In this week’s Must Know:
- Influence
- Building the Microloan Pipeline, a workshop
- The Goodies: information on important opportunities like trainings, funding, scholarship programs. This week’s highlight is The Data Analytics for Microenterprise program from FIELD. Everyone needs help collecting data and measuring impacts so that we can prove our effectiveness. FIELD to the rescue!
Influence
We found out what Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote to the Super Committee: “The Joint Committee should strengthen and broaden the SBA’s Microloan program while also providing technical assistance to help them build a successful business.” Over the summer and fall, CAMEO and San Francisco members met with Speaker Pelosi to emphasize the role of technical assistance. Great to see our language in the letter after so much effort!
CAMEO influences the conversation, because we are able to show the impacts of our work. To that end, our annual survey for 2010 is complete. CAMEO members increased the number of businesses served, the number of jobs retained seems to be steady but economic conditions curbed new job growth from 2009 to 2010.
We can’t stress enough the importance of tracking the success of our industry. No government agency or legislator will do this for us, so it is up to us to make the case for investing in the Micro sector. Scroll down for more information on FIELD’s Data Analytics program that will help your organization better track and measure your outcomes.
Building the Microloan Pipeline
CAMEO is launching new programs for building microlending in California. We will hold our first training of 2012 – Financial Training Workshop for Business Counselors – on Wednesday January 25- Thursday, January 26. This is an intensive, nine-hour, in-person training.
Help your business clients successfully qualify for a microloan. Send your staff to this workshop to learn how to develop loan-ready microenterprise clients. They will learn what lenders are looking for, common eligibility criteria and how determine a quality loan referral.
On Wednesday, a panel of leading microlenders will answer questions about referring clients, eligibility and underwriting criteria. On Thursday, Susan Brown will lead an all day workshop on understanding financial statements, creating cash flow projections and best practices for microloan referrals.
The workshop will take place at the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center in San Francisco. Learn more and register.
The Goodies
New opportunities for trainings, conference information, funding, scholarships, and other information that have crossed our desks since the last Must Know. A running tab of current Goodies is on the CAMEO website.
FIELD’s PRIME microTrackers program: The Data Analytics for Microenterprise program will help microenterprise development organizations further enhance their capacity to use data to benchmark and improve performance. The free program will help practitioners with a range of data collection and analysis experience, and will offer training and one-on-one technical assistance to help practitioners to use microTracker resources and their own data to answer program-determined questions. Proposals are due December 8th (a maximum of three pages.) Members of SMAs have priority in the selection process. And you know how important data collection is!
Webinar: BALLE hosts Move Your Money, Then Make it Work for Your Community: Partnering with Local Banks and Credit Unions. Register for the webinar on December 6, 10:00a.m. – 11:00a.m. PT. “Move Your Money” efforts have gained ground, directing individuals and businesses to move their assets to local financial institutions. But what happens next to make our capital work deeply for our communities?
Free Webinar on Measuring Success by Field: Learn how to adopt data analytic techniques long used by the private sector to improve performance. The December 9th webinar will help you use benchmarking tools in detail to understand the state of the industry and assess your program’s performance. Register today!
Free Webinar: Join CFED for Empowering Entrepreneurs at Tax Time, a webinar sponsored by the Northwest Area Foundation, to learn about two creative ways to adapt the self-employment tax strategy for your own tax assistance program, microenterprise development agency or other community-based organization. RSVP for the webinar on December 14 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. PST.
Free Webinar: AEO is hosting Strategic Advocacy for Microenterprise Development, a webinar on December 15th from 12:30-1:30pm EST // 9:30-10:30 a.m. PST. Ann Sullivan of Madison Services Group will discuss strategies for effective microenterprise advocacy. Join the webinar to learn how to engage with policy makers in support of your mission. CAMEO of course will be on the call.
Job Opening: Accion – San Diego is hiring a Loan Officer. Visit our jobs page for other available positions in the industry.
For your clients: CARAT is providing technology training programs for free to small businesses in California. Check out the schedules for December 2011 and January 2012.