CIE

The Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship (CIE) is a Seattle-based microenterprise development program offering accessible first step training and support empowering low-resource and low-income individuals in underserved Northwest communities to move out of poverty and become leaders in building resilient, sustainable, and equitably shared community wealth through entrepreneurship and grow-ready businesses. CIE was launched in April 2013 and has since become an established, trusted, and growing contributor to microenterprise development in the region. CIE programs focus on low-income individuals in underserved communities primarily in the Puget Sound area with a growing presence in coastal communities on the Olympic Peninsula. CIE defines low-income as household income that is at or below 80% of the area mean income. We presume as underserved ESL immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities, and people in transition (such as the formerly incarcerated, returning vets, and people living in domestic violence or other transitional housing shelters). Over two-thirds of our participants make less than 50% of the area median income (very low income), and half make less than 30% of the area median income (extremely low income). Over two-thirds of our participants are people of color and over half are women. Over 20% of our participants are first generation ESL immigrants. Through our trainings, technical assistance, and special initiatives, CIE has contributed to the journeys of nearly 800 emerging entrepreneurs. Over 350 people have participated in our First Step course. So far, CIE participants have launched, strengthened, expanded, or financed over 80 businesses. Each $100,000 invested in CIE allows us to serve 100 individuals over the course of a year. In our experience, about one of every ten people we serve will launch a new business ready to grow within a year of enrollment. A conservative estimate shows that each of these businesses will generate an average of $50,000 in annual revenue, often for many years. This means that, for every 100 people we serve in a year, 10 new businesses will generate an aggregate of $500,000 in the local economy – per year.  With a multiplier of 1.6 for revenue generated by a local business, this translates to an annual positive impact of $800,000 in the local economy, an 8x annual ROI, often over the course of many years. Very few social interventions produce the economic impact of microenterprise development, and very few microenterprise development organizations are as efficient as CIE in leveraging their limited resources.