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CASE STUDY 16IDA PROGRAM TAKES BUSINESSTO THE NEXT LEVELIme Etuk’s passion for film has taken himfrom Jefferson High School’s prestigioustelevision production program to Atlanta to theDirector’s Guild in Los Angeles. His film creditsare lengthy, including award-winning movieslike “Crash” and “Training Day.” Now, over 20years later, he travels all over the globe, directingmovies and music videos, as well as assistingsmall businesses through his own productioncompany, Laugh Cry Love Entertainment.Ime says, “I want to do projects that makeyou laugh—that make you cry. But with theunderstanding that love is the most powerfulthing and the only undefeatable force.”He started Laugh Cry Love in 2012, five yearsafter moving back to Portland. Despite spendingnine years in L.A., becoming a member of theDirector’s Guild and working with the likes ofDenzel Washington and Laurence Fishburne, hisbusiness sense was limited.At the time, Ime was still doing most of hislarge projects in L.A. But between jobs, he wasstruggling to find work. He began doing smallbudgetvideo production for friends and churchorganizations. While he found some assignmentsparticularly fulfilling, his income didn’t reflect thatenthusiasm. “I was doing these different thingsthat were smaller in budget but trying to givethem high production value. They were good inthe sense that they were passion projects, but itdidn’t really make sense for business because Iwasn’t making money, and I might’ve lost moneysometimes by the time I put the project togetherthe way I wanted to.”Ime began Laugh Cry Love to provide smallbusinesses with affordable, high-quality videoproduction. In order to make his companysustainable, he began attending meetings of theOregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs.In his search for entrepreneurial resources, hecame across Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon(MESO). This program helped Ime with marketingresearch, networking opportunities and one-ononecounseling. From the outset, the close-knitatmosphere of the MESO office impressed him.“They had everything you needed at one place.It was just such a small supportive family feel. Iknew it was something I wanted to be a part ofand could benefit from.”Using MESO’s services also let Ime takeadvantage of the Individual DevelopmentAccount (IDA) program. Through it, MESO clientsreceive 3:1 matched savings. For every dollar theclient saves, the organization matches it witha $3 grant. The program encourages clients topractice good savings habits and accumulatecapital to purchase necessary business assets.Before applying for an IDA, Ime had some lights,cameras and old computers that were sufficientfor his small budget projects. However, someclients required high-end equipment, so he hadto outsource. Besides cutting into his budget,124