Small Businesses and Credit
New Tool for Microlenders: Loan Policy Manual & A Webinar
And…Action! – Federal FY 2018 Budget
Join us for MicroLending Essentials on November 7-9, 2017 in Los Angeles. Sign up before September 30 to take advantage of the early bird rate.
Please send nominations and referrals for CAMEO CEO to CAMEO@walkeraac.com. Interested applicants should send a cover letter, résumé and three references by October 2, 2017.
The Goodies – This week’s highlight is today’s AEO’s Annual Membership Call (for members only) on Friday, September 22, 2017 at 10:00am PT // 1:00pm ET.
Small Businesses and Credit
The California Reinvestment Coalition released
Small Business Owners Struggle to Access Affordable Credit, a new report focused on the challenges small business owners and entrepreneurs face when trying to get a loan to start, maintain, or grow their businesses. They surveyed their members who served small businesses and found that
- 100% of respondents believe the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should make the Bureau’s consumer complaint database more user friendly for small businesses;
- 95% of respondents believe the increased transparency from the CFPB’s 1071 small business lending data rule is of critical importance (57%) or very important (38%); and
- 95% of respondents believe the California Department of Business Oversight should increase regulation and enforcement of non-bank and fintech lending practices, including Merchant Cash Advances.
Thanks to the many CAMEO members and their clients who participated in the survey about the access to credit issues faced by small business owners and were quoted in the report.
“I started my business from humble beginnings, out of the back of my car,” explains Reyna Chavez, owner of Scrubs on the Run, a medical uniform supply company based in Ventura, California. “As my business picked up speed, I needed more inventory, but when I applied for a bank loan, I was denied. Fortunately, I was able to get a loan and support for my small business from a nonprofit, Women’s Economic Ventures. I’m proud to report I now have four employees and three locations. I would encourage the CFPB to move as quickly as possible on the challenges that people like me are facing in obtaining loans to start and grow our businesses.”
and
“This level of lending transparency already exists for the mortgage industry, and it’s been a vital way to identify disparities and take corrective action,” comments Clarence Williams, CEO of California Capital. “It’s high time we bring this transparency to the small business lending world as well.”
Additionally,
CAMEO is partnering with the Federal Reserve on a Small Business Credit Survey for both pre-start and existing businesses to help business service providers and lenders understand real-time business conditions. Help us by sending this email to your clients:
SUBJECT LINE: “How is your business doing?” Or “Small Business Owners: Make your voice heard!”
Dear Business Owner or Manager,
As a CAMEO member, [MYORGNAME] is partnering with the Federal Reserve on a Small Business Credit Survey for both pre-start and existing businesses, and we’d like you to participate. Your answers will help business service providers and lenders understand real-time business conditions. This short survey takes less than 9 minutes to complete. Individual responses are confidential and summary results will be shared with you.
Take the survey today!
Questions? Contact SmallBusinessResearch@atl.frb.org.
If you have problems with the link above, copy and paste the following URL into a new browser window:
https://frbatlanta.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0pQZOEEPPnpFNlj?orgid=CAMEO&parentid=&reserve_bank=SF.
Findings from the 2016 survey have been featured in reports on Employer Firms and Startup Firms. Additional reports are planned for 2017, including reports on minority-owned, women-owned, micro, and rural firms. Right up our alley!
New Tool for Microlenders: Loan Policy Manual
Learn about our Loan Policy Manual on a free webinar on September 25, 2017 at 3:00pm PT.
CAMEO is committed to building scale, capacity, and professionalism among its lending network. The high-volume, successful lenders in our network have clear lending strategies based on their mission and financial acumen. They have created solid manuals and policies that are consistent with their strategy and lending expertise. They have taken the time to write down their over-arching goals with the detailed tasks needed to run a professional lending program. All have the end goal to grow their volume, increase their capital base and maintain solid portfolio performance.
Without a complete loan manual an organization will not reach its full growth and performance potential. But where to begin? Susan Brown, our microlending expert, created Phase I of a
Community Loan Policy Manual Workbook to assist community lenders to create fully developed loan policies manual. Lenders of every stripe that address each topic and answer all the questions will have a complete loan manual that reflects a comprehensive approach to the details of running a high-quality program.
Join Susan for a webinar on Monday,
September 25, 2017 at 3:00 PM PDT to take a look at the manual and how to take advantage of this great resource!
And…Action! – Federal FY 2018 Budget
Earlier this month, lawmakers voted to extend 2017 spending levels until December 8, 2017 through a continuing resolution, which means that our electeds need to hear from you! The best way to make sure our sector’s message is heard is for you to schedule a meeting with your Senators and representatives in their local office, urging them to support CAMEO’s FY2018 Appropriations request. Below please find an update on the status of our appropriations requests so far, and information that can help you set up meetings with your legislators.
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Other actions:
^^^A bipartisan bill Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced in response to a WIPP report about women being shut out of government contracts has been approved by the Senate. The bill (S. 1038) asks the Small Business Administration to conduct a comprehensive study on all socio-economic group participation, including women, in these contracts. This is an important step to ensure that all small businesses have equal access to contracts, increasing opportunities for women-owned small businesses. Our colleagues at WIPP are asking you to
thank Sen. Ernst and Gillibrand for spearheading this effort and standing up for women-owned small businesses!
***If you have a credit report, you could be one of the 143 million American consumers whose sensitive personal information was exposed in a
data breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies. If you have borrowers, remind them that the breach happened to Equifax, and not to your organization. What to do:
- Make sure your organization has appropriate data security precautions in place to secure your client’s data
- Read the FTC’s recent blog post – “The Equifax Data Breach: What to Do“
- If you suspect fraud connected to a natural disaster, you can call the National Center for Disaster Fraud at 866-720-5721, or email the organization.
- Remind your clients about the importance of reviewing their credit report regularly – whether at annualcreditreport.com at least one time per year and/or through any credit report analysis you offer as part of your services – to ensure that the data is as accurate as possible.
***The SBA is
seeking input from the public on identifying which of the Agency’s regulations should be repealed, replaced or modified because they are obsolete, unnecessary, ineffective, or burdensome. This process of evaluating and identifying such regulations comports with the mandate in various Executive Orders to reduce the number and costs of the regulations that federal agencies impose on the public. Post your comments before
October 16, 2017.
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!
Professional Meeting: AEO’s Annual Membership Call is on Friday, September 22, 2017 at 10:00am PT // 1:00pm ET. The Annual Member Meeting is a unique opportunity for
AEO members to hear firsthand about the work AEO has been doing to support microbusinesses. They have several exciting updates to share with you, including a sneak peek at plans for the 2018 AEO Conference and a chance to meet the Board.
For Your Client: This is the chance for your clients to voice what are their top priorities, what issues they face as a small business owner, and what changes they want to see in California? Have them take the
2017 California Small Business Survey!
Donate for Dreamers: Opening Doors assist Dreamers with legal consultation and preparation of their applications. Many current DACA individuals living in our community are racing to apply for two-year renewals before October 5. Unless they do so, they will be unable to work and face possible deportation. You can help by
donating to help their clients pay the filing fees of $495. Make sure to write “DACA” under ‘Designation.’
For Your Clients: Small Business Majority has several
free webinars on access to capital and retirement: “Access to Capital 101: Funding Options to Start and Grow Your Business” is on October 4, and October 18 at 11:00 AM PD // 2:00 PM EDT and “Money Now, Money Later: The ABCs of Financing Your Small Business and Building Your Retirement” is on September 26, October 10, and October 24 at 11:00 AM PST // 2:00 PM EDT.
Professional Conference: Register for the
OFN Conference in Washington, DC on
September 26-28, 2017.
New Report: Prosperity Now and the Institute for Policy Studies look at the racial wealth divide at the median over the next four and eight years in
The Road to Zero Wealth. They find that if you examine median wealth trends over the past three decades, the racial wealth divide will only continue to grow—into perpetuity—and it will do so at an accelerated rate. Join them for a
webinar on October 17, 2017 at 11:00am-12:30pm PDT to discuss this crucial issue and what can be done to address this problem.
Economic Policy Event: Join UC-Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting & Development for “
Re-imagining Economic Growth in the Inland Empire” on
October 25, 2017from 12:00-4:00pm. CAMEO members receive a $25 discount with the code “cameo17.”
Save the Date: OFN will hold the 2017 Western Regional Meeting Wednesday,
November 1 in San Francisco at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.]]>
