Happy Independence Day! Shop at an Indie store to show your support of independently-owned businesses.
- Dealing With Disruption, A Working Group
- Useful Tools: Entrepreneurial Strength and Communications Tools
- The Goodies – This week’s highlight includes grants, grants and grants. Scroll down for information on PRIME, a new WBC RFP, and a new innovation grant.
- If you haven’t already, fill out the microTracker census with your 2013 impacts. Email Andrew with any questions. We will be closing the survey at the end of July.
Dealing With Disruption
During the afternoon of our annual meeting and 20th Anniversary Celebration, we talked about disruptive changes in the sector. What is keeping you up at night? What does tomorrow hold for us? How should the sector respond? What can we do to be one step ahead of the curve? Catherine Marshall wisely suggested that we convene a working group to brainstorm ideas. The first step in that process is to assess who is interested and get feedback on what other partners should be at the table so we can come up with new ideas to propel our sector forward. Please email me with your response.
Other ways to get involved with CAMEO:
- The SoCal Veterans Entrepreneurship Alliance is a group that helps members in LA, Orange, and San Diego counties reach and serve veterans, and promotes funding for this mission. Email Shufina English for more info.
- The microlending peer learning forum strengthens your microloan program and allows you to share your insights and innovations with your colleagues. If you have a topic that you’d like to explore and are interested in participating in quarterly/bi-monthly calls, email Susan Brown.
Participation in these groups enhances your professional development and brings resources and opportunities to your organization.
Useful Tools
A bunch of tools happened to cross my desk this week, so I’m passing them on.
Gallup found that the 10 talents of highly successful entrepreneurs include: Business Focus, Confidence, Creative Thinker, Delegator, Determination, Independent, Knowledge-Seeker, Promoter, Relationship-Builder, and Risk-Taker. They have an Entrepreneurial Strength Finder Tool available. Read the FAQ on the Finder Tool.
All Nonprofit Tech for Good webinars are being offered for free to the nonprofit community. Heather Mansfield presents webinars on how nonprofits can effectively use social and mobile media. Her webinars focus on practical how-to advice and demonstrate best practices click-by-click.
When it comes to engaging with your social media following, timing is of the essence. This infographic provides you with the best times and the worst times to post on social media platform.
Check out this Social Media Image Size Cheat Sheet for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
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!
Grant Opportunities
Grant Opportunity: The U.S. SBA announced that it is seeking grant proposals to award up to $1.5 million in grant funding to for-profit and non-profit service providers including, but not limited to, universities, trade and professional associations, firms, and other organizations for special projects to promote the development, success, and long-term survival of small disadvantaged businesses that participate in the agency’s 8(a) Business Development Program. The application deadline is July 20, 2014.
Grant Opportunity: The SBA announced the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) Grant RFP. Applications are due July 16, 2014. Friedman and Associates are available to request a consultation for PRIME application support, which includes full proposal development or project design, review and refinement of drafts. To request a consultation.
Grant Opportunity: The SBA has issue an RFP for new Women’s Business Centers. California is one of 11 states that can apply. The deadline is July 30, 2014.
More Good Stuff
Member Kudos: Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center was cited in the Wall Street Journal for their encore entrepreneurship program.
For Your Clients: Lots of contests for your small business clients including one from Wells Fargo.
For Your Clients: Six million young Americans are both out of school and out of work – a staggering number that contributes to weak economic demand. At the same time, small business leaders are struggling to fill job vacancies that are critical to both individual company success and overall economic growth. Small Business Majority has identified some best practices that will help address this problem while also benefitting small employers. Have your clients pledge to help youth employment and check out our best practices.
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 July 16, 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. A recent survey by Transamerica Center for Health Studies revealed six in 10 small businesses are aware of SHOP, but only 56 percent of them feel very informed about their company’s options for health insurance. Check out this new online guide of small business health plan options and costs through SHOP.
Women Business Leader Conference: Women business owners from across the country will be gathering in Washington, D.C. to grow their businesses, enhance their leadership skills and advocate on key issues impacting the women entrepreneurship community. Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)’s Annual Leadership Meeting is on July 23-24, promising an opportunity to network and cultivate business opportunities with women business owners as well as interact with policymakers to discuss the challenges you are facing in your industry.
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.
Scholarship Opportunity: Do you have an idea, product or service that helps microbusiness owners address their financial challenges? CFED is collecting those ideas. Up to 10 standout submissions will be selected, recognized, and offered a free trip to Washington, DC from September 17-19, 2014 to take part in a special design thinking intensive at CFED’s Assets Learning Conference. Deadline for submission is July 25, 2014.
Microlending Capacity Building Opportunity: OFN and Goldman Sachs have committed to helping small business lenders grow to better serve small businesses by launching the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Financing Initiative. OFN is hosting a free workshop on August 5-6, 2014 in Los Angeles designed to help small business lenders identify and pursue growth opportunities.
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.