Founded in 2005, Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon (MESO) set out on a mission to serve nontraditional entrepreneurs. Co-founders, Nita Shah and Sanford Maddox, focused their efforts on low-income, minority, women head of household, and immigrant/refugee owned micro businesses in Northeast Portland. To achieve its goal, MESO provides its clients with one-on-one counseling, marketing research, and access to Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), that offer clients 3-1 match savings.
In 2011, the USDA provided MESO with a grant to start a pilot program in St. Helens. Area entrepreneurs faced challenges such as bringing their products to market, lack of community support in purchasing from local businesses, lack of services and resources to access capital, and lack of accessible small business services. In one year, MESO placed $51,000 in IDA funds and $33,500 in financing, as well as conducted 14 business trainings, financial literacy, and orientation sessions. The following year, the City of Beaverton approached MESO and launched a pilot program. Their program served 20 clients, placed $75,000 in IDA funds and $21,000 in loan funds, and conducted nine orientations and seminars, all within the span of six months.
Following the success of the pilot programs, others in Columbia and Washington County started looking to MESO for help. To serve them, MESO needed additional funding. They applied for a grant from The Collins Foundation in 2013 and were awarded $40,000 over two years for project development and staffing to provide services and access to capital. Now, MESO is able to serve 200-250 low-income, nontraditional entrepreneurs in Washington and Columbia County. “It’s allowed us to help people from surrounding areas that were not getting served before,” says Shah. “It has also helped the county people realize the importance of serving small businesses, because we now have data to show them this is how many people are coming for assistance.”
With the Collins grant, MESO expanded its staff to 13. There are now offices in Beaverton and St. Helens to reduce clients’ travel expenses. The St. Helens office has one full-time employee plus Portland staffers who make regular trips to the area. Beaverton has three to four employees on hand at any given time. Depending on what expertise is needed, MESO rotates its staff to fit its clients’ needs.“Every business needs help and every person needs help,” says Shah. “We try our best to get them the help they need. Either it’s through MESO or we’ll find them the resources they need to connect with.”
Entrepreneurs like Heather Clark can attest to the benefits. The St. Helens seamstress owns Alterations by Heather. Since connecting with MESO in 2012, she’s expanded her business from a 450 square foot space to her current 1,200 square foot location—a location she’s outgrowing. Before MESO, she had no employees. Now she has four, all of whom she’s training to start their own businesses. In addition, she’s planning on opening a sewing school so other community members can become skilled professionals. Clark credits MESO, especially Maddox, for spearheading her expansion. “Having somebody like that—they were just able to confirm and give me direction, check numbers, make sure I was making good decisions, and just make sure I was doing the right things financially,” she says. “I could relate to him because I knew what he was doing. He already went through it versus some random stranger off the street trying to give me advice.”
Authored by Bruce Poinsette