Local Entrepreneurs Question Effectiveness of Boro Pres's Fund

While Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has promised to bring “thousands of local businesses into the financial mainstream,” neighborhood entrepreneurs are dubious about the impact his proposed program will really have.

During his State of the Borough Address earlier this month, Stringer announced that his office would give a $100,000 grant to the nonprofit, microlending organization ACCION, which supports small businesses. ACCION New York and New Jersey, a branch of the larger international association, offers loans and advisory services to entrepreneurs and business owners who may not be able to access more traditional forms of credit.

But while many admire the program’s goals, doubts remain.

“It’s one of those things that sounds great, until you actually look into it a little deeper and then you realize it’s probably just another publicity stunt,” said Andy du Plessis, a 28-year-old businessman currently trying to set up a printing company in Harlem.

“$100,000 sounds like a lot, but when you think that that has to be spread over the whole of New York and New Jersey it suddenly doesn’t sound like such a large amount.”

Du Plessis added that because ACCION appears to focus more of its attention on Queens and the Bronx, he is unsure how much of the money will actually benefit people in this area.

Both the Borough President’s Office and ACCION have declined to comment on the donation, saying that they are currently discussing exactly how the money will be used, and that a formal announcement is forthcoming.

ACCION New York and New Jersey was established in 1991 as ACCION International’s first domestic affiliate. By lending small amounts of money and teaching business owners financial management, ACCION hopes to “provide entrepreneurs, many of whom are women and minorities, with the resources needed to build strong businesses, support their families, and contribute to the growth of their communities,” according to the organization’s Web site.

Of the 24 business owners and budding entrepreneurs Spectator surveyed, most had never heard of ACCION, but the few who had all felt that West Harlem was not an area of the organization’s top priority and that, as a result, the borough president’s grant would have little impact locally.

“I just can’t see people here benefitting,” said Han Jun, who currently works as a sales assistant but is trying to set up his own Chinese restaurant. Jun researched ACCION as one possible way of obtaining a loan.

Carlos Martinez agreed. He said that after speaking to friends in Queens and the Bronx who acquired loans through ACCION, he considered applying his own business. “I just don’t think they’ll be interested in me,” he said. “We’re not a priority area for ACCION and while there may be the odd local entrepreneur who does get lucky, for the most part we get overlooked and the money goes elsewhere.”

ACCION Communications Project Manager Laura Kozien declined to comment on Stringer’s donation.

sarah.lockwood@columbiaspectator.com.