"WEV does what I believe in."

                Martha Pilorz, WEV donor

WEV creates jobs.  An ailing economy needs a cure - not a band-aid.   WEV clients served in 2008 alone created 218 new jobs in 2009 and created and retained a total of 396 jobs.  These businesses generated nearly $1.5 million in state and local tax revenues - more than WEV's entire annual budget.  Multiply that by the nearly 20 years that WEV has been serving our community and you have a major economic impact.

Yet funding is drying up both for WEV and for the small business owners we serve.  In 2010, WEV is experiencing a 60% shortfall in foundation grants and a 43% shortfall in corporate gifts.

 Small business and by that I mean truly small - microenterprises with five or fewer employees - are the one bright spot in the economic picture.  Yet where is the support?  While the U.S. Treasury bailed out banks to the tune of $750 BILLION - banks who won't lend to small businesses - it awarded only $104 MILLION this year to community development financial institutions across the nation like WEV who DO lend to small businesses - that's .01% - one hundredth of one per cent of what the banks received.

Am I mad?  Yes.  And you should be too.  People want jobs, not handouts.  And those jobs are being created by WEV clients.  During the three years following the 2001 recession, 79% of the net new jobs were created by businesses with four or fewer employees.  According to the Kauffman Foundation, new start-ups create three million new jobs each year while established businesses LOSE  one million.

Unfortunately, too many funders think that a recession is a bad time to start a business - they prefer to support job training or give handouts.  But job training doesn't create jobs and handouts provide only a short term band-aid.  Many people who have lost their jobs in this recession - especially those who are middle-aged or older - will never find another one.  Their only hope is to create their own.

At a time of such great need, WEV is forced to cut back our services unless people like you can help us fill our $200,000 funding gap.

You are WEV's bright spot.  Individual donors are the only category of givers that have maintained and even increased their level of support to WEV during the recession.  We are truly grateful for the vision and commitment of people like you - that's why it is so hard to ask you yet again, to give and give generously.  But ask I must: our future depends on it.

$2,500 will pay for one low-income client to complete our 14-week Self-Employment Training Program. $5,000 will provide a whole year's worth of training, coaching and technical assistance for an existing business owner who is striving to stabilize and grow his or her business. But don't let those bigger amounts scare you. Every amount counts. $25 or $50 helps. And if you can give that amount monthly it adds up to a big donation. So make a monthly pledge. You can even put it on your credit card. Don't think that you can't make a difference, because you can. You always have.

So gratefully,

Marsha Bailey

CEO and Founder