6.05.2006 ET

(CSRwire) Project Enterprise, a Grameen Foundation partner microfinance institution based in New York, has been awarded the 2006 Program Innovations Award by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) for their new "Access to Markets Initiative." The "Access to Markets Initiative" helps entrepreneurs improve their competitiveness by building their skills and increasing their opportunities to bring their products and services to the marketplace.

In welcoming the award, Alex Counts, Grameen Foundation President and CEO, said: "Innovations like the 'Access to Markets Initiative' help drive the microfinance field here in the U.S. and help microbusinesses reach scale and become sustainable." Grameen Foundation has partnered with Project Enterprise since 1997 and Counts is also the current chair of its board.

Microfinance gives very poor people access to the financial services denied to them by commercial banks. Although it is more popular and common in developing countries, microfinance is increasingly gaining a foothold in the United States, and Project Enterprise is the lone Grameen-style microfinance program serving entrepreneurs in New York City.

"We are honored and thrilled to receive this national recognition," said Arva Rice, Executive Director of Project Enterprise. "Making a business sustainable requires more than loan capital and business training. Business owners need to be able to reach and create additional markets and the Access to Markets Initiative was launched to do just that."

To help entrepreneurs explore the idea of owning and running their own store, Project Enterprise created Retail Incubator Selling Experience (RISE). RISE provides entrepreneurs exclusive access to a local community-based retail store at a deeply discounted rental rate for a period of three-months to enable entrepreneurs to gain invaluable retail experience. Project Enterprise also helps entrepreneurs directly get their products and services to market through vending opportunities. They have sponsored their own vending events including an annual Holiday Bazaar, and also provide discount access to vending opportunities across New York City.

In selecting Project Enterprise from a national pool of organizations, Elizabeth Wilson, Senior Program Manager at AEO said: "Project Enterprise submitted one of the most innovative programs we've seen and we are very pleased to award them with the Innovation in Program Design Award for the Access to Markets Initiative."

The Association for Enterprise Opportunity is the national association of microenterprise development organizations in the United States. The Innovation Awards were created in 2002 to showcase the most unique and creative innovations taking place in the domestic microenterprise field among AEO members.

About Grameen Foundation

Grameen Foundation is a global non-profit organization that combines microfinance, technology, and innovation to empower the world's poorest people to escape poverty. Founded in 1997, it has established a global network of 52 partners in 22 countries that has impacted an estimated 11 million lives in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East.

The Foundation sprang from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Grameen Bank was started in 1976 by an economics professor, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who was convinced that women could break through poverty by taking tiny loans to start or expand tiny businesses. Today, Grameen Bank serves nearly 6 million borrowers. As strategic global partners, Grameen Foundation and Grameen Bank share a common vision, knowledge and success models to accelerate the microfinance industry's impact on the world's poorest people. Dr. Yunus, the founder and director of Grameen Bank, is a founding and current board member of the Grameen Foundation. For more information, please visit www.gfusa.org.

About Project Enterprise

Project Enterprise is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and developing entrepreneurs in under-served communities in New York City by providing access to business loans, business development services and networking opportunities. Since its inception, Project Enterprise has served over 1400 entrepreneurs and distributed over $750,000 in loans. Project Enterprise currently has programs in Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.

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