Pomona to Offer Loans to Female Entrepreneurs

Members of Pomona’s business community are developing a fund for women who want to start their own businesses.

The Pomona Inland Valley Micro-Enterprise Loan Fund will provide seed money to women who want to run a small enterprise, known as a microbusiness, but cannot afford the start-up costs.

“We don’t look at bank statements or do credit checks,” said Beverly Griffin-D’Errico, a Micro-Enterprise board member, of potential borrowers. “We look at the worthiness of a person’s idea.”

For instance, if a woman wants to start a day-care center at home but does not have the money to buy the license or do small-scale advertising, she would be able to turn to the fund for help.

Recipients will receive loans of between $500 and $1,000; they will be expected to pay them back once their businesses make a profit. Similar arrangements have been successful in Pasadena and even in Bangladesh. The Coalition for Women and Economic Development in Pasadena has reported return rates from borrowers of close to 100%.

The Pomona fund will issue its first loan when it has collected $5,000 in donations.