In this week’s Must Know:
- FY2013 Budget Update
- CAMEO Co-sponsored Webinar on Credit
- The Goodies: information on important opportunities like trainings, funding, scholarship programs. This week’s highlight is a new member benefit. Through 2012, CAMEO members will receive a 20% discount to the Mighty Minnow Web School in Oakland. Contact CAMEO for the discount code and information on assistance with travel costs.
FY2013 Budget Update
First, a big thanks to the people and organizations who sent letters to Senator Feinstein’s office last week. And a double thanks for those of you who let me know – 3Core, ACCION San Diego, Easter Seals, North Coast SBDC, Opportunity Fund, Valley Small Business, West Company, and Youth Business America. If you sent a letter but forgot to tell me, please do with a quick email.
Yesterday, the full House Appropriations Committees adopted its versions of the FY2013 Financial Services and General Government spending bill – the bill that funds the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The Senate did so last week. The next step is for the appropriations recommendations to go to the floor of the House and the Senate. The word from Capitol Hill is that this won’t happen until after the November elections.
The Results
- In the House: Against all odds, the House bill restored $3.5 million in funding for the SBA PRIME Program, which had been slated for elimination once again this year. The Committee met CAMEO’s recommended funding level for the lending component of the Microloan Program, as well as for Women’s Business Centers (WBCs).
- In the Senate: The Senate bill includes increases for the Microloan Program’s Lending and Technical Assistance components, the CDFI Fund, and SBDC’s. Much to our disappointment, however, it does not include funding for the PRIME Program.
CAMEO along with AEO will continue to actively advocate for full funding for these important programs that support underserved entrepreneurs and micro-businesses. AEO prepared a comparison of the budget recommendations of the President, the House and the Senate and how they compare to 2012 actual funding.
CAMEO Co-sponsored Webinar
CAMEO co-sponsors a free webinar with Small Business Majority – Credit Crunch: Small Business Lending on Friday, June 29, 2012 from 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. PDT.
- Learn about the small business credit landscape
- Hear a lending expert’s tips on ways to access capital
- Get your questions answered
Speakers: Ami Kassar, CEO and Founder of MultiFunding, is a nationally renowned small business advocate and leader. He’s committed to ensuring that small business owners have the best possible access to the capital they need to help grow and manage their businesses. Ben Geyerhahn manages Small Business Majority’s New York office, while also managing special projects in healthcare, clean energy, access to capital and small business workforce management.
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!
Fresno EOC and Fresno CDFI will soon be launching a federally chartered Credit Union in downtown Fresno and are hiring a CEO to complete the chartering process and then to manage its affairs. Please check CAMEO’s job page for other listings.
Members in the News:
- Colleen Seto from Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program is quoted in an LA Times story about immigrant-owned businesses in California (33%).
- The San Diego Union Tribune features a Q&A with Elizabeth Schott, the Executive Director of ACCION San Diego on small business lending.
Send me your news!
New Member Benefit: Through 2012, CAMEO members will receive a 20% discount to the Mighty Minnow Web School in Oakland. Mighty Minnow is picking up the role of teaching technology to non-profits as Compasspoint has discontinued its tech classes. For non-Bay Area members, remember that CAMEO can help defray travel costs. Contact CAMEO for the discount code and information on assistance.
Free NDC Training: Citibank will pay the $690 tuition for NDC Training’s Mixed Use Real Estate Financing Class, June 26-28 in San Jose.
For Your Client: Chase and Living Social have a new grant program for small businesses Mission: Small Business They will award up to 12 individual grants of $250,000 to 12 small businesses. The deadline is June 30, 2012.
For Your Client (and you): Social Media Management Workshop – a free online workshop series developed by the California Community College Economic & Workforce Development Program.
Small Biz and Healthcare: Small Business Majority is hosting a free conference call to answer questions about the pending Supreme Court Decision on the Affordable Care Act on June 29, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. ET. Register. (Note if SCOTUS hasn’t decided by June 28, 2012, the call will be postponed.) Our friends have also surveyed small business owners in California and Oregon about the health insurance exchange that will go into effect next year.
Free Webinar (archived): I attended a great webinar entitled Word of Mouth Marketing that talks about the big marketing secret of the Internet age – LOVE. It’s worth a listen.
Annual Meeting Recap: I posted lots of notes and resources, as well as videos of the awards (Mendo, MIHO). Also, checkout your colleagues and tag yourself in the photos from CAMEO’s 2012 Annual Meeting!.
Take Action: Support Senator Harkin and Senator Casey’s microloan amendment (SA 2245) to the Farm Bill. The amendment would authorize micro-lending opportunities within the Department of Agriculture. Learn more and sign on. It takes about 30 seconds.
More for Rural Members: On Monday, President Obama announced nearly nearly $2 billion in additional funding will be invested by the end of fiscal year 2016 to help rural small businesses expand and hire. And the White House released a new report Strengthening Rural Communities.
And Even More for Rural: In May, USDA released a Regional Food Hub Resource Guide, a collection of information, resources and background on everything needed to develop or participate in a regional food hub including: key questions about the current state of food hub development; and examples from operating food hubs; the role that food hubs can play in regional food systems; their innovative business models; and their economic contributions to local communities; and funding opportunities and other resources.
New Report: Aspen’s FIELD Institute has a new report, the State of Business Development Services. This report documents the scale and scope of this business development service work by U.S. MDOs as of 2010