Free Republic

In an effort to spur businesses along at the grass-roots level, coalition forces have been offering up microgrants for businesses in areas where security is strong enough that more attention can be turned to economic development programs. In the Dura’Iyah area, an effort also was made to incorporate female business owners into the initiative. While the numbers were small — only about five female-run shops were part of the project — the effort showcases what type of role soldiers are now playing in many rural zones free of the volatility and day-to-day threats encountered in places such as Sadr City....

First Lt. Otis Ingram, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native, watches as a customer picks up his purchase of eggs at a shop in Husseiniya Feb. 26. Ingram talked to the store owner about the micro-grant program designed to help business owners improve their shops. Photo by Pfc. April Campbell, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. HUSSEINIYA — As the door opened, the shop owner momentarily halted his conversation with the unexpected visitor to tend to the needs of a customer who walked into his dimly lit store, Feb. 26. After the customer left the store with his...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 7, 2007 – Troops from Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, and a civil affairs team from 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion handed out $10,000 in micro-grant funds to an Iraqi small business and a home for mentally handicapped children. A baker whisks hot bread out of an oven while troops from the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, get ready to hand $5,000 to the bakery's owner as part of a micro-grant program in Baghdad’s Qadisiyah neighborhood, Dec. 1, 2007. Photo by Spc. Alexis Harrison, USA  (Click photo for...