BATON ROUGE, La. -- To help businesses in the East Baton Rouge Parish, the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta /Hope Community Credit Union and ACCION USA have expanded their business microloan program.

The microloan program focuses on helping existing small businesses, which can be formal or informal, licensed or unlicensed, and based in homes, offices, storefronts or marketplaces, according to ECD/HOPE. Business owners are eligible for loans from $2,000 to $25,000, with terms from three to 60 months.

The microlending partnership has generated more than $250,000 in loans at an average of $8,000 per loan in the New Orleans area and along the Mississippi Coast. ECD/HOPE and ACCION USA both feel that the microloan program's success in New Orleans will continue in East Baton Rouge Parish.

"We have a clearly demonstrated need for microloans in our area," said Dennis Manshack, ECD/HOPE's vice president for commercial lending in Louisiana. "There is not anyone in the community who is originating this type of loan. These loans represent an opportunity for small business owners to successfully start and grow their business."

ACCION USA is a private, nonprofit organization that provides loans and other financial services to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs