The city of Rochester is taking steps to help local entrepreneurs get their businesses started and along with that, give an economic boost to the community.
The program utilizes a worldwide crowd funding effort called Kiva, and it relies on people all over the world, who lend money to startup businesses through the Internet.
Mayor Lovely Warren says the idea is to offer small loans, so-called "micro-loans," the kinds of loans that budding entrepreneurs otherwise would have difficulty getting from traditional banking methods.
The loans can range anywhere from $25 to $10,000, and there will be $100,000 in matching money through the Rochester Economic Development Corporation. The announcement was made at the Coffee Connection's Greenhouse Cafe on East Main Street. That company received help through Kiva.
The Rochester Area Community Foundation is also a partner in the effort, and vice president Hank Rubin says this kind of entrepreneurial effort is what's needed to help pull people out of poverty.
“If we’re really trying to build families and neighborhoods and communities, we have to find ways to put the money into where the money converts into job creation and healthy communities,” Rubin told WXXI News.
The new Kiva program will include a full-time coordinator at City Hall, and officials say it will also allow area residents to support local businesses by lending money to entrepreneurs.
