May 6, 2020
Page 3
INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
The
Week in Review
page 2
Adam Cherkaoui, the owner of Taste of Casablanca, found himself shuttering his food cart to protect
his family and clients from the spread of COVID-19. He one of the small businesses served by Micro
Enterprises Services of Oregon (MESO), a nonprofit born out of the Black United Fund. With MESO’s
help he received a grant to help him support his family until he can reopen.
M ETRO
C ASCADE
C ONNECTIONS
O PINION
C LASSIFIED /B IDS
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Grassroots Lender on Front Lines
Nonprofit community resource pushes ahead
by M ichael l eighton
P ortland o bserver e ditor
A small business micro lender
born out of the Black United Fund
is building up its resources to help
firms survive financially during the
coronavirus pandemic.
Micro Enterprise Services of
Oregon’s (MESO) “40/60” loan
product is gearing up to help very
small businesses with flexible loans
to help them pay rent and other ex-
penses as public health stay at home
orders have locked out customers
and starved their businesses of cash
flow. Because the loans are meant to
be small, under $10,000 each, they
can help a lot of firms, according
to MESO Executive Director Nita
Shah.
The loan account will be backed
by contributions from foundations,
traditional banks and other donors.
Shah said her nonprofit is being
inundated with requests for help.
“These obstacles seem insur-
mountable right now, but I believe
and trust in what I have seen in the
past 15 years: MESO entrepreneurs
have the skills, grit and persever-
ance to not only survive the current
situation, but emerge stronger for
the experience,” she reported.
In an interview with the Portland
Observer, she described how the
coronavirus public health crisis has
brought “an alarming trajectory”
of financial need from the variety
of very small business owners her
nonprofit traditionally serves, like
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Felicia Wells-Thomas of the small businesses micro lender Micro
Enterprises Services of Oregon (MESO) gets a big hug from Ime
Etuk, a videographer and one of her clients who obtained services
from the nonprofit. The photo was taken several weeks ago before
the social distancing requirements of the coronavirus pandemic.
hair and nail salons, family-owned
markets and dry cleaners.
The micro lender normally sees
about 600 to 700 people a year, but
is now getting nearly a hundred
calls each week, she said
“There’s been small victories
but there’s also a lot hardship” Shah
said. “It’s what it is right now. Quite
devastating.”
Shah is quite optimistic, howev-
er, over the long run. She worked
at MESO through the 2008-2009
Great Recession, which had a very
bad impact for many local minority
businesses. But over time, she says
MESO saw great success in helping
small firms get a start or keep their
doors open.
“These are people with amazing
dreams, and we try to help them
make their dreams happen,” Shah
said.
Always based in northeast Port-
land since its beginnings in 2005,
MESO has offices on Martin Lu-
ther King Jr. Boulevard and Shaver
Street. It also has satellite offices in
Beaverton and Gresham’s Rock-
wood neighborhood. But now be-
cause of the state stay at home or-
ders, its 16 employees are getting
used to working from home, utiliz-
ing video conferencing and other
online tools to reach people.
Shah says her staff of is re-
sponding to twice the amount of
work during the current crisis and
“putting everything they can into
helping.” She is hopeful that small,
minority businesses can make a
rebound, especially based on what
happened after the last major eco-
nomic downturn.
c ontinued on P age 4