About NMI
In keeping with our mission statement, the purpose of NMI's primary programs is to engender individual economic self-sufficiency through fostering and supporting the development of microenterprises. Typically a microenterprise is a small business employing five or fewer people (including the owner) and requiring $35,000 or less in capital for start-up. Such businesses may be community or home-based and used as either a supplemental or sole source of income.
In Nevada, on average, approximately 16% of all private, non-farm employment is through microenterprises; in selected counties employment through microenterprises can be as high as 24% of all private employment. According to the most recent statistics, there are over 180,000 microenterprises in the State of Nevada and they constitute 87.77% of all Nevada businesses. NMI's objective is to provide these smallest of entrepreneurs with a comprehensive array of services designed to foster both successful start-ups and the long-term sustainability and success of their small businesses.
We believe that by assisting motivated individuals in establishing and building small businesses, we aid in the creation of assets that contribute not only to an enhanced livelihood for the individual and his or her family, but also to a stronger, more economically resilient and diverse community. Although our services are available to all individuals, we have, as an aspect of our mission statement, a particular commitment to low to moderate-income persons. We view asset creation as a critical component in moving individuals out of poverty towards economic self-sufficiency and a full life as contributing members of the larger community.
At a larger level, beyond service to our individual clients, we believe that NMI plays an important role in the overall economic development activities of the State. By fostering microenterprise development and by providing access to capital for those businesses that are unable to find other sources of financial capital, we are at the front end of the process of business growth in the State of Nevada. We serve the entire State of Nevada, offering services through our Reno and Las Vegas offices and throughout rural Nevada. As a part of our rural outreach strategy, we provide direct services to individual entrepreneurs throughout the State. However, we have also partnered with local economic development authorities, Chambers of Commerce and others in selected rural communities where significant entrepreneurial activity is either beginning or just underway in order to offer a more intensive, community-wide array of services. Through this approach, we serve both the needs of individuals and we address community-based needs, working with local economic development partners and our resource partners to create a critical mass of activity in a given locale.
