Stats & Stories

This section of the FIELD Web site provides some basic information about microenterprise development in the United States.

Fast Facts provides some key statistics on microenterprise programs in the United States and the individuals they serve – drawn from FIELD’s research. Discover microenterprise client characteristics, how they benefit from microenterprise program services, and some basic facts about the scope, costs and effectiveness of microenterprise services.

Entrepreneur Profiles highlights the stories of some entrepreneurs who have benefited from microenterprise program services.  Learn about their ventures and the challenges they have overcome while seeking to become business owners.

Mother of Invention …
If Cindy Twomey had given birth to a boy instead of a girl, she might never have started No Slippy Hair Clippy™, the business she founded in 2000 in Pleasanton, Calif. But a series of "bad hair days" involving her 10-month-old baby led her to develop a barrette that would stay put in baby fine hair. Today her fancy hair clips, which come in a vast array of styles and colors, are available from hundreds of upscale retailers nationwide. Find out how this former welfare recipient took a simple product and created a business that is now moving along at a good clip.