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BoG sponsors women in biz, microcredit programs
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Posted on Mar 15 2006
HAGATNA, Guam—The Bank of Guam has committed to a three-year sponsorship with the Women in Business Program and the Pacific Islands Microcredit Institute under the auspices of the Pacific Islands Small Business Development Center at UOG.
The Women in Business program, established in 1999, aims to recognize and support, through counseling and training, women in business and women who want to form new small businesses. In late 2003, the program expanded to include the establishment of the Pacific Islands Microcredit Institute. Through training, establishment of peer groups, loans and mentoring, small loans are used to start micro enterprises, which in turn provide jobs and support to residents. Personal savings plans are also introduced as part of the training and counseling. The establishment of this microfinance institute was further solidified with the receipt of over $1 million in GOAL-AT and GGT grants to provide low interest small loans to people with disabilities.
The Bank of Guam commitment consists of providing mentoring, community outreach and an awareness campaign through its branch network, loan officers and marketing staff.
“The sponsorship by the Bank of Guam of these programs speaks to the Bank’s historic and continuing tradition of supporting the development of individuals seeking to start and sustain businesses, large and small,” said Lou Leon Guerrero, the bank’s chair and president.
“The founding of the Bank of Guam itself, is a larger example of groups of friends and families who pooled their funds to charter a local bank, and how that small organization financed itself to become the largest locally-owned financial organization in the western Pacific. We are proud to be able to lend our experience and commitment to promote the growth of women-owned and small businesses,” Leon Guerrero added. (PR)
