Berkeley Planning Journal

Since the introduction of the first U.S. microenterprise1 program in 1983, more than 100 have been started. They exist in both rural and urban settings, target diverse populations, and maintain different criteria for lending. Their single common denominator is that they all serve as "lenders of last resort" (Mclenighan and Pogge 1991), providing credit to people who want to be self-employed but who cannot obtain credit through traditional channels.