Skip to main content
brightcove-3741259499001.jpg
Back to Show
SoCal Connected

Microloans Keep L.A. Entrepreneurs Happy

Every once in a while, small business owners need a helping hand to get their business up and running. That's where Kiva comes in.

Kiva is an internationally-acclaimed nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting struggling entrepreneurs with microloans to help grow and maintain their small businesses.

Since 2005, Kiva has helped distribute millions of dollars in needy countries with the assistance of key lenders and microfinance institutions. In 2012, it expanded its global mission by connecting potential lenders with entrepreneurs in Los Angeles.

Maria Ramirez, a small business owner of a party store in San Fernando, recalls being forced to borrow money from shady owners at a high interest. To add to the stress, Ramirez couldn't qualify for a regular bank loan because her credit was unhealthy. Kiva has helped Ramirez and countless other L.A. entrepreneurs rebuild and maintain their small businesses with microloans starting as little as $500 to $10,000.

In this 2012 "SoCal Connected" story, Jennifer London speaks with entrepreneurs and microloan experts to find out more about the struggles and triumphs of maintaining and growing a small business.

Featuring Interviews With:

  • Roberto Barragan, president, V.E.D.C.
  • Maria Ramirez, small business owner
  • Kareem Janey, small business owner
  • Jacqueline Sharp, small business owner
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Season
Pharmacy counter in Los Angeles
25:42
A look at the profiteering behind two of America's fastest growing diseases affecting millions of Californians.
la county districts
25:30
"SoCal Connected" profiles how some local governments have used political borders to dilute minorities' power, and what is being done about it.
Out Of Bounds Still
27:17
One of the nation's top high school athletes was on a path to the NFL, but instead became the poster child for what's wrong with L.A.'s mental Health system.
News Blues - LA News
27:34
The LA Times may have found its savior in Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, but how will the other local newsrooms in LA be rescued?
The People Vs. Kiera Newsome
27:10
One woman strives to prove her innocence from behind bars.
30 Years with Val Zavala
26:59
This half-hour retrospective reviews Zavala's role in covering some of the region's most critical events and key influencers.
Hands of an Undocumented Immigrant
26:59
A look at the spike in the number of employers retaliating against undocumented workers when they complain of stolen wages. What is the legal loophole that transforms neighborhoods and gets developments built without consent from the community?
A Worker At Cisco Pinedo's Furniture Business
27:59
With the rise of the super-temp, comes the increase income inequality. What happens when half the workforce are gig workers? SoCal Connected follows an Uber driver who lost his job and is struggling to support his family as an independent contractor. Ho
'Who Approved That?,' 'Super Soil,' and 'Oil Activist'
27:50
SoCal Connected takes a deep dive into L.A.'s housing, the idyllic Apricot Farms and the Los Angeles teenager who took on the oil industry, city hall and the Catholic Church to curb urban oil drilling in her neighborhood - and won.
'Maybe Babies' and 'Patagonia's Workplace Paradise'
25:45
Nearly a million frozen embryos are stored in labs across the nation.
Man Looks at Housing Development in his Backyard in Westchester
28:29
As new developments pop up all over L.A., many are asking, 'Who approved that?'
Bail Screen Grab
26:59
The price of freedom for some in the L.A. County Jail system is simply to high a cost. As much as a quarter of the 17,000 in LA's jails are there simply because they cannot make bail. Condors were close to extinction when officials took an aggressive appr
Active loading indicator