A microfinance institution run by University of Mary Washington students will expand in December by offering grants and training to entrepreneurs in the El Progreso community of Honduras.
La Ceiba MFI, created by UMW students to lift entrepreneurial-minded Hondurans from poverty, is initiating its first-ever business plan competition at the end of the fall semester. The competition will allow El Progreso residents to submit business ideas to La Ceiba. Established entrepreneurs will be eligible for business grants, while aspiring entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to take financial literacy and business development courses to help advance business plans.
Previously, La Ceiba has supported businesswomen in the Honduran communities Villa Soleada, Las Brias and Siete de Abril by providing microloans. In 2009, the UMW Bookstore began selling eco-friendly clutches, earrings and other items made by Honduran artisans to support Esfuerzo de Amor, an employment program operated by La Ceiba in cooperation with Students Helping Honduras (SHH). So far, more than $7,000 has been raised from the sales. The majority of the proceeds helps support the artisans and their families, while the remainder helps finance the microloans of the organization.
As part of the business plan competition, a panel of El Progreso businesspeople will judge the submissions. Loans will go to entrepreneurs selected based on critieria being developed by UMW students in consultation with El Progreso bank officials and businesspeople.
Political and civic leaders in El Progreso have been asked to find mentors among local business people willing to work with the entrepreneurs. The UMW students will devise the educational modules and will teach the lessons with the assistance of a Honduran loan officer.
La Ceiba was founded at the UMW in 2008 by Associate Professor of Economics Shawn Humphrey and partners with SHH, which formed at UMW to help the poor in Siete de Abril.
Through microloans and educational support, La Ceiba strives to develop the economy and improve living conditions for those in poverty in Honduras. For more information about La Ceiba and the business plan competition, visit www.laceibamfi.org.