Nobel Prize-Winner brings finance model to Queens

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With the snip of a ribbon, Dr. Muhammad Yunus officially opened the modest two-room office of Grameen America in Jackson Heights, Queens, bringing his micro-finance model from rural Bangladesh to urban America.

"You are the banking capital of the world," said Yunus. "You serve the whole world to the banking service, but you don't serve your neighbor."

In 1976, Dr. Yunus developed the idea of giving small, low-interest loans to the poor to start businesses in his native Bangladesh. Thirty years later, he and his Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize.

To date, the bank, which receives the bulk of its money from grants and donations, says it has more than seven million borrowers, mostly women and a 99 percent repayment rate. With these numbers, Dr Yunus says he was ready to launch Grameen America here in Queens last fall.

"We are confident that we can do it and we are taking the risk and that is why we have to be on our toes all the time," he said.

Nearly 200 Queens women have signed up with Grameen America. Qualified applicants interested in getting a no-money-down loan must team up with several others to form a group. Each borrower has to pay the principal and interest on their loan and is required to put some money away in savings.

"If any of them fall behind, then the other members can't get new loans," said Vidar Jorgensen, president of Grameen America. "So there is a lot if incentive for everybody to succeed. It still is individual responsibility, but there is a lot of group incentive and they work with each other. They support each other."

Grameen America says its borrowers, on average, take out $2,800 loans and have yet to miss a payment. All amounts have a 15 percent interest applied to a declining balance.

Yolanda Tutt took out $3,000 to start a gift basket business.

"My credit right now is just being established," she said. "And I can't really get credit. I really can't get support from the banks, so Grameen America has made me, has afforded me the opportunity to be able to get the money that I need to really start my business."

Grameen America serves 14 neighborhoods in Queens. If the program is successful here, it plans to go national.

"We'd like to see at least 1,000 borrowers' experiences first, to see all kinds of experiences coming into our system, so that we can handle them," said Yunus. "We can feel comfortable with them. Then we can start responding to other cities which are inviting us."

Lenders said they feel if they can make it here, they stand a chance of making it anywhere.