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Continuing the Search for CEO; Microlending Essentials

  • Continuing Search for CAMEO CEO
  • Microlending Essentials, a CAMEO Training
  • And…Action! – Improve the SBA
  • The Goodies – This week’s highlight is Opportunity Finance Network’s Harvey CDFI Staff Relief Fund that will specifically benefit OFN Member staff directly impacted by the hurricane.
  • Continuing Search for CAMEO CEO

    Our search for a new CEO continues. Please send nominations and referrals to CAMEO@walkeraac.com. Interested applicants should send a cover letter, résumé and three references by October 2, 2017. The Chief Executive Officer will be responsible for providing the leadership and management of CAMEO as it builds on its past achievements and positions itself for continued growth based on its current objectives. The CEO will lead all aspects of the organization with a specific focus on communicating the impacts of micro business, enlivening the member network, setting strategy, and securing resources that help our members expand and also sustain CAMEO’s operations. The CEO enables the Board to fulfill its governance function, reports to the Board of Directors, and serves as a voting member of the Board. A critical role for this individual will be to build strong and effective relationships, both within the CAMEO membership and stakeholder groups as well as beyond, with state and national organizations that embrace a common mission, and with donors that could support new strategies for supporting the emerging workforce of entrepreneurs. The CEO will also serve as a representative of the Micro sector in local, state, and national settings to advance and strengthen alliances, reputation, and impact. Continuing CAMEO’s role as an “innovation lab,” the CEO leads the conceptualization, design and implementation of new programs that will result in expansion of member organizations to serve more low and moderate income (LMI) entrepreneurs. This includes promoting new research and thought leadership; identifying under-served segments of micro business owners; testing new technology tools and platforms that could increase efficiency and effectiveness in program delivery to LMI entrepreneurs. See the full Position Announcement.

    Microlending Essentials, a CAMEO Training

    Join us for MicroLending Essentials on November 7-9, 2017 in Los Angeles. Sign up before September 30 to take advantage of the early bird rate of $350 for members; $550 for non-members. Prices go up by $100 on October 1st, so buy now! CAMEO members often ask us where they can send staff for microloan underwriting training. When we looked around, we didn’t find any that had evolved with current underwriting practices. Nor did we find one that helped loan officers understand how microlending differs from Community Advantage . So we designed a training ourselves. Susan Brown, CAMEO’s microlending specialist with over 25 years of experience in lending, developed a training for microlending credit analysis, with input from some of the strongest lenders in the field today. The training will consist of a brief overview of Community Advantage and two and a half days on microlending credit analysis including discussion and application to several case studies. We are including a snippet of Community Advantage because seeing how and why microlending differs from underwriting large deals helps community lenders design programs appropriately. Join us!
    • Train staff on underwriting microloans
    • Dialog with fellow lenders and compare notes, consider what
    • Learn from successful microlenders, our guest speaker
    • Gain understanding on why microloans and Community Advantage loans are different, and how to design an appropriate underwriting program for microloans.
    Register now to take advantage of the early bird pricing. Topics to be covered:
    • Community Advantage Overview: Community Advantage Goals, Typical Business Characteristics, Key Indicators, Key Documents, Analyses Undertaken, Financial skills, understanding of the owner, Community Advantage Criteria
    • Microlending Underwriting: Microlending Goals, Typical Business Characteristics, Financial skills, financial management level of the owner, Typical loan products, Expectations of client self-sufficiency in getting through loan process, Support documents, Underwriting Criteria, Underwriting Analysis, Credit Memo Template
    • Case Studies: Participants will be given application, supporting documents and then be asked to fill write the credit memo and make a recommendation.
    The training will take place at the Sheraton Grand, 711 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017 in downtown Los Angeles. Hotel room information and other logistics forthcoming.

    And…Action! – Improve the SBA

    Don’t like SBDC one-size fits all performance measures? Want changes to the WBC program? Want more flexibility than 25% pre-loan / 75% post-loan TA with the MicroLoan TA program? Now’s the time to weigh in! SBA Administrator Linda McMahon has appointed a task force to evaluate small business regulations and determine which should be repealed, replaced, or modified. The SBA is seeking input from the public on identifying which of the Agency’s regulations should be repealed, replaced or modified because they are obsolete, unnecessary, ineffective, or burdensome. This process of evaluating and identifying such regulations comports with the mandate in various Executive Orders to reduce the number and costs of the regulations that federal agencies impose on the public. Post your comment before October 16, 2017. CAMEO and others will be developing comments and we are happy to share them. ### Other action: Join Main Street Alliance’s Hate Has No Biz Here campaign. They started it in response to the President’s proposed travel ban on Muslims, but the campaign has taken on new relevance and immediacy in light of current events. Download their graphics and let your clients know about the campaign.

    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! Donate for Hurricane Relief: Opportunity Finance Network is creating the Harvey CDFI Staff Relief Fund to specifically benefit OFN Member staff directly impacted by the hurricane. CAMEO in the News: CAMEO’s support of the Small Business Borrower’s Bill of Rights was featured on their blog. Member Kudos: Congrats to Mary Jo Cook, President & CEO of Pacific Community Ventures, who was named as a fellow for the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program’s Job Quality Fellowship. A total of five Californians will participate as fellows. For Your Client: This is the chance for your clients to voice what are their top priorities, what issues they face as a small business owner, and what changes they want to see in California? Have them take the 2017 California Small Business Survey! Free Webinar: The Aspen Institute hosts Microloan Underwriting on Thursday, September 21, 2017 10:00-11:15am PT // 1:00-2:15pm ET. This webinar will explore the classic “5 Cs” of small business credit analysis through the lens of microlending For Your Clients: The U.S. Department of the Treasury will phase out the myRA program, the program is no longer accepting new enrollments. Savings in existing accounts remain safely in the investment issued by Treasury. Account holders have been notified; and the Treasury website has been updated. Account holders can continue to manage their accounts until further notice. We will be establishing regular communication with account holders to keep them informed of next steps and relevant deadlines through this transition. As the phase-out continues, the most up-to-date information and resources can be found at myRA.gov. Professional Conference: Register for the OFN Conference in Washington, DC on September 26-28, 2017. Professional Development: The Nonprofit Tech Roundup is in Portland this fall, October 3-4. At the two-day conference, you’ll get the inspiration and practical tips you need on topics like websites and accessibility, data visualization, project management, email campaigns, and more. Save the Date: OFN will hold the 2017 Western Regional Meeting Wednesday, November 1 in San Francisco at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.]]>