- Happy New Year, Happy New Members
- FY2014-2015 Federal Budget – Take Action!
- The Goodies – This week’s highlights include two new opportunities for professional development, scroll down and lots of new job postings for 2014.
Happy New Year, Happy New Members
Happy 2014! The CAMEO staff are super excited for this year. This month, we kick off with our Microlenders Forum on Thursday and continue our 2014 membership drive.
So far, we welcome four new members for 2014:
- Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security (WAGES) is dedicated to promoting the economic and social well being of low-income women through cooperative business ownership.(Oakland)
- Centro Community Partners’ mission is to help entrepreneurs access business resources and capital to develop communities and reduce poverty. (Oakland)
- Core Performance leverages technology to provide accounting solutions and services for growing businesses. (Newport Beach)
- Cutting Edge Capital collaborates with visionary, courageous changemakers to bring new capital to the new economy. (Oakland)
We encourage you to reach out to them and find out how you can work together.
Join or renew your membership to our dynamic network of organizations and individuals. Together, we build businesses that create local jobs and grow California’s economy through Micro-business development. Don’t take it from me, take it from our newest board member, Marc Nemanic, Executive Director of 3CORE CDC:
We are a CAMEO member because of the high quality advocacy team. I know that the CAMEO team will relentlessly represent the membership interests and will work hard to get ahead of the curve on emerging issues facing micro-enterprise organizations. With costs always a concern, I know we get the highest value from our CAMEO membership dollar.
If you’re not head of an organization, make sure your leader knows to renew! The deadline is February 1, 2014 to make it into our member directory.
FY2014-2015 Federal Budget – Take Action!
Congress has eight days to pass a budget bill. Make it known to your legislators that you want them to pass a bill and that they should “Ensure Critical FY2014 Funding for Business Assistance to Our Nation’s Entrepreneurs.” It only takes a few minutes.
CAMEO is advocating for slightly different amounts for the budget than AEO based on what we think is possible in this political climate.
- Click on the above link.
- Enter your info.
- Hit submit.
THEN you can edit the letter as you wish – cut and paste the following in the appropriate place:
SBA PRIME Program – $5M
SBA Microloan – Lending – $25M
SBA Microloan – Technical Assistance – $20M
SBA Women’s Business Center Program – $14M
SBA Small Business Development Centers -$115M
SBA Boots to Business – $7M
USDA RBEG – $30M
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund – $224.6M
The Goodies
New opportunities for trainings, conference information, funding, scholarships, and other information that have crossed our desks since the last Must Know. I have posted a running tab of current Industry Goodies on the CAMEO website that lists items that were in past emails. Check it out to make sure you’re not missing anything, like grants whose deadlines are still alive!
AEO Conference: Registration is open for AEO’s Big Easy Takeover! Connect with hundreds of industry professionals who are committed to giving Main Street microbusinesses the resources they need! Help America’s 25.5 million microbusinesses unleash their power. The conference is May 5-7, 2014. An additional enticement is the New Orleans Jazz Fest happening right before the conference. The hotel will extend the discounted room rate if you come early…let’s show AEO that CAMEO members know how to party!
Free Webinars: Opportunity Finance Network and the CDFI Fund host Strengthening Small and Emerging CDFIs. The program will provide training and technical assistance, including one-on-one assistance and mentored cohorts, for small and emerging CDFIs enabling them to increase their impact and improve their sustainability. Click on the link above to register or learn more about this webinar series on January 8, January 21 and February 5, 2014.
White House Call: Small Business Majority hosts a monthly discussion series with representatives from the White House on the most important policies impacting small businesses. From everyday small business issues to the latest policy developments, our speakers will cover what’s being done at the federal level to help keep U.S. small businesses thriving. These free calls take place on the third Wednesday of each month. Register for the January 15, 2014 Monthly Small Business Chamber Chatter with the White House.
Professional Development Opportunity: The Aspen Institute is accepting applications for it’s Sector Skills Academy. The Academy was created to provide emerging leaders in the sectoral workforce development field with a unique professional development opportunity. Participants will explore industry-targeted strategies that build ladders to good jobs, as well as approaches that aim to transform bad jobs into good jobs. Learn more about the Sector Skills Academy and download the application. The deadline for applications is January 24, 2013.
Professional Development Opportunity: The Global Good Fund is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that funds leadership development of young people (under 40) who are growing existing nonprofit organizations and social businesses. Their fellows receive a coach and up to $10,000 to invest in their personal leadership development. Fellows stay in their workplace except to attend the Global Good Fund Summit, a four-day intensive leadership development event that is included in the fellowship. Download a brochure on the Global Good Fund Fellowship.
Industry Conference: What do you get when you mix 500 savvy social enterprisers, 3.5 days of top notch programming, the building momentum of a national movement, and the nation’s “it” city? Find out at Social Enterprise Alliance’s Summit 14 in Nashville on April 13-16, 2014. Build the social enterprise field, connect and strengthen skills. CAMEO’s network receives a 33% off discount with discount code CAMEO33. For more information click on the link above.
Job Opportunities: OBDC, Mission Economic Development Agency, Working Solutions, California FarmLink, Farmer Veteran’s Coalition, Women’s Economic Ventures, Opportunity Fund, AnewAmerica, Microenterprise Collaborative of Inland Southern California, Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security (WAGES), Small Business Majority, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, Self-Help, and California Reinvestment Coalition are hiring! Please check CAMEO’s job page for more information and other listings.
Thanks to James Marvin Phelps who let us use this photo under the Creative Commons License.