TRLA's microenterprise project recognized nationally by AEO
Texas Río Grande Legal Aid's Legal Assistance to Microenterprise Project was recently selected by the national trade association for microenterprise practitioners, the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, to be a member of a national Learning Cluster focused on rural policy and microenterprise development.
"We are delighted that the need for legal services for microentrepreneurs has caught the attention of AEO," said Diana Song, director of the Legal Assistance to Microenterprise Project. "With adequate legal counsel on the laws that affect small businesses, low-income people, women, minorities, and persons with disabilities can achieve the American dream of owning their own business. We help small business owners navigate the legal environment of business so that they in turn can contribute to the financial self-sufficiency of their communities. We are proud that our consistent leadership in rural microenterprise development has resulted in our selection as one of six programs AEO selected nationally to participate in the Rural Learning Cluster. We look forward to exchanging effective practices with some of this country's most innovative and effective microenterprise programs. Our findings will be distributed to AEO's national membership of over 460 microenterprise organizations. The dissemination of ideas through this national network will affect how microenterprise development agencies think of rural economic policies."
The Legal Assistance to Microenterprise Project (LAMP) recently hosted the first meeting of this Learning Cluster in Laredo , with members from different parts of the country attending a series of seminars and workshops.
LAMP is a community economic development program of Texas Río Grande Legal Aid (TRLA), the largest provider of free civil legal aid in the state, and third largest legal aid nonprofit agency nationally. TRLA provides free legal services to low-income and disadvantaged clients in a 68-county service area that covers the southwestern third of the state of Texas , including the entire Texas-Mexico border region.
The 68 counties include the cities of San Antonio , Austin , Victoria , Corpus Christi , Laredo , El Paso , and the Río Grande Valley . Recognizing the legal needs of clients interested in starting their own businesses, TRLA created LAMP in 2001 to offer clients one-on-one legal counseling on the laws that may affect new and existing businesses, including contracts, employment, partnership and corporation, and commercial landlord and tenant laws. To qualify for free civil legal services, TRLA clients must have an income at or below 125 percent of federal poverty guidelines.
"Microenterprise development programs are a highly effective approach to fighting poverty and lifting communities," said Bill Edwards, executive director of AEO. "Approximately 2-3 million people nationwide are improving their economic prospects through microenterprise businesses. Whether the business is the sole source of family income or a crucial supplement to family earnings, microenterprise development has put many low-income families on the road to self-sufficiency."
Facts About
Microenterprise
A microenterprise is defined as a business with five or fewer employees that requires less than $35,000 in start-up capital and does not have access to traditional business development services.
Microenterprise development programs assist these very small businesses by providing business training, technical assistance, access to credit, access to markets, economic literacy, and asset development.
An estimated 700 microenterprise development programs in the U.S. are creating jobs, generating income, building assets, and enhancing skills.
A significant proportion of assisted microentrepreneurs are individuals facing barriers presented by race, gender, ethnicity, income, job market fluctuations, or location.
Studies show that more than 70 percent of low-income entrepreneurs experience gains in their household income with an average increase of nearly $8,500 annually over five years. In addition, more than half of low-income microentrepreneurs have household income gains large enough to move above the poverty line.
For more information about the Legal Assistance to Microenterprise Project and local microenterprise development efforts, contact Diana Song at (956) 727-5191.
