In this week’s Must Know
- CAMEO Works for You
- Shop Micro for the Holidays
- The Goodies: This week’s highlight includes a free webinar hosted by AEO and Office of Community Services jointly host AFI and Small Businesses: Helping Entrepreneurs Build Assets TODAY, Thursday, November 29 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. PT // 1:00-2:00pm EDT.
CAMEO Works for You
CAMEO raises public awareness of your work, increases resources, and builds your capacity to expand – to help more entrepreneurs start businesses and to put more money on Main Street. Two of this years major efforts have been
- to bring a Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program to California that will enable the unemployed to start their own businesses bring more clients to your organizations and
- to launch two pilot programs that will reduce the cost of microloans: the Accion Micro Management System and Kiva collaboration.
What can you do for CAMEO?
1. Join or renew your membership to CAMEO! and grow our dynamic network of organizations and individuals. Together, we build businesses that create local jobs and grow the Californian economy through Micro-business development.
2. Help us bring that SEA program to California and sign the Be Your Own Boss petition to help the unemployed start their own businesses and recruit five colleagues/Facebook friends to sign.
Shop Micro for the Holidays
Keep your holiday shopping in the family and support local, independently-owned micro-businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods across the country. Please send me more so this list gets really long and I can turn it into a blog post.
Our latest edition to our ‘Shop Micro’ listings is: International Rescue Committee of San Diego hosts their Holiday Bazaar on December 8, 2012 from 9am-1pm at City Heights Farmers’ Market, 4326 28 Wightman Street, San Diego. This special event features local refugee-owned businesses with an array of arts and crafts from all over the world. From handmade Iraqi jewelry to artisan-crafted goods from Kenya, the International Holiday Bazaar provides an opportunity to purchase a holiday gift from a local refugee entrepreneur.
Working Solutions and Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center host their fourth Annual Holiday Gift Fair in San Francisco on November 29, 2012 from 5:00-8:00pm at 101 2nd Street. This free event is open to the public. Find out which vendors will be there and stay up to date with details of the Fair.
Show a little love and support local businesses with one of La Cocina‘s signature Gift Boxes. Each box is lovingly hand packed at La Cocina and is filled with a variety of treats, both savory and sweet.
If your organization is hosting a holiday fair, then please let us know.
The Goodies
New opportunities for trainings, 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 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 In The News: Listen to Claudia on TheSelfEmployed.com’s podcast about micro business. You can also check out our op-ed on the same website that makes the case for a Self-employment Assistance program in California.
AEO and FIELD Membership Discount: You save $100 on AEO membership and $100 on a one-year MicroTracker Premium Plan subscription – that’s a total value of $500 for only $300! Learn more about the AEO/FIELD Membership Bundle. This is a must-buy, if you are not already an AEO member!
Free Webinar: AEO and Office of Community Services jointly host AFI and Small Businesses: Helping Entrepreneurs Build Assets on Thursday, November 29 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. PT // 1:00-2:00pm EDT. This webinar will introduce the AFI program and the current field of grantees, describe the ways AEO members and microenterprise development organizations can become involved and the benefits to their members, and highlight the experience of a current AFI grantee that is using their grant to help support small business owners. Register.
Free Media Training: American Sustainable Business Council holds three media trainings. December 4 is about social media; December 11 is op-eds and letters to the editor; and December 18 is broadcast. All webinars are from 12-1:30 p.m. PT. Learn more and find out how to register.
Free Webinar: CFED hosts What Works for Job Creators? Experimenting with Integrated Delivery Systems for Microenterprise Services on Tuesday, December 4, 2012 12:30-1:30 p.m. PST// 3:30-4:30 p.m. EST. Over the past year, CFED has worked with several local partners including CAMEO member, Mission Economic Development Agency, to explore different delivery systems that integrate tax assistance, access to financial services and products and business counseling for greater impact. Learn more and register.