American Express

As one of the leading credit card companies in today's economic world, American Express has rightfully earned its place as one of the greater companies of our time. By, looking at the bigger picture, American Express Small Business Services wanted to focus on tackling the challenge of finding a way to generate long-term growth. In light of the new developments they saw opportunity and deemed it necessary to create a long-term commitment to the community through economic development. Executives of American Express felt that this would be an amazing opportunity to assist low to moderate income individuals and families in gaining assets, as well as generating continuous capital for company; thus, making this a pleasing situation for everyone involved.

In 2001, American Express started the Community Business program. The programs function was to provide a new source of funding for individuals with little to no access to credit and other resources needed to start and grow their small business. The main focal point would be on the small business community, or micro-enterprises. A micro-enterprise would be considered a small business that employs less than five employees and has capital needs of less than $35,000 per year. The program would enable current small business owners interested in helping the micro-enterprise community prosper. Upon complete agreement with all terms and conditions of the Community Business Card, American Express contributes one percent of the card holder's spending to select development organizations that provide loans and assistance to micro-enterprise business owners. The good thing about this feature is that it is of no extra cost to the cardholder. Micro-enterprise development has received increasing attention throughout the world. A large segment of micro-enterprise is comprised of ethnic and racial minorities, women, and other groups that have struggled to launch commercial ventures. Micro-enterprise development has emerged as a promising strategy to promote economic development through the engine of small business creation. Micro-enterprise development strategies typically focus on providing investment capital through relatively modest low-interest loans or equity investments. While the total value of the investment appears small, it makes the difference for a small business entrepreneur without the personal means to build his or her own business.

The main target groups would be well established small business owners. Through their continued support of the program it would provide more funds for new small business owners. Through extensive research they found