. September 29, 2010
Minority & Small Business Week
Page 23
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photo by D rew R afaella
D akessian /T he P ortland O bserver
Cobbler Julie Derrick started her own JD ’s Shoe Repair business
at North Vancouver and Fremont Street thanks to a micro-loan
used to upgrade her shop from a local non-profit organization.
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Non-profits offer micro-loans
by
■
■
dwell, (dwel) -verb.
To reside, live within or inhabit, to call home.
D rew R afaella D akessian /T he P ortland O bserver
‘ ' J-'
In Novem ber 2009, Julie
Derrick, a local cobbler, started
her own business, JD ’s Shoe
Repair, in what she thought
would be ideal space on North
V ancouver Avenue and Fre­
mont Street.
But the building left som e­
thing to be desired.
Because the space was once
a gas station, it suffered from
poor lighting, and she found her­
self straining her eyes while per­
forming vision-intensive work.
Having no spare capital, she
reached out to M icro Enter­
prise Services o f Oregon, a
northeast Portland non-profit
group that formerly was associ­
ated with the Black United Fund.
The organization awarded
Derrick a micro-loan, a rela­
tively small loan to upgrade her
shop and give her business a
boost.
Micro-loans are typically of
u n d e r $ 3 5 ,0 0 0 and are
awarded to business owners
who need a little capital to start
a business, stay afloat or need
some capital to grow.
M icro-lending is often an
economic development tool in
developing nations where citi­
zens are highly impoverished,
but it also helps em pow er
continued
on page 29
T '
Chris Guinn III
Principal Broker, Owner
^62 : cgiii65@aol.con>
, •