- Ignite Micro at the 20th Anniversary
- Start A Microlending Program The Smart Way
- Healthcare and Entrepreneurship
- The Goodies – This week’s highlight is the announcement of two grants: 1) the PRIME Grant due July 14, 2014; and 2) the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program due June 30, 2014.
Ignite Micro at the 20th Anniversary
Our goal for the afternoon member meeting is to examine disruptive changes in the sector together. What is keeping you up at night? What does tomorrow hold for us? To kick off the discussion, we’re holding an ‘ignite session’ – that is a series of short five-minute spots designed to stimulate creative conversations. We’ve selected a few topics on dealing with disruption in the sector.
- Andrew Cole: Truth About California Micro Sector
- Shufina English: Facts about Banking That Make You Go Hmmm…
- Boku Kodama: Creative Curriculum for New Markets
- Naldo Peliks: Stirring Up Entrepreneurial Training
- Lorena Roman/Agnes Chen: New Partnerships for a New Day
If you are dealing with disruption and/or have an idea that you’d like to present, please email me.
After we’ve dealt with disruption, we’ll live in the moment with an intimate celebration at the lovely Sterling terrace, where you can network with your peers from all of over the state (probably our favorite part.)
For people coming from the Bay Area, I’ve set up a rideshare on Facebook – feel free to post and coordinate there.
If you haven’t already, show your support for microbusiness by sponsoring a table or registering today. We’ve got a great day of learning and inspiration lined up. Check out the full agenda to celebrate 20 years of microbusiness.
And finally, check out the story of one of our FACES award winners, Patty Rodriguez of SF Parking.
Start A Microlending Program The Smart Way
Attention TA providers and potential microlenders! Join us on June 11, 2014 at 2:00pm for a webinar to learn about new tools available that can help you start your program.
If you’ve been thinking about adding microlending to your TA-led microenterprise organization’s programs, but don’t know where to start or feel overwhelmed, then register for the webinar.
Learn how CAMEO’s Microlending Management System (MMS) project can help launch a microloan program more efficiently, at a lower cost and more successfully. MMS, an online platform developed by Accion Texas, supports risk assessment and underwriting, as well as several other lending steps. We’ll also cover other elements, beyond MMS, needed to create a microlending program.
Join CAMEO’s microlending guru, Susan Brown, for a webinar – Start a Microlending Program Webinar on June 11, 2014 May 20, 2014 at 2:00pm.
Healthcare and Entrepreneurship
Now that the Affordable Care Act is in full swing, we need some feedback about how it has affected business starts (email me your answers).
- Have any of your staff (where applicable) been able to get insurance that couldn’t before the ACA went into effect because they had preexisting health problems?
- Are any of your clients able to get insurance that couldn’t before the ACA went into effect because they had preexisting health problems?
- Are you seeing more clients that want to start businesses because they can now leave their previous employer (whereas before the ACA they couldn’t because they have preexisting health problems)?
Anecdotes are fine at this point, but keep this topic in the back of your mind as a topic of interest for policy makers.
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!
CAMEO White Paper: Download Do-It-Yourself Economic Growth: How Communities Can Cultivate Their Talent and Thrive. Read it. Use it as a resource. Share it. The Do-It-Yourself Economy is built on a foundation of small, locally-owned, diverse businesses. CAMEO’s white paper focuses on why we need a new approach to economic development, explains the reality of small business and self-employment labor market trends, and delineates some of the tools that local economic developers can use to create a sustainable future for their regions.
Member Kudos: Congrats to Operation Hope’s John Bryant. His new book How the Poor Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class has been published. The HOPE Plan lays out: steps to create widespread financial literacy and financial access; strategies for encouraging employment and entrepreneurship; and concrete guidelines for ensuring that human capital needs are met and opportunity for all becomes real.
Industry Conference: BALLE hosts Prosperity for All from June 11-13, 2014 in Oakland. The conference will dive deep into the most energized issues in the Localist movement today. Join CAMEO and BALLE to explore the challenges, emerging trends, opportunities and ways to rebuild our economic system in six critical areas: Finance for Resilient Local Economies; Ecosystems for Community Entrepreneurship; Leadership Development for a New Economy; a Localist Policy Agenda; the New Food Economy; and the Future of Ownership. Contact Shufina for information on how to apply for a professional development scholarship.
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 June 18, 2014 at 10:00am and July 8, 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.
For Your Clients: The Farmer Veteran Coalition invites all women who have served and are serving in the U.S. Armed Forces to participate in the Empowering Women Veterans Retreat. This event will focus on equipping military women who are interested in business with the tools necessary to be successful. The retreat takes place in Santa Barbara, CA at the beautiful La Casa de Maria Retreat Center on June 20-22, 2014. FVC is offering limited travel grants for up to $500. Apply when you register.
Professional Development Scholarship: Through the Diane Lupke Scholarship Fund, IEDC is proud to award four scholarships to economic development professionals (two IEDC members and two nonmembers) working in distressed communities to attend an IEDC education course of the recipient’s choice. Submit all materials by Friday, July 25, 2014 to be eligible for consideration.
Grant Opportunity: Farmers Market Promotion Program grants will increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets. The maximum amount awarded for any one proposal cannot exceed $100,000; the minimum award is $15,000. Applications are due June 20, 2014.
Grant Opportunity: Local Food Promotion Program offers grant funds with a 25% match to support the development and expansion of local and regional food business enterprises to increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets. Applications are due June 20, 2014.
Grant Opportunity: The USDA has announced the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program. Funding is now available for organizations who loan to small rural businesses. Notice of funding availability here, and more info here. The application deadline is June 30, 2014.
Grant Opportunity: The SBA announced the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) Grant RFP. Applications are due July 14, 2014.