- Advocacy Time on State Bills and Policy
- Federal Advocacy Updates
- CAMEO Webinar: Talent Management
The Goodies (not really a ‘goodie’, but an important recognition) – This week’s highlight is support for our small business friends in Orlando who have been devastated by senseless violence. Pulse, the nightclub and place of Sunday’s tragedy, is a small business with strong community roots. The Golden Gate Business Association and the National Center for Lesbian Rights will hold an event on June 21 from 6:00-8:00pm at the LinkedIn World Headquarters, 222 2nd Street in San Francisco. This was previously set up to honor Helen Russel and Brooke McDonnell of Equator Coffees & Teas, on being named the first LGBT Certified business in history to be named National Small Business of the Year by the SBA.
Advocacy Time on State Bills and Policy
The last day for policy committees to meet and report bills is July 1. Then it’s Summer Recess for the legislature. So it’s time to weigh in on some important legislation.
Support AB 2728: Send in a support letter for AB 2728 (Atkins), sponsored by the CA Department of Insurance, focused on the COIN program. This bill extends the state tax credit that awards up to ten million annually for qualified investments through COIN-certified CDFIs and also authorizes the COIN Advisory Board. The bill also extends the “data call” which allows advocates to analyze insurance company investments (or lack thereof) in the COIN program. Many CAMEO CDFIs have benefited from the COIN program. Please send in your letter by close of business Monday, June 20, 2016 to assemblymember.atkins@assembly.ca.gov, Nick.Hardeman@asm.ca.gov, and Novie.Sandhu@insurance.ca.gov.
Support SB 443: Fax a support letter for SB 443 (Mitchell).
SB 443 will reform California’s civil asset forfeiture policy, promote justice, and protect our fundamental rights. SB 443 will reign in abuses, and reestablish the most basic tenets of Constitutional law and values, requiring that in most cases, a defendant be convicted of an underlying crime before cash or property can be permanently forfeited. Download a Fact Sheet on SB 443. CAMEO is supporting this bill because a large number of immigrant microbusiness owners have had their cash and equipment seized by law enforcement for no reason. We need to protect vulnerable populations from unwarranted and unconstitutional forfeiture. Please send your letters in by Monday, June 20, 2016. (The fax number is on the letter template.)
And in other state news: The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced that the California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) committee approved $46.7 million in tax credits for 67 companies expanding and creating jobs in California. The awards will help these companies create a projected 4,235 jobs and generate over $1.3 billion in investment across California. A handful of these tax credits went to small companies, so contact GoBiz to find out more about the program and determine which of your clients might benefit from this program.
Federal Advocacy Updates
And there has been lots happening on the federal level.
- Senate appropriations for SBA and Treasury programs passed the committee on Thursday. We’ll give you a full comparison to the House numbers next week.
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a decision this week to uphold the net-neutrality rules put in place by the Federal Communications Commission meant to even the digital playing field. Yay! Read Claudia’s Huffington Post op-ed – “Small Business Not Neutral on Net Neutrality” for why this is important and a good decision for small and microbusiness.
- We Decide 2016: If there’s ever a time in politics that really needs a woman’s voice, that time is now. CAMEO has joined Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) for their campaign – WE Decide 2016 – to engage women in business in the 2016 election. WE Decide 2016 is a nonpartisan, no cost collaboration with a focus on education and engagement. WE Decide 2016 will publish a Women in Business Priorities report prior to the national conventions to encourage political parties and their candidates to prioritize and discuss issues of significance to women entrepreneurs. Please take a moment to sign up your organization to become a WE Decide 2016 Supporter and pass on the invitation to your women clients.
- Our colleagues at Small Business Majority are urging the Senate to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. If not, many of its most important cases are destined for a 4-4 split. This means that crucial issues facing the small business community could remain unresolved, and small business owners will face an uncertain business environment. Tell the Senate to do its job and hold a hearing, sign their pledge.
Talent Management
Join the CAMEO peer call on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 3:00pm. OFN’s last CDFI webinar, Talent Management, explored how to become an ’employer of choice’ through team building, generating engagement, quality recruitment and training. We’ll add some additional perspectives on leadership, building trust and authenticity in the workplace.
This is an opportunity for executive directors and managers to think about enhancing their human capital to better fulfill their missions, whether it be deploying financial capital or delivering effective training services. Susan Brown, our facilitator, is deeply grounded in management and leadership. Both CEOs and line staff can benefit from this rich training opportunity.
enhancing their human capital to better fulfill their missions, whether it be deploying financial capital or delivering effective training services. Susan Brown, our facilitator, is deeply grounded in management and leadership.
For the archives and full schedule of OFN webinars and peer calls, visit the Small Business Financing Webinar Series post on our website.
OFN offered a webinar series focused on growth and innovation for small business lenders to help us understand and navigate through this new landscape. These ideas aren’t only for lenders, training programs can apply many of these ideas. CAMEO followed each session with dynamic peer group calls to digest and apply what was learned. Our brilliant consultant, Susan Brown, leads the calls. She’s done a really amazing job in synthesizing the presentations and applying the concepts presented to individual organizations.
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!
New Report: Opportunity Fund released a very important research report, “Unaffordable and Unsustainable: The New Business Lending on Main Street.” Until now, we have been relying on stories to explain what’s happening with online lending. Now we’ve got some data on the loans and cash advances being offered to small businesses by short-term, high-cost alternative lenders. Cliff notes on findings: 94% interest rates; average payment is 1.78x income -YIKES.
For Your Clients: Small Business Majority is hosting Access to Capital 101: Funding Options to Start and Grow Your Business every Wednesday in June (22, and 29). They present an overview of alternative lending options including community development financial institutions, SBA’s loan guarantee program and reputable online options, key questions to consider when seeking funding, the Small Business Borrowers’ Bill of Rights and helpful tools and resources.
Free Webinar: CFED hosts Credit as an Asset: Building & Maintaining Credit for Entrepreneurs on June 21, 2016, 12:00-1:30pm PT. The webinar will discuss the significance of building a strong credit history for accessing business loans, credit’s effect on many other facets of entrepreneurs’ financial lives, and strategies for credit building. CAMEO member Gwendy Donaker-Brown from Opportunity Fund is presenting.
Free Webinar: Sparks hosts CDFIs: Grow Your Revenue by Selling Community Advantage Loans on the Secondary Market on June 22, 2016 at 9:00am PT.
OFN Western Regional Meeting: Registration is open for the June 29, 2016 OFN Western Regional Meeting. The meeting will take place in Los Angeles, CA at Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Los Angeles Branch (950 S Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90015). Check out the agenda.
Professional Development Opportunity: You’re invited to join the CFED Assets & Opportunity Network and Center for Financial Security for a new four-part virtual Listening & Learning Series on Financial Coaching & Counseling. They are on the following Wednesdays from 12:-1:30pm PDT: July 13, August 10, and September 14. The A&O Network has also released Financial Coaching Census.
PayDay Lending Rules: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed a rule aimed at reshaping the market for payday loans and other short-term credit. The proposal would require lenders to ensure that the consumer has the ability to repay the loan, provide notice that the lender is withdrawing funds from the consumer’s account and cease automatic withdraws if the consumer’s account is overdrawn. Comments on this proposal are due September 14, 2016.
For Your Clients: The Obama Administration’s final overtime rule, published on May 18, will make an estimated 4.2 million new workers eligible for overtime pay. Salaried workers, making up to $47,476 annually, will get time-and-a-half payments for work over 40 hours in a week. The effective date is December 1, 2016.
For Your Clients: The Governor signed SB 269 (Roth). The bill gives small businesses (less than 50 employees) that hire a Certified Access Specialist time to take care of problems related to disability access before a lawsuit can be filed in California courts. It also allows some time to take care of problems with signage and warning strips. Note a suit in Federal courts is still allowed because a state cannot preempt the Federal government. It is hoped the Federal Court will take this as a good faith effort on the part of small businesses.
For Your Clients: On Monday, May 16, new SEC rules became effective allowing businesses for the first time to provide equity to investors through crowdfunding platforms. Given uncertainty in the funding market for startups, these new rules could be extremely useful to entrepreneurs. (Click for infographic published by the SBA’s Office of Advocacy.)
For Your Client: OFN has a new small business borrower education platform – Venturize.
FIELD’s EntrepreneurTracker: FIELD worked with 19 microenterprise organizations in 2015 to collect data on the outcomes of 1,086 clients they had served in 2014. Each dollar spent on program costs generated between $8.96 and $9.45 in benefits. Learn more about EntrepreneurTracker.