In this Must Know…
- Guardrails in Small Business Finance
- 2024 Small Business Credit Survey – hot off the presses.
- Staff Changes
- Upcoming Regional Meetings
- Join the 2025 CAMEO Network Summit, “Leading in Uncertain Times: Meeting the Mission, Telling the Story, Promoting Policy” on May 28-29, 2025 in Sacramento
- This week’s Goodie Highlight is the National Law Review’s legal alert on “What is ‘Illegal DEI’?”
Guardrails in Small Business Finance
This week, CAMEO Network CEO, Carolina Martinez, participated in a panel for the Aspen Institute’s “Advancing Innovation and Fairness in Small Business Finance” in Washington, D.C. to discuss the role of guardrails in fostering responsible small business lending and economic growth.
Carolina highlighted the success we’ve had in California—including five responsible small business lending bills that strengthen the economy by improving transparency and protecting small businesses from deceptive financing practices.
She called attention to CAMEO Network’s sponsored bills for this 2025 legislative session, SB 362 (Grayson) and SB 728 (Padilla), which aim to close loopholes, prevent predatory lending, and level the playing field for small business financing.
Take Action: Please sign on to support SB 362 and SB 728 by Friday, March 28 3pm!
We also want to highlight that at the Aspen event, Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr called for small businesses to have financing protections.
2024 Small Business Credit Survey
The 2025 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2024 Small Business Credit Survey has been published. It’s the first of several reports based on the 2024 survey to be released throughout the year. The 2024 survey gathered responses from more than 7,600 small employer firms.
Small businesses are facing many challenges, including:
- Declining revenues
- Rising costs of goods, services, and/or wages
- Difficulty reaching customers and growing sales
- Lots of debt
Many owners are not happy with their lending options. CDFI market share has grown from 2% in 2019 to 6%- the same share as found in last year’s survey.
CAMEO Network Staff Changes
Sad news first: This week we bid farewell to our Program Manager, Elena Franco. Elena has been a great asset to the CAMEO Network team, managing the SSBCI program and our climate response work – basically developing those programs from scratch. She’s leaving to pursue a law career. Please join us in wishing her great success in all her future endeavors!
Good news: CAMEO Network is hiring! We are seeking a Finance Manager and two CDFI Program Manager and Training Specialists for the Texas Market and the Illinois Market.
Upcoming Regional Meetings
- April 1, 2025 at 2:30pm PT- Sacramento Member Meeting at the Sacramento WeWork.
- April 16, 2025 at 11:30am PT- Bay Area Member Meeting at the Google Community Space in San Francisco.
- May 2, 2025 at 11:30am PT- Central Coast Member Meeting. Stay tuned for the location!
The Goodies
Professional Opportunities
- Join the 12th Annual Credit Builders Alliance Summit on June 22-24, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
- Join Prosperity Summit 2025 on October 5-7, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
New Resources
- Learn “How Nonprofits Can Protect Financial Stability Amid Federal Funding Changes.”
- The National Law Review published a legal alert on “What is ‘Illegal DEI’?”
New Research
- OFN’s new research report — The Business Model of CDFI Loan Funds — examines the business model of CDFI loan funds and highlights the model’s key components, benefits, and tradeoffs.
- Read the Centre for Economic Policy Research’s “Gender bias in access to finance and implications for capital misallocation.”
Other Goodies
- Funding Opportunity: Every month, the Center for Cultural Innovation distributes Quick Grants to support artists and arts organizations.
- Jobs: ICA Fund, Pacific Community Ventures, The California State Assembly, and TMC Community Capital announced new jobs recently. See who else is hiring!