- Annual Micro Census Results
- Small Business Saturday
- Save the Date: Microlender Forum, January 26,2016 at the Federal Reserve Bank, San Francisco
- The Goodies – This week’s highlight is that Interest Forms for Diverse Community Capital are due December 1, 2015.
Happy Thanksgiving! The CAMEO staff is truly grateful to be working with our wonderful members and partners to create economic opportunity for all entrepreneurs, to build wealth and strong California communities. Have a wonderful holiday and don’t eat too much!
Annual Micro Census Results
Something else we’re grateful for… CAMEO members are serving more microbusiness clients and making more loans! In 2014, the number of businesses served saw its first increase since 2010. CAMEO member served 17,411 businesses, an increase of 47% over 2013! With that jobs supported increased by 23%. Microlending also saw a huge increase of 53% to 3,134 loans in 2014. Normally, there are fewer clients when the economy is hot, than during a downturn. Also, funding is still lower than previous levels. We will keep an eye on these two factors to see how they relate and effect each other. Download a copy of our Annual Micro Census Summary for more details on our collective work.
You can also access the microTracker industry-wide data for funding proposals, board presentations, or internal analysis. And if you’re looking for a new tool to collect and understand outcomes achieved by small business and microbusiness clients, check out FIELD’s EntrepreneurTracker. To discuss pricing and learn more about EntrepreneurTracker, contact Tamra Thetford.
Small Business Saturday
This week on Saturday (and Friday, Sunday and the rest of the year for that matter), take an hour and find your way to Main Street. Use your dollars to support a local café or boutique. A dollar spent in a local shop circulates 2-3 times more in a local community than a dollar spent in a national chain.
Small businesses embody the entrepreneurial spirit that has driven the economy of our Golden State…. On Saturday, November 28th, I urge all Californians to support small businesses and merchants on Small Business Saturday and throughout the year.
— Governor Edmund G. Brown
Small businesses have the power to propel local economies and uplift communities. When we shop small we’re supporting small businesses that create two out of three net new jobs and employ more than half of the country’s private workforce.
— Donna Davis, U.S. SBA Region 9 Administrator
Join CAMEO and be counted among the hundreds of organizations supporting small businesses across the country on Small Business Saturday, November 28th. Take a photo of you at your favorite local business and post it on the CAMEO Facebook page.
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!
Member Kudos: Congrats to AEO! They’ve selected by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund to test an innovative way of partnering CDFIs with small businesses in low-income areas that need investment.
For Your Clients: The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced a series of 15 workshops across California designed to help businesses apply for the California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC). Your clients can benefit from the $75 million in tax credits available to business that want to come to California or stay and grow in California. The next application session is from January 4-25, 2016. A number of very small businesses have received tax credits of $20,000 or more, including an accounting services firm, a commercial printer and an animal memorial services company. Go-Biz is hosting a series of workshops around the state starting in Santa Clarita next Tuesday and going through the new year. Check the California Competes Tax Credit website for a workshop near you.
CDFI Opportunity: The Wells Fargo Works for Small Business®: Diverse Community Capital program is a three-year initiative that will deliver $75 million in grants and lending capital to CDFIs. Interest Forms for Diverse Community Capital are due December 1, 2015.
New Book Launch: Join the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, CFED and the Citi Foundation on Tuesday, December 8, for the live webcast of the Financial Well-Being Summit to mark the release of the new book, What It’s Worth: Strengthening the Financial Future of Families, Communities and the Nation.
For Your Client: National Small Business Week has been recognizing the special impact made by outstanding entrepreneurs and small business owners since 1963. During this week, the U.S. Small Business Administration honors small business owners and entrepreneurs for their outstanding achievements through various awards. The The deadline is January 11, 2016.
AEO National Conference: Save the date May 18-20, 2016 in Washington, DC to celebrate 25 years!
Data Source: The Atlanta Fed has put together the Small City Economic Dynamism Index. The index ranks 244 small U.S. cities across 14 indicators of economic dynamism in four categories: demographics, economics, human capital, and infrastructure. The index answers the question: ‘How are small cities contributing to economic growth in their respective regions?. A bunch of cities where CAMEO members are located are included in the data. If you’re outside the major metro areas (SF, LA, San Diego) and in a smaller city, take a look.