Welcome to Business Initiative$, a program of Loaves & Fishes Ministries

360 Farmington Avenue,Hartford, CT 06105
Telephone: (860) 524-1730 Email: Loaves@sbcglobal.net

Business Initiative$ Mission Statement:             To assist low to moderate income individuals in the Asylum Hill community to achieve self-sufficiency by providing entrepreneurial training and subsequent opportunities for self-employment through access to capital in the form of microloans.

Spring 2004 Business Initiatives Graduates

Beverly Dakers,  Social Security Disability Client Services, LLC

Carolyn Atkins, Irresistible Cuisine

Nicole Sturgis, Dolphin Country

Toni Cranford, T-N-T Recordings

Ronnie Sanders, Ronnie's Spirit

    Loaves & Fishes Ministries, after careful research and strategic planning, began our microenterprise program, Business Initiative$, in 1999.   To briefly explain, a microenterprise business is defined as one run by an individual, which typically employs less than five employees.  Microenterprise loans are defined as anything between $500 and $25,000 (over that, borrowers qualify for Small Business Administration programs).  These are small loans to individu­als with marketable ideas for self-employment, but who have no experience with or access to tradition­al lending institutions; those individuals who need what a bank or the Small Business Administration would consider an insignifi­cant amount, but which to them is insur­mountable.  Microenterprise thus targets individuals who lack access to traditional markets and lending services.  Included in our goals for our graduates are not just repayment of a business loan, but numbers of individuals moved off of welfare, increase in household income, as well as improved personal effectiveness, increased self-esteem, and greater personal responsibility. 

            In addition, one of the goals of microenterprise programs is not only to develop businesses but to educate participants about creating a base of assets—particularly in the U.S. there has been an increasing emphasis on the importance of savings for individuals who may have never before had a bank account.  In this way, microenterprise programs not only enable individuals to achieve self-employment, but they encourage families to gain financial stability and in turn help the entire community reach more solid financial footing.

Perhaps even more vital than access to credit, however, is the business training provided by programs like Business Initiative$.  BI$’ program includes: one-on-one apprais­als between staff and potential borrowers, business education, mentors for program graduates, microloans to qualified individuals, technical assistance to entrepreneurs, monitor­ing / loan repayments administra­tion, follow-up meetings, and potential second step loans.  The fourteen week business training component includes business knowledge (marketing, legal issues, taxes, cash-flow, pricing, advertising, location, personal and business budgeting, setting goals, management), basic accounting, access to markets, asset development, monitoring and evaluation, and finally personal effectiveness.  The personal effectiveness element is of great importance for any potential entrepreneurs.  We have tailored this program to best fit our clients and the needs we have discovered through daily interaction on Asylum Hill.  Business Initiative$ is an on-going program at Loaves & Fishes.  We are offering the complete curriculum twice each year.

Loaves & Fishes works with the Community Economic Development Fund and HEDCO (Hartford Economic Development Corporation) to administer the loan pool for Business Initiative$.   Both of these organizations have a community presence in the Asylum Hill neighborhood, as well as experience dealing with microenterprise loans.  CEDF is a statewide resource that since 1994 has “provided greater access to capital, technical assistance to small businesses and support for community development.”  HEDCO administers a revolving loan fund in Asylum Hill, among other services.  There are several advantages to working with these agencies rather than with an established bank to administer our loans.  According to microenterprise experts, in a good microenterprise program with twenty loans, each one should look entirely different.  For example, someone with an ice-cream business makes money from April to November, but can’t make repayments from November to April.  CEDF/HEDCO could (and has) set up an amortization schedule to fit that client’s needs, but a bank would most probably be unable to help.  We want to avoid forming a loan program to fit the bank rather than to fit the clients.  For this reason, and given CEDF’s experience in dealing with microenterprise loans, we feel this is a wonderful option for Loaves & Fishes.   CEDF and HEDCO personnel have worked together in the past, and so collaboration between all three parties has progressed smoothly and with excellent teamwork.  We feel lucky to have found such experienced partners with whom to work.

Business Initiative$ began in 1999 with a class of five individuals.  We now boast 43 graduates of the program.  Clients progress through the training program to graduation.  During the course of the training, clients are taught by experts in a variety of fields.  Many of our trainers are not only experts in their areas, but they are themselves entrepreneurs.  This helps our students to gain not just classroom knowledge, but facilitates their transition from a home-based experience to a “real world” business situation.  When a client is ready (not necessarily immediately after program graduation), that client can present a business plan and loan package to the loan panel at CEDF.

Once students have graduated, they continue to work with Loaves & Fishes staff in any way necessary to turn their business ideas into reality.  We also help them to receive technical assistance from experts who can help them keep on track with particular business issues.  Technical assistance is vital to enable entrepreneurs to move beyond the classroom into real world business situations, where they can often feel isolated and unsure of their own decisions.   Technical assistance consultants meet one-on-one with each graduate entrepreneur requesting help, for pre-loan, post-loan, and non-loan situations.  The Community Economic Development Fund provides technical assistance for our graduates.  All CEDF loans receive free post-loan technical assistance.  

Staff involved with Business Initiative$ include Loaves & Fishes’ Executive Director, Alyce Hild, who has been extensively involved in planning and implementation of the program, and continues to monitor for developments and necessary adjustments.  The program director, Allison Petrie, has a background in social services and education, and spent over a year researching microenterprise concepts and programs prior to creating this program.  Loaves & Fishes is a participating member in the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, a national microenterprise organization, and has forged links to established microenterprise programs in Boston.  We have also created collaborations with HEDCO and the Community Economic Development Fund, both of whom have over five years experience with microenterprise concepts and loans.