First, I want to correct my last blog where I inadvertently omitted several members who were awarded SBA PRIME grants for 2010-11. Congratulations to all the PRIME award winners as follows:
CEO Women (Bay Area) $47,060
El Pajaro CDC (Watsonville) $250,000
MEDA (San Francisco) $250,000
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center (Bay Area) $150,000
Women’s Economic Ventures (Santa Barbara) $124,000
Women’s Initiative for Self Employment (Bay Area) $180,000
Also attached for your inspiration is a link to a short video from the Penney Ice Cream store in Santa Cruz, thanking President Obama for the Stimulus funding through the SBA that secured them a 90% guarantee for their start up business. This video highlights the local small business vendors they used to design and construct their store and the people they hired, all part of the multiplier effects of small and micro business programs run by CAMEO members. This video has gone viral so that Vice President Biden replied to their “thank you note” !
A thank you letter from The Penny Ice Creamery
I would like to challenge all of our members who were awarded capital and program funding from the SBA, USDA and CDFI, to create short videos of their client businesses that benefited, emphasizing how these funds multiplied locally. Be sure and spotlight your loan officer and business counselors sitting in front of your organization’s logo to drive home your role in enabling the business owner’s success.
Send your videos to President Obama, Gov-elect Brown and your local Congressperson. And be sure to send CAMEO a copy so that we can promote them in our advocacy work.
Let’s raise public awareness about the local impacts of Micro Enterprise Development!
Claudia and the CAMEO Staff