Oftentimes it’s a lot less visible.
Based on the West Side of Chicago, Accion Serving Illinois and Indiana is a revolving loan fund for small businesses. It primarily makes microloans defined as small business loans of $50,000 or less to borrowers who otherwise may only have access to predatory lenders. Its average loan size is $8,000. Nearly 40 percent of its clients are Black, more than 20 percent are Latino, and three-quarters are low-to-moderate income.
Around the fifteenth of every month, the team at Accion compiles their monthly financial report, and when it does it also looks at its forecast for the next three months of loan demand. If they don’t have enough liquid cash to cover that, they might have to to borrow more a painstaking process even for them, and it can take a month or longer. They might already be at their borrowing limit, which is based on the overall size of the fund. Another option is to sell some loans out of their portfolio, the way housing lend
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt susie: good evening, everyone. mixed signs today about the mind-set of consumer. they re spending a bit more, but tom, they are still uneasy about the economy. tom: that s right, susie. we saw conflicting reports today. retail sales for december rose six-tenths of percent the biggest annual gain since 1999. but, a measure of consumer sentiment took a unexpected dip in january. susie: so are consumer attitudes changing when it comes to money. suzanne pratt gets some answers. reporter: since the great recession americans have gotten a lot more familiar with these little guys. that s because we re saving more, spending less and paying down debt. barbara whitehead, director of the templeton center for thrift and generosity, says our rediscovered frugality is here to stay. just even in a cultural way, it s a shift. it s a sort of change of pa
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt susie: good evening, everyone. mixed signs today about the mind-set of consumer. they re spending a bit more, but tom, they are still uneasy about the economy. tom: that s right, susie. we saw conflicting reports today. retail sales for december rose six-tenths of percent the biggest annual gain since 1999. but, a measure of consumer sentiment took a unexpected dip in january. susie: so are consumer attitudes changing when it comes to money. suzanne pratt gets some answers. reporter: since the great recession americans have gotten a lot more familiar with these little guys. that s because we re saving more, spending less and paying down debt. barbara whitehead, director of the templeton center for thrift and generosity, says our rediscovered frugality is here to stay. just even in a cultural way, it s a shift. it s a sort of change of pa
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt susie: good evening, everyone. mixed signs today about the mind-set of consumer. they re spending a bit more, but tom, they are still uneasy about the economy. tom: that s right, susie. we saw conflicting reports today. retail sales for december rose six-tenths of percent the biggest annual gain since 1999. but, a measure of consumer sentiment took a unexpected dip in january. susie: so are consumer attitudes changing when it comes to money. suzanne pratt gets some answers. reporter: since the great recession americans have gotten a lot more familiar with these little guys. that s because we re saving more, spending less and paying down debt. barbara whitehead, director of the templeton center for thrift and generosity, says our rediscovered frugality is here to stay. just even in a cultural way, it s a shift. it s a sort of change of pa