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Making the Case for Micro

CAMEO Webinars: Insurance, A Business Must Have

Business Insurance: A Must Have: a webinar for trainers to learn what their clients need

Are you an insurance expert? If your answer is NO, then this webinar is for you. Your clients need insurance. This webinar is intended to introduce you to the types of insurance that may be appropriate for your clients’ businesses. Join our colleague, Micro Business Champion of the year and insurance expert, Scott Hauge for a short webinar that will provide practical information that you can pass on to your clients. Register for the webinar TODAY,August 14, 2014 at 2:00pm.

Making the Case for Micro in Sacramento

Earlier this week, Claudia and I went to Sacramento to participate in California Forward’s Capitol Day as participants on the Capital Action Team (led by CAMEO board member Marc Nemanic). It’s our job to make sure that our state and other community leaders understand the importance of the 3 million plus microbusinesses in the state. It’s not easy.

Most of the effort is concentrated on the 1% businesses that have growth potential, not on the 99% of the businesses who will stay small. We would like to see more resources go to help the huge number of potential microbusinesses start and stabilize and eventually grow. It’s simple math. We can help 1 business create 100 jobs or 100 businesses create 100 jobs. While it’s easier to work with one business, it’s hard to find that business that will be able to grow to 100 jobs. Working with 100 businesses means more transaction costs, but by doing so we can spread the wealth and create jobs, helping more families and communities in the Do-It-Yourself Economy. Micro businesses are the roots of all businesses. By cultivating the roots, our local economies will be more diverse and more sustainable.

The Goodies

New opportunities for training, 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!

Healthcare Webinars: The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are committed to helping businesses navigate the changes and opportunities in health care through the webinar series What the Healthcare Law Means For Your California Small Business . It’s every two weeks in English and monthly in Spanish. The next ones are on August 27, 2014 at 10:00am and August 20, 2014 at 1:00pm respectively. Note the Small Business Health Option Program’s online enrollment function is on hold and will be back online in the fall. Businesses can still purchase insurance through the traditional paper process, working with your Certified agent or the SHOP Service Center. A recent survey by Transamerica Center for Health Studies revealed six in 10 small businesses are aware of SHOP, but only 56 percent of them feel very informed about their company’s options for health insurance. Check out this new online guide of small business health plan options and costs through SHOP.

Healthcare Info In Spanish: Our friends at Small Business California helped create a new Spanish-language website to help Latino business owners and employees learn how to comply with the health care law along with The California Endowment and Health Law Guide for Business.

Free CRA Training: The OCC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco are sponsoring a CRA training workshop for Community-Based Organizations on Thursday, August 21, 2014 8:30 am – 3:00 pm (Pacific Time). The session is designed for staff of Southern California non-profits, community-based organizations, and local government representatives who are interested in obtaining current information and training on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and how it can benefit their organizations. This interactive workshop will cover how organizations may work constructively with banks to improve their neighborhoods and communities. Registration is required and due to space limitations attendance may be limited to two individuals per organization. There is no cost to attend this event. Continental Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Parking validations are not available. The training will be at the United Way of Los Angeles, 1150 S. Olive Street, 4th Floor.

Free Forum: The Federal Reserve of San Francisco is hosting Collective Action for a Vibrant Local Economy on Tuesday, August 26 from 12:00 – 4:30 pm at the Federal Reserve conference center in San Francisco. This forum will explore approaches that are being used in under resourced neighborhoods to attract new businesses and customers, eliminate blight and vacant storefronts, promote local spending and in general increase value. Attendees will engage in an interactive discussion about applying a collective action approach, the role of municipalities in supporting commercial revitalization, the advantages of a business improvement district (BID), how to conduct market analysis, and other topics intended to build capacity.

For Your Clients: Booming interest in entrepreneurship has led many people to think that entrepreneurship is synonymous with Silicon Valley. The Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge instead highlights entrepreneurship and innovation from the heartland of Rural America. The Challenge is an opportunity to highlight and reward rural entrepreneurs and a chance to WIN $15,000. The deadline is Monday, September 15, 2014.

CAMEO White Paper: Read the CAMEO White Paper: Do-It-Yourself Economic Growth: How Communities Can Cultivate Their Talent and Thrive.