organization

• An award-winning 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that increases access to business credit, makes loans and provides training, which enable emerging entrepreneurs to realize their dreams and be catalysts for positive economic and social change.
• Founded in 1994.
• Largely privately funded.
• Governed by a volunteer 25-member board with a permanent paid staff of 20.
• Member of the ACCION U.S. Network, a group of microlending nonprofits across the United States.
• Certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

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Our Impact
Financed the start-up or growth of more than 2,300 businesses  through loans totaling more than $23.8 million.

• Research has shown that from the time entrepreneurs first become ACCION borrowers to the time of their third loan application, they experience, on average,
  
  
  • An increase of 61 %in business revenue.
  • An increase of 71% in business assets.
  • An increase of 87% in take-home business income.
  • An increase in 21% in overall household income.

• Low-income clients who had received three consecutive ACCION loans experienced, on average,  
  
  
  • An increase of 231% in business profitability.
  • An increase of 32% in household income.
  • An increase of 88% in take-home business income.

• ACCION small business owners have created or supported more than 3,300 jobs.

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Our Clients

• Entrepreneurs in more than 159 urban and rural New Mexico communities, including Alamogordo, Albuquerque, Belen, Deming, Española, Farmington, Gallup, Grants, Holman, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Raton, Roswell, Santa Fe, Silver City, Socorro, Taos, Texico and Truth or Consequences and now Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, and Denver, Colorado, through partnerships with local banks and organizations.

ACCION’s clients are self-employed individuals, many of whom base their businesses in their home.

• Approximately 60 to 65% of ACCION loans are issued to low-income borrowers (defined as 80% or less of median family income).
• Approximately 57% of ACCION clients are minority entrepreneurs.
• Approximately 50% of ACCION clients are women.
• ACCION businesses range from one-person shops to businesses with over 40 employees.

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Our Services

• Term loans ranging from $200 to $150,000.
• Lines of credit from $35,000 to $150,000
• Average loan size is about $6,038.
• The organization has written off less than 6% of dollars lent.
• Networking and marketing opportunities.
• Training and leadership development.
• Bilingual staff (Spanish-speaking).

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Our Recognition

• Awarded four-star rating by Charity Navigator in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
• Named nation’s top-rated community development nonprofit, Charity Navigator’s 2006 Holiday Gift Giving Guide.
• Named national Champion of Best Community Business of the Year, Association for Enterprise Opportunity, 2007.
• Named one of the Top 25 Best Places to Work in New Mexico by the New Mexico Business Weekly in 2006 and 2008.
• Highlighted as national “Promising Practice in Entrepreneurship” in 2005 by CFED, formerly the Corporation for Enterprise Development.
• 2004 VIVA Award for Vision, Investment, Vitality, and Action from the New Mexico Association of Commerce & Industry
• Recipient of 2002 Samaritan Counseling Center Ethics in Business Award.
• Recipient of the national 2002 Deutsche Bank Award for Excellence in Lending.
• Recipient of 1999 City of Albuquerque Human Rights Award.
• Recipient, along with the ACCION U.S. Network, of a 1997 White House Presidential Award for Excellence in Microenterprise Development.