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SWFL MicroEnterprise Project

A Partnership

The Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Project is a partnership of several organizations that will provide training and loans for individuals with low-to-moderate income and/or other disadvantages, specifically the unemployed, to start their own businesses.

Project partners include: the Southwest Florida Community Foundation (SWFLCF), Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, the Southwest Florida Enterprise Center, SCORE, ACCION USA, and others yet to be announced. The project has a five-county reach: Charlotte, Hendry, Glades, Lee, and Collier.

SWFLCF's role in the partnership is to solicit, accept, and disburse funds on behalf of this project, and SWFLCF is the main source of reporting to financial supporters. All funding flows through the Community Foundation, which has committed $20,000 per year for three years to get the project off the ground. It is estimated that the project will have a three-year budget of $350,000.

This webpage provides general information about the Southwest FloridaMicro Enterprise Project and about how you can support it financially. By following the links to other partners' websites, you can find additional information that pertains to other aspects of the project, such as details about the training program, how to become a participant, how to volunteer as a mentor to participants, micro-loan details, etc. 

What is Microenterprise?

A microenterprise is any type of small business that has fewer than five employees. Microenterprises typically do not meet the credit and/or collateral requirements necessary to access conventional financial services. This could be due to business type, a short length of time in business, or an insufficient credit history.

According to the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), “there are more than 24 million microenterprises in the U.S., representing 18% of all private employment and 87% of all businesses. One out of six U.S. private sector employees works for a microenterprise. Historically, microenterprises have been considered the backbone of the U.S. economy.”

The AEO also says that, “most microenterprises are sole proprietorships, which create employment for the owner and, often, other family members; they are commonly called "mom and pop" businesses. Some grow into large enterprises employing other members of the community. Microenterprises include a variety of businesses in the products and service sectors such as repair and cleaning services, specialty foods, jewelry, arts and crafts, gifts, clothing and textiles, computer technology, childcare, and environmental products.”

How the project works

As mentioned, the role of the Community Foundation is to solicit, accept, and disburse funds on behalf of this project, and SWFLCF is the main source of reporting to financial supporters. All funding flows through the SWFLCF, which has committed $20,000 per year for three years to get the project off the ground.

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida is the administrator of the program. They coordinate the training, mentoring, and loan applications of clients. The training curriculum that is used has been implemented by Goodwill at several other sites around the country with great success.

SCORE mentors and recruits mentors for those in the program.

The Southwest Florida Enterprise Center provides training space and conducts the training. Through the rigorous training curriculum, clients will determine if their projects are viable and if they should move forward with their business plans.

Successful completion of this program makes a client eligible to pursue a microloan with ACCION USA, which specializes in working with small business owners who cannot borrow from the bank due to factors such as business type, short length of time in business, or insufficient credit history.

Download the Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Project Fact Sheet:

financially supporting this project

By supporting the Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Project, you can strengthen small businesses, which are the backbone of our local economy, and help to put people back to work at the same time. With the unemployment rate in Lee County alone having reached 14% at the end of 2009, and surrounding counties just as bad and in some cases worse, the economic needs in Southwest Florida are great. This partnership project seeks to relieve pressure on families in our communities, reward an entrepreneurial spirit, and pioneer a sustained collaborative effort that will benefit Southwest Florida into the future.

The Southwest Florida Community Foundation is now actively seeking financial supporters for this project. A gift of just $1,200 to the MicroEnterprise Project would move one potential entrepreneur from application to training to mentoring and finally, for those who are successful, financing. 

If you are interested in financially supporting this project, please call the Southwest Florida Community Foundation at 239-274-5900.

Click below to download an info sheet that describes how you can financially support the Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Project:

More Information

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida/MicroEnterprise

Follow this link if you are looking for information about:

  • Becoming a participant (I want to apply to be in the program.)
  • Administration (I would like to know more details about the process.)
  • Mentoring (How can I become a mentor to someone in the training program?)
  • Training Details (What is the training like?) 

Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Project Homepage

Click above to visit the SWFL MicroEnterprise portal website.

Of course, you can always contact any of the Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Project partners and they will be able to answer your general project questions and connect you with subject matter experts from other partnering organizations.

Donate

The Community Foundation has set a three-year funding goal of $350,000, and has committed itself to providing $20,000 per year for three years to get the project going. Our initial seed money has allowed the project to launch, but we need community support to ensure that it will be strong and sustainable. We need donors who will financially support this special community project. The funds that we receive will be applied to the project's administration.

If you would you like to donate to the Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Project, you can call the Community Foundation at 239-274-5900, or you can give safely and securely online through our special Click & Pledge page.