- Ms. CAMEO Goes to Shanghai
- Scholarships for AEO
- Be Counted – Be Counted – Fill Out microTracker
- The Goodies – This week’s highlight is a free webinar – Re-Imagining the Role of Business Development Services on Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 11:00am PT / 2:00pm ET.
Ms. CAMEO Goes to Shanghai
The Tsinghua Minsheng Bank Institute invited Claudia to present at a roundtable on microlending, specially convened in Shanghai to correspond to a visit with her family. Both NGO microfinance groups and private online lenders, e.g. CreditEase, were invited to learn about best practices in microlending in the United States, what regulations are needed to protect low income borrowers, and explore how Chinese lenders can best assist microbusiness owners and help them grow in a sustainable way.
This is an incredible opportunity for cross-cultural exchange and thanks to Tong Qin, the SBA’s Assistant District Director for the Bay Area, for making the connection.
Scholarships for AEO
CAMEO is very pleased to sponsor seven CAMEO members for AEO’s 2015 Microbusiness Learning Conference, September 24-25 in Atlanta, Georgia. To apply for the scholarship, provide the following information in a one-page document and mail your complete application to Shufina English:
- Title: AEO Leadership Conference, Atlanta
- Applicant’s name, position, organization, and contact information.
- How do you think this training will help you better serve your clients and/or your office team?
- What specifically do you hope to gain from this training? Why?
- What is your organization’s mission statement?
- Provide a paragraph about your organization.
- Provide a short description of your duties within your organization.
- What is your Micro Enterprise training experience?
- What is your microlending experience?
The learning conference will continue the work we did at the leadership conference in May. The conference is designed for front-line microbusiness professionals, and will focus on training, professional development and capacity building. The agenda is coming soon. Stay tuned!
Logistics
Make your hotel room reservation at the AEO group rate of $119 per night (expires September 2, 2015) at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Airport.
Delta Airlines is offering AEO attendees discounts on flights. Reservations and ticketing are available via www.delta.com/meeting. Select “Book Your Flight” and this will bring you to the “Book A Flight” page. Enter the meeting code NMLXB in the box provided. Reservations may also be made by calling Delta Meeting reservations at 800-328- 1111, Mon-Fri 7am-7pm CDT.
Be Counted – Fill Out microTracker
Thanks to API Small Business (see photo) for filling out the microTracker Census. CAMEO treated them to a staff lunch. Another 22 organizations have completed the annual ritual of data collection: 3CORE, Accion San Diego, Agriculture & Land-Based Training Association (ALBA), Arcata Economic Development Corporation, Asian Business Association, Central Coast SBDC, Contra Costa Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Easter Seals/WorkFirst Southern California, Fresno Community Development Financial Institution, Inland Empire SBDC, Mission Community Services Corporation, Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), Opportunity Fund, Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE), Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Sierra Business Council, Superior California Economic Development District, The Jonas Projectm VEDC, West Company, and Women’s Economic Ventures.
While the lunch offer is over, please join your colleagues to collectively demonstrate the impact of our work. Your participation helps raise the profile of microenterprise across the United States, and helps us make a more powerful case for you and our other members in our ongoing advocacy efforts. Fill out the microTracker Census today. For help, email Andrew Cole.
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!
CAMEO Op-ed: Claudia wrote Protecting the Berryessa good for environment and business in The Hill, a widely read DC publication. Thanks to American Sustainability Council for the collaboration.For Your Clients: Jenny Kassan has left Cutting Edge Capital to start her own venture. She’s hosting a six month program – Women Raising the Right Money from the Right Investors – starting now! It is a virtual program so women can participate from anywhere. There are still some spaces available, so please spread the word to anyone that might be interested.
For Your Clients: The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) is holding a series of California Competes Tax Credit technical assistance workshops throughout the state starting July 14, 2015 and going through mid-August.
Funding Opportunity: The third-annual PG&E Economic Vitality Grant Program will support local job creation, workforce training, business development and other innovative programs that support local economic vitality and growth. It’s geared toward local government organizations, educational institutions and 501(c)(3) nonprofits throughout their service area. The online application is due July 31, 2015.
Free Webinar: Friedman and Associates host Re-Imagining the Role of Business Development Services on Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 11:00am PT / 2:00pm ET. The CDFI industry has clear standards, guidelines and metrics for the operation of a loan fund. We cannot say the same for business development services (BDS). Why? BDS is a key strategy to support portfolio performance and mission. It requires a formal structure to sufficiently support loan clients’ path to sustainability and growth. And it needs established metrics to measure success! The webinar will demonstrate a BDS process and “product” for effective pre-loan technical assistance.
Professional Development Opportunity: The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund have two remaining workshops in their Expanding CDFI Coverage in Underserved Areas Capacity Building Initiative training series on August 19-20, 2015 in Kansas City.
Industry Meeting: Save the date for OFN’s 2015 Western Regional Meeting September 17, 2015 at Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (101 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105). This promises to be an engaging meeting where CDFI staff, Board members, partners, and others can network and learn more about what’s happening in the industry and in the region. Stay tuned for more information in August.
Report/Webinar: Asset Funders Network hosted NARROWING THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP THROUGH BUSINESS OWNERSHIP on July 16, 2015. The growing racial wealth gap is a key concern of asset funders. One of the primary ways in which households build wealth is through business ownership. However, racial and ethnic minorities have historically been challenged to access the resources (capital, information, markets) needed to start and grow businesses. Micro and small business development strategies and programs, which have historically targeted minorities, are tools for narrowing the racial wealth gap.