Microlender Makes Macro Impact

Jackson Heights, long a magnet for immigrants starting businesses, has attracted an innovative bank dedicated to helping new ventures with small loans.

The neighborhood, filled with shops and cafes run by immigrants from India, Bangladesh, Colombia and Mexico, was chosen last year as the first location of the U.S. office of Grameen Bank.

Grameen is a microfinance organization that began in Bangladesh in 1983. Since then, Grameen has lent money to millions of poor people around the world, helping them build businesses that improve their standard of living. Grameen’s founder, Muhammad Yunus, won the Nobel Prize for his work in 2006.