Gratitude and MicroLenders Forum Jan 15

  • Gratitude
  • Microlenders Forum – January 15
  • The Goodies – This week’s highlight includes two new resources for your programs: a client tracking tool from Aspen’s FIELD Institute and CFED’s Story Bank.

Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The CAMEO Staff is grateful to serve such wonderful members who collaborate with us to grow our sector. We love the work we do and we love the people we do it with. We are so fortunate. Please let us know what you are grateful for on our Microbiz CA Facebook Page.

Remember to show your appreciation for small neighborhood businesses on Saturday, November 29th, 2014, Small Business Saturday. You can directly support small businesses by shopping and dining at your favorite local busines. American Express cardholders can register their cards to get $10 back three times when shopping at three different small businesses on November 29th (a total of $30 in statement credits.) Please help spread the word! Sample SBS Facebook posts and tweets are in last week’s Must Know.

Microlenders Forum

Short and sweet: Save the date for our Microlenders Forum on January 15, 2015 in San Francisco.

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!

Healthcare Webinars: The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are helping businesses navigate health care through the webinar series What the Healthcare Law Means For Your California Small Business . It’s every two weeks in English. The next ones are on December 3, 2014 at 10:00am and December 17, 2014 at 10:00am.

Workforce and Entrepreneurship: CAMEO has worked hard to integrate self-employment and entrepreneurial training into the workforce system. California Community Colleges Board of Governors established a task force to develop policies that will prepare more students for existing high value jobs and promote job creation with workforce training that sparks small business development. They are holding a series of stakeholder meetings over the next couple of months that you can attend. RSVP and learn more by clicking on the link. Entrepreneurship needs to be at the table! Locations and dates include: Bay Region 12/1, 12/8, 2/6; Central Valley/Mother Lode 12/10; Inland Empire 1/16 ; Los Angeles/Orange County 12/4, 2/3; North Far North 1/9; San Diego/Imperial 11/21; South Central 1/29.

Outcome Tracking Tool: Do you need credible data on your organization’s micro and small business outcomes to support fundraising and program management? FIELD’s new EntrepreneurTracker tool offers an affordable way to collect credible, standardized outcomes information and share the power of your work. Check out their one-page summary to get a visual idea of what EntrepreneurTracker is all about.

CFED’s Story Bank: CFED’s new Story Bank is a searchable collection of stories from our partners that highlight their work with savers, and is a resource for people in field looking to demonstrate the impact of their work. Check out the story submissions page for an opportunity to have your clients’ story featured. Of particular interest to our sector is the entrepreneurship topic – small business owners working to build stronger balance sheets.