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Small loans having big impact on local businesses

Financial crisis leading to an increased demand on microlenders for start-up capital

In the community acupuncture room at Bu Tong Clinic, patients wait in silence away from the bustle of traffic and hawkers on Mission Street. The clinic owner, Julie Baumhofer, has seen her clientele grow as word about her low-fee acupuncture treatment continues to spread.

The clinic wouldn’t have happened without a microlender.

“If they didn’t do what they do, I wouldn’t be here now,” she says. “You don’t have to be born rich and know the right people, and you can be a business owner.”