Oumar Diamanka, a refugee from Senegal, opened his multiservice business, Franklin & Fulton Services, in August 2010. The business is located in the heart of Brooklyn’s West African community in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.  Diamanka enrolled in the Business Center for New Americans’ Individual Development Account Program, investing his $4,000 IDA match plus an additional $4,000 from his savings to purchase equipment for the office. BCNA staff helped Diamanka secure a loan of $10,000 to grow his business, which has created two full-time jobs, plus six seasonal positions at this franchise of the second biggest tax preparation company in United States, Jackson Hewitt.

For more information visit the Individual Development Accounts Program page.