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SCALE Road Tour | Microlending Essentials

In this Must Know…

  • SCALE Road Tour: Sacramento, Fresno, and Jurupa Valley
  • Join Microlending Essentials (MILES) on October 6–10, 2025.
  • State Advocacy Update: SB 362 Passes the Legislature
  • Federal Advocacy Update: CAMEO Network joined the Responsible Business Lending Coalition, Allies for Community Business, and Scale Link in an Amicus brief in support of a lawsuit that would mandate the immediate implementation of Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires lenders to collect and report demographic information about their small business lending.
  • Carolina Martinez joins CAMEO Network staff members Adriana Williams, Douglas Craven, Emily Gasner, and Heidi Pickman, who will present at next week’s NALCAB Conference in Nashville. If you’re attending, make sure to check out their sessions and say hello at the opening reception!
  • September 15 – October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. Support Hispanic small businesses in your community!
  • Encourage your clients to complete the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Small Business Credit Survey
  • This week’s Goodie Highlight is Credit Builders Alliance’s Credit As An Asset: Small Business course on November 5 and 12, 2025.

SCALE Road Tour: Sacramento, Fresno, and Jurupa Valley

CAMEO Network and CalOSBA kicked off September by going on the road to spread awareness of the SCALE (Success, Capital Access, and Leadership for Entrepreneurs) program.

At our Sacramento stop on September 3, we attended the grand opening of Sage + Silver Studios, a photography studio owned by Amayah Harrison. Amayah received business guidance from Alliance for Community Development, who then connected her with Working Solutions for a $15,000 microloan.

On September 4 we stopped in Fresno, where business owner Antony Ayodele hosted us at Tower Blendz, his smoothie/açaí bowl shop. After years of self-funding, Access Plus Capital gave Antony a microloan which enabled him to keep his 8-person team and pay his bills.

This week, on September 9, we stopped in Jurupa Valley to visit VoltaMed Community Clinic. To sustain his mission of providing mobile healthcare throughout the Inland Empire, owner Maxwell Setsoafia reached out to First Community Capital for business advice and networking opportunities, and later for a $25,000 loan to maintain payroll during a rough patch.

The SCALE Road Tour follows stops in Inglewood and Oakland earlier this year, celebrating the great success of the SCALE program – which has connected over 6,800 entrepreneurs with no-cost business advising and support with accessing financing since its launch. 

Microlending Essentials October 2025

Join CAMEO Network’s 5-day Microlending Essentials (MILES) training, October 6–10, 2025, to build skills in underwriting microloans. Designed for CDFIs and business coaching nonprofits, this hands-on course covers cash flow, credit, debt-to-income, and bank statement analysis, plus real loan underwriting and credit memo writing. Led by our expert CDFI Programs team, MILES equips staff to strengthen lending programs and help clients succeed in accessing capital.

State Advocacy Update: SB 362 Passes the Legislature

This week, the California Senate voted to pass SB 362 (Grayson), sponsored by CAMEO Network, the Responsible Business Lending Coalition, and Small Business Majority. This bill strengthens California’s Small Business Truth in Lending framework by prohibiting misleading pricing, and improving transparency and enforceability.

The bill now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk for signature before it becomes law.

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