Grameen America Launches Branch in Omaha, Nebraska

OMAHA, Neb.--(Business Wire)--
Grameen America (www.grameenamerica.com), a microfinance institution
headquartered in New York and founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad
Yunus, announced today that it will launch its next branch in Omaha, Nebraska.
The move to Omaha comes as Grameen America begins expanding nationally to build
on its initial success in Queens, New York.

Grameen America selected Omaha as its second branch location because of strong
local support and demand for microfinance services. The branch will initially
serve the low-income community in South Omaha and will subsequently expand
operations to other areas. The company expects to extend loans to at least 250
borrowers in its first year of operations. Future projections call for the
branch to grow its borrower base and become a fully sustainable social business
in five years.

Grameen America CEO Stephen Vogel, who took the helm of the organization after a
successful business and investing career, said: "Grameen America is thrilled to
be opening in Omaha. In less than eighteen months after opening in Queens, we
have seen our borrowers show their willingness and ability to take control of
their lives, their financial positions, and their futures. With Grameen America,
they are creating a culture of trust, savings, and hard work and building better
lives for themselves and their children. Whether in Bangladesh, New York, or
Nebraska, Grameen believes that all people have the skill, motivation, and
ability to care for themselves and their families. We simply provide access to
small, low-interest, no-collateral loans to start or expand small business
activities. We give the tools, and the borrowers do the work."

Grameen America launched its first branch in January 2008 in the Jackson Heights
neighborhood of Queens, New York. To date, the Queens branch has lent more than
$1.6 million to 660 women living at or below the poverty line. The average loan
size to date is $2,200. At a time when jobs are scarce, these microloans help
people generate income, build savings, and take control of their financial
situations.

Muhammad Yunus had this to say: "Grameen America`s success and growth in 2008
came in an environment where banks were cutting back on loans. Now, in 2009,
Grameen America is expanding its operation to Omaha and continuing with its
mission to make loans to low income people as a solution to economic hardships
across the United States. Every community in the US may consider having a
Grameen America branch as a means of addressing the hardship caused by the
financial crisis."

Grameen America follows the same Grameen peer-group lending model, which has
proven successful over several decades in Bangladesh and in many other countries
across the world. Grameen America borrowers must form groups of five, meet
weekly, and use their microloans for entrepreneurial, income-generating
activities. Each Grameen America branch is led by an experienced senior manager
from Grameen Bank. The managers move from Bangladesh to the United States and
immerse themselves in the local culture. The Queens branch has been led by Shah
Newaz, who started working for Muhammad Yunus at the Grameen Bank in 1982.

The Omaha branch will be led by another Grameen veteran, Habib Chowdhury. Mr.
Chowdhury has been managing Grameen microcredit programs since 1985. In 2000,
Mr. Chowdhury launched and managed a Grameen microcredit program in Kosovo to
provide credit to war victims, widows, and displaced women. When Mr. Chowdhury
arrived in Kosovo in 2000 local people were skeptical about microfinance. Today
the program has over 14,000 borrowers and is growing.

Grameen America`s early success and its current launch in Omaha suggest that
microcredit is an effective tool in the fight against poverty in the United
States.

About Grameen America

Grameen America is a non-profit microfinance institution whose mission is to
alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship by offering loans, savings programs,
credit establishment, and financial education to the working poor in the United
States. Grameen America was founded by Muhammad Yunus, who gained recognition
worldwide when he and the Grameen Bank jointly received the 2006 Nobel Peace
Prize for their innovative efforts to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh. Muhammad
Yunus made his first loan with $27 dollars out of his own pocket to 42
Bangladeshi villagers 1976. Today Grameen Bank has nearly eight million
borrowers and disburses more than $100 million each month while maintaining a
98% repayment rate. Muhammad Yunus serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors
of Grameen America.

Grameen America
Dan Brodhead, 212-897-4938
dbrodhead@grameenamerica.com
www.grameenamerica.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009