Kiva to Make Microloans to US Small Businesses

I don't know about this...

More than 70 percent of Kiva's lenders are in the U.S., though, the company said today, and poverty is everywhere.
-SF Chronicle

Poverty is everywhere, but there is a debate about microfinance's ability to work in the US and usually microfinace in the ideal situation is best done by community banks or local charitable organizations close to the impoverished areas.

Most major US cities have affluence and poverty less than 1 mile apart. That's what makes Kiva so great they shrink that distance between an affluent country and local struggling economies in other countries. So I am a little confused as to why it's necessary for them to use that money raised online throughout the US to give back to the entrepreneurs here?

It is a little weird saying that, and I do wish more money would be put in the hands of struggling entrepreneurs in this country, but it seems like a job best fit for local organizations, why wouldn't Kiva help build local chapters using Kiva's model? This would keep the Kiva brand consistent and create sustainable local organizations that would empower local entrepreneur, holding them accountable to good, practical business standards and help them grow to pay back the loans.

Kiva is a great organization and I am sure there are many misconceptions on my part, but I wish I could get a better understanding of how their operations in the US will work.

Related Article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=41528