Learning Cluster Members

In 1998, seven microenterprise organizations were selected by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to receive grants as part of a multi-year demonstration project designed to test innovative methods for helping low-income entrepreneurs market their goods and services. A learning cluster was created around that issue involving the seven grantees, plus two additional organizations that receive Mott support – RainKist in Washington and ACEnet in Ohio.

The nine projects in the learning cluster were:

ACCION Texas and Mexican American Unity Council, Inc. (MAUC)
San Antonio, Texas
This project, a collaboration between MAUC and ACCION Texas and by the latter, offered individualized marketing assistance and marketing loans on demand. The project served mostly Latino entrepreneurs operating existing microbusinesses and seeking ways to expand. The innovation embedded in this project centered on the potential scale of a statewide microfinance program (ACCION Texas) offering non-financial business development services to its clients.

Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet)
Athens, Ohio
ACEnet's Food Ventures program assisted microentrepreneurs to compete in the rapidly growing specialty and natural food sectors through a range of industry-specific services, including individualized and in-depth product development and market promotion services. ACEnet develops firm capacity primarily with individual technical assistance related to market research, product development, processing techniques, pricing, access to supplies, packaging and market planning. ACEnet introduces client businesses to retail outlets that could become customers and supports a "buy local" campaign centered on the media and building partnerships with community leaders who organize events and build awareness through ordinary community work. The innovation of the ACEnet project was the organization's intensive focus on one industry and its related ability to provide value-added market knowledge and expansion opportunities.

Mountain Microenterprise Fund
Asheville, N.C.
This project looked at how to offer individual microentrepreneurs, primarily fine artisans, the specialized training and marketing support needed to develop larger and more sophisticated marketing capacity over time. A regional "buy local" campaign was created and a retail outlet was planned with the overall goal of linking low-income microentrepreneurs to bigger, more lucrative markets. The innovation with the MMF project was in its focus on the fine arts and crafts industry and in its plan to test multiple methods, including using sales representatives, trade shows, a Web mall, a retail outlet, a training program and a "buy local" campaign.

Neighborhood Development Center, Inc. (NDC)
St. Paul, Minn.
This project piloted multiple strategies for marketing goods and services in units as a way to link them to a broader customer base of a specialized "niche market." Cluster marketing (the promotion of businesses targeting a similar customer base through direct mail, telemarketing, sales calls and referrals) arranged service-based microbusinesses into units according to the types of services being offered. Cluster marketing allows microentrepreneurs to team up with others doing similar work and thereby broaden the array of products or services they can offer. The Mercado Marketing strategy was based on the clustering of NDC entrepreneurs in a physical destination for tourists and the Latino community in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Appalmade, a Project of People, Incorporated of Southwest Virginia
Abingdon, Va.
This project was based on the prior development of a marketing initiative called "Appalmade," which designed, coordinated and promoted a line of handmade gifts and accessories produced by low-income Appalachian crafters. Appalmade's ATM innovation was to expand its marketing strategy by utilizing a network marketing/fundraising scheme in partnership with faith-based organizations, such as churches and religious youth organizations.

Philadelphia Development Partnership (PDP)
Philadelphia, Pa.
This project, based on Michael Porter's theories of inner-city competitiveness, was designed to test the feasibility of positioning microentrepreneurs as business-to-business suppliers to the midsize corporate market. PDP linked microentrepreneurs to the midsized corporate market by negotiating subcontracts for and offering intensive technical assistance to microentrepreneurs. Ultimately, PDP focused on negotiating subcontracts for and offering intensive technical assistance and training to microentrepreneurs who would serve the small and medium business market.

RainKist, a project of Shorebank Enterprise Pacific
Willapa Bay, Wash.
RainKist was the brand name and company created by Shorebank Enterprise Pacific. RainKist bought specialty timber forest products from microentrepreneurs who had been trained by Shorebank Enterprise Pacific to use sustainable harvesting practices. RainKist sold these high-end gift products to individuals in the green consumer market. The innovation represented by the RainKist project was in its vision to develop a supply chain that would hold special appeal for the high-end green consumer market.

Women's Economic Self-Sufficiency Team Corp (WESST Corp)
Taos, N.M.
This project offered rural entrepreneurs opportunities to increase sales by providing access to the retail, public and wholesale sectors in New Mexico. Screening, intensive training and access to market services, such as product assessments, product promotion and e-commerce were offered to WESST's mostly artisan entrepreneurs. The WESST innovation was in the combination of its client screening process, its "Fear of Success" sales and marketing training program and its concrete door-opening strategies that allowed microentrepreneurs access to a range of not-for-profit and for-profit retail outlets.

Women's Self-Employment Project (WSEP)
Chicago, Ill.
This project was designed to cluster entrepreneurs by industry to increase peer support and collective problem-solving for businesses experiencing industry-related barriers to entry. The program developed a focus on specialty food products and on the apparel industry. The innovation was the combination of using industry experts, industry-specific workshops, relationship building and a planned e-commerce strategy to increase microentrepreneurs' access to distribution channels.