Micro business, macro results

Lending to micro enterprises in the Third World got global attention when Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Price in 2006.

Today, Grameen Bank lends small amounts to millions of poor people in Bangladesh and many other developing countries to start their own businesses despite the fact that they're not considered creditworthy by traditional banks.

As the recent recession gripped Lee County during the real estate collapse, a group of business executives convened by the Southwest Florida Community Foundation decided to fund a micro-business startup program as a way to help people whose lives had been hurt by the financial disaster.