SUMMARIES OF JOLI PROJECTS
FY 1992
1. Jobs for Unemployed Maine Parents (JUMP) in Wiscasset, Maine, is operated by Coastal Enterprises, Inc., (CEI), a nonprofit community organization. Ronald Phillips is President of CEI; Kathleen Kearney is Project Director. Project JUMP seeks to improve the coordination of skill training and job placement and the quality of jobs available. It will create 100 jobs for unemployed AFDC recipients; 70 through targeted employment and 30 in self-employment. CEI will intervene through three tracks: Business Development, Targeted Employment, and Self-Employment. The Business Development Tract will involve the creation of a $1.4 million loan pool to finance businesses that create jobs for Project JUMP participants involved in the Targeted Employment Track. The Targeted Employment Tract will provide Project JUMP participants with workforce literacy training, individualized skills training, and job placement in the CEI financed firms. Over the three-year project period, 70 participants will complete the work force literacy training and/or the skills training and will be placed in quality jobs. The Self-Employment Track will provide Project JUMP participants interested in self-employment with entrepreneurial skills training, one-on-one business counseling, individualized skills training, and self-employment loans. Participants in the self-employment track who decide not to pursue self-employment will be referred to the Targeted Employment Track. Based on the grant of $500,000, the cost for each of the 100 jobs or businesses started will be $5,000. This project will be evaluated by Charles Morris.
2. Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE) in Los Angeles, California, is a nonprofit organization that provides social services and community economic development activities. Kerry Doi is the Executive Director and Tim Maschler is the Project Director. For the JOLI demonstration project, PACE has developed the Entrepreneur and Business Development Center (EBDC) to target low-income and unemployed individuals in the community who have had entrepreneurial experience, possibly overseas, or who are interested in becoming small business owners. PACE will hold 11 five-week training sessions which will incorporate classroom training in basic accounting/bookkeeping, taxes, permits and zoning, buying, and merchandising. In addition, training will include an apprenticeship program that will allow trainees to experience businesses similar to those they are considering, a loan packaging assistance program, access to capital, and on-going technical assistance. Over the three-year project period, the PACE program expects to create 100 jobs for low-income and unemployed individuals through the creation of 50 small businesses, each of which will hire at least one employee. The cost per successful business start is $4,926. PACE's OCS grant is for $492,600. Carol Gallant will be the third-party evaluator for this project.
3. Partnership for Low-Income Urban Self-Employment (PLUS) is operated by the Center for Community Self-Help (CCSH), a nonprofit organization based in Durham, North Carolina. Martin Eakes is the Executive Director and Katherine McKee and Brian Hassel are the Project Directors. The PLUS program will offer low-income individuals a comprehensive self-employment training program at three project sites (Durham, Charlotte, and Asheville, NC). In each site, well established institutions are already involved in delivering small business training and one-on-one consulting assistance to program participants. In Durham, the program staff, working with the community college-based Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC), have provided input in small business development and training. In Asheville, the training program also was developed with assistance from the SBTDC. The PLUS program will extend these offerings to low-income people who join the program. Since the project relies on local organizations, the specific design will vary from community to community. Key aspects of the program include outreach to potential participants, business training, formation of "peer borrower groups," access to loans, ongoing business technical assistance, and assistance with support services and business-related issues. In conjunction with the Self-Help Credit Union and the Self-Help Ventures fund, PLUS will provide loans of up to $500 for graduates of the training program. As participants repay loans, they will become eligible for larger loans, up to $5,000. The PLUS program expects to create a total of 110 new businesses over the three-year grant period. The cost per successful business start will be $4,404 under the OCS project grant of $484,444. Betty Mosley will be the third-party evaluator.
4. Micro Industry Credit Rural Organization (MICRO) in Tucson, Arizona, is operated by PEPP Housing Development Corporation (PHDC), a nonprofit agency. The agency's Chief Executive Officer is Dr. John Arnold and the Executive Director of MICRO is Frank Ballesteros; John Newsom is the JOLI Coordinator. The MICRO program has administered a revolving loan fund which provides business loans to low- and moderate-income families for micro-business development since 1987. MICRO/JOLI will focus on providing self-employment opportunities to 800 low-income persons through a comprehensive program of assessment, entrepreneurship training programs using two separate curriculums entitled "Beyond a Dream" and "PACE," start-up assistance, one-on-one mentoring, business-related loans, and referrals to additional technical assistance. The training (which will be bilingual) will assist participants in developing personal plans of action, conducting self-employment assessments, determining their potential as entrepreneurs, understanding the nature of a small business, and developing business plans. A system of gradually scaled-up loans will be established to assist participants in becoming eligible for the existing MICRO program, through which they can receive larger, commercially-oriented loans, and more extensive credit and technical assistance. Over the three-year project period, MICRO expects to create at least 100 new businesses at a cost of $5,000 per business start. The grant amount is $499,710. The evaluation will be conducted by Lay Gibson.
5. Women's Business Initiative (WBI) in Chicago, Illinois, is operated by the Women's Self-Employment Project (WSEP), a nonprofit organization that specializes in micro-enterprise development and self-employment for low-income women. The Executive Director is Connie Evans and the Project Director is Lynette Boone. The WBI project will assist low- and moderate-income women in increasing their economic self-sufficiency through self-employment and micro-enterprise development. Over the 36-month period of the project, WBI plans to recruit 150 women to the program, 111 of whom will complete training. Of the 111 who complete training, 66 are expected to start businesses through self-employment and 45 are expected to seek wage employment, at a cost per successful business start or employment of $4,504. WSEP's business development services will include an orientation session that emphasizes the skills, risks, and commitment required for self-employment. "Idea" workshops will be open for participants who attend the orientation and are interested but are not yet ready to enroll in training. During the 12-week training program, women will participate in small peer groups of 15-20 led by staff facilitators. Each participant will be assisted in the development of a "self-employment action plan," covering the basic components of a business plan including the steps necessary for business start-up. Marketing, production, management, financial, and contingency action plans will be developed as part of the core training package. WSEP offers two loan programs with different methods of access to individuals who have completed the entrepreneurial training: the Micro Loan program and Full Circle Loan Fund. Micro loans will be made available to participants who have completed the entrepreneurial training and a self-employment action plan, and who are ready for business start-up or expansion. Until Micro Loans are paid in full, the borrower must participate in a WSEP borrowers group. Full Circle Loans will be made available to participants who are, or plan to be, self-employed and are members of a recognized "circle" which has five members each with their own business. The OCS project grant is $500,000. The program will be evaluated by Michael Bennett.
6. Central Maine Indian Development Corporation (CDC) in Brewer, Maine, is operated by the Central Maine Indian Association (CIMA), a nonprofit community development corporation. The Executive Director is Terry Polchies and Claire Bolduc is Project Director. The CDC will seek to develop jobs by expanding a Native-owned plumbing and heating business, developing traditional artisans into self-sufficient entrepreneurs, preparing a corps of home health care specialists, and developing a Native American day care center with fully trained indigenous staff. The training program will incorporate diversified interventions to fit the literacy experience, language, and knowledge of the participants. The training will include academic education to create and enhance literacy; mentoring systems to provide daily support for the prospective entrepreneur, assistance in preparation of business plans, loan applications, and other financial and fiscal documents; and continuous assessment of the enterprise by a team of technical specialists. The CDC project also includes the establishment of a small revolving loan fund and a case management approach that is sensitive to the cultural needs of the proposed participants. Thirty-one individuals are expected achieve self-sufficiency, be placed in jobs, or expand their current businesses within the three-year project period. The grant awarded was $333,274 and the cost per individual achieving self-sufficiency, job placement, or business expansion is $10,750. The evaluation will be conducted by Tina Farrenkopf.
7. Entrepreneur Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals is operated by the Panhandle Area Council (PAC), a private, nonprofit community and economic development organization in Hayden, Idaho. The Executive Director and Project Director is Jim Deffenbaugh. The program is designed to expand current PAC activities to low-income individuals by increasing job opportunities in the rural panhandle of Idaho by encouraging new businesses and assisting in the retention of existing businesses. The six-month entrepreneurship program (using the PACE curriculum) will include mentoring, intensive training and counseling, financial support, peer support, and small loans available after completion of training with larger amounts available upon successful payback. The program expects to graduate 32 qualified individuals from the training program in the first year. Of these, 24 are expected to form a business within one year, and 15 are expected to remain in business after one year. Those who do not start a business or whose businesses fail will be moved into the job market. The grant awarded is $496,513. The project is expected to create 138 jobs over the three-year grant period. This includes 32 graduates per year who will start their own businesses, and assumes seven of those business also will hire two employees, for a total of 46 new jobs each year. The cost per resulting business or job placement is $3,607. If only those with successful businesses are counted, 87 new jobs will be produced over the three-year grant period. The evaluation will be conducted by Steven Fendos.
8. Microenterprise Development Program (MED) is operated by the City Wide Development Corporation Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio. The President and Project Director is Steven Budd. The Project will replicate a self-employment program that has been successfully developed and implemented in Iowa by the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED). The MED program will provide training to 200 low-income citizens. The multi-step training program will include recruitment of local participants through already established social service contacts and informational/orientation meetings to describe the program and assist interested participants in assessing their business ideas. Following the informational workshop, anyone with continued interest will be invited to attend additional assessment and orientation sessions. Once a participant has been formally enrolled, business plans will be prepared during a 10-week training period which also will cover product-oriented training, integrating business plan preparation and self-esteem development, individual technical assistance, and access to business credit from commercial banks. Follow-up technical assistance will be available to each participant during the first year of operation. Over the three-year grant period, 60 participants are expected to start businesses. One third of the businesses will employ at least one person, making the cost per successful business start or job created $6,250. The total OCS grant to MED is $500,000. The evaluation will be conducted by Charles Kimbel.
9. Project Work is operated by the Human Development Corporation of Metropolitan St. Louis (HDC), a private, nonprofit organization in St. Louis, Missouri. Jill Goodman is the Executive Director and Janice Washington is the Project Director. Project Work will demonstrate and evaluate a model comprehensive and supportive business and personal development training system that assists low-income individuals toward economic self-sufficiency through self-employment, employment created by new enterprise development, and other employment. The project will target AFDC recipients, low-income unemployed adult males, the homeless, and public housing residents. Key interventions include intake and assessment of participants to collect baseline data that will serve as a foundation for the client's participation in the program; case management support services for 1-hour/week that includes social and family support, advocacy services, and linkages to child care; a structured 6-week introduction to self-employment; a 13-week entrepreneurial program and independent study of small business; start-up loan funds; individual and small group technical assistance; peer support groups; permanent work alternatives/job clubs; adult education/GED classes; and ongoing technical assistance for a minimum of one year after businesses have been opened by participants or new job placements have occurred. Individual sessions will assist participants through the development of a business plan, loan application, problem solving, and financial planning. At least 75 new businesses or new permanent full-time jobs for low-income individuals are expected to be created over the three-year grant period at a cost per job or business of $6,620. The grant amount is $496,513. The evaluation will be conducted by Liz Fale.
10. Mi Casa Resource Center for Women is a nonprofit community organization in Denver, Colorado. Dorothy Trujillo is the Executive Director and Elsa Holguin is the Project Director. The Mi Casa Resource Center for Women plans to provide business management skills training, individual consultation, access to capital, and ongoing technical assistance and networking to low-income and JOBS clients. Key interventions include recruitment and orientation of JOBS participants; assessment of participants' needs for child care, transportation, and other supportive services; provision of case management so that participants can maintain monthly contact with their case manager; business and management skills training involving a 2-week "Considering a Business" class and an 8-week "Start Smart" class; individual consultation on specific business issues with business consultants; access to capital through the Circle Loan Project of the Mi Casa Business Center; and technical assistance through bi-monthly seminars on business topics. Persons who do not qualify for the business management and skills training program will be referred for employment placement into Project QUEST, a job search, development, and placement program offered by Mi Casa. Over the three-year grant period, Mi Casa expects to start 60 new businesses and, through Project QUEST, place 120 participants in temporary or full-time jobs. The OCS grant totals $500,000, for a $2,228 cost per successful business start or job placement. Georgia Pappas, Latin American Research and Service Agency, will evaluate the project.