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Spring Into 3 Great Programs: WOVEN, GoToMarket, Microlending Academy

Wow! So. Much. Happening.

  • Early Bird Registration is open for CAMEO’s Annual Member Meeting and Advocacy Day – June 7, 2016 at the Sacramento Sheraton.
  • Faces of Entrepreneurship nominations are open.
  • WOVEN Update
  • Go To Market in Chico
  • SBA PRIME Applications Are Open
  • The Goodies – This week’s highlight is the MicroLending Academy peer call on Monday, April 7, 2016 at 11:00am to discuss building a value proposition (appropriate for microlenders and business assistance programs.)

WOVEN Update


We end #WomensHistoryMonth with some exciting developments for the WOVEN program. As you know, CAMEO wants to expose as many female veterans and veterans’ spouses to business ownership and encourage their success. Please view and share our new video that promotes women veteran business owners (click on image to watch).

Also, we’ve partnered with The Jonas Project to expand the WOVEN program into three Southern California communities: Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego. Next month, classes start in Los Angeles and San Diego!

Go To Market in Chico

California is a foodie state if there ever was one. There’s no better place to grow food, explore food innovations or market food. We have teamed up with the Specialty Foods Association to offer a full day of learning about Chico’s food industry: business and marketing opportunities, financing, and staying viable and competitive.

April 14, 2016
9:00am – 6:00pm
Manzanita Place
1705 Manzanita Avenue
Chico, CA 95926

If you work with food business or or know people interested in starting one, have them join us! Share the ‘Micro Goes To Market’ registration link with your colleagues in the Rural North.

A specialty food exhibit will be held during the reception from 4-6pm. Please contact Andrew Cole for more information about displaying your products.

Download a Go To Market flyer.

Our first Micro Goes to Market took place on the Central Coast on May 28, 2014 in Watsonville. A proud outcome of that program is that El Pajaro CDC and La Cocina had booths at the January Winter Fancy Food Festival in San Francisco that displayed products from 13 clients, who connected to new markets.

SBA PRIME Applications Are Open

SBA has announced that it is taking applications for PRIME: Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act. The deadline to apply for funding is April 29, 2016.

According to the announcement the program has four purposes:

  1. providing training and technical assistance to disadvantaged entrepreneurs;
  2. providing training and capacity building assistance to microenterprise development organizations (MDOs) and programs;
  3. aiding in research and development of best practices for microenterprise and technical assistance programs for disadvantaged entrepreneurs; and
  4. for other activities as the SBA Administrator determines.

This year, SBA will concentrate resources in the use of (1) training and technical assistance to strengthen cooperatives serving economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs and areas; and (2) training and technical assistance to support entrepreneurship among ex-offenders in the criminal justice system, especially those on parole, probation or incarcerated persons soon to be released. Think (1) ‘Promise Zones‘ and (2) ‘returning citizens’.

And in other SBA-related news, the House Small Business Committee marked up Developing the Next Generation of Small Businesses Act of 2016. The bill provides much needed updates to the WBC program including expanding annual authorized funding to $21.75 million and increasing the grants available to centers that provide training and counseling to entrepreneurs. Last fall, the Senate Committee on Small Business cleared its version of the program update, the Women’s Small Business Ownership Act of 2015. Next steps: House and Senate floors.

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 in the News: Claudia has a chapter in a new book. Check out “Think Small: Microloans, CDFIs and Credit Unions in Finance Your Own Business.

Member in the News: El Pajaro was the cover story of the local paper, Good Times. Read “Kitchen of Dreams: From green waffles to bone broth, a Watsonville incubator is producing some of Santa Cruz County’s most innovative culinary entrepreneurs.”

New Report: The Color of Wealth in Los Angeles is a new report that provides detailed data on assets and debts among sub-populations in the Los Angeles metro area according to race, ethnicity, and country of origin

Take Action: CalNonprofits is spearheading a campaign to stop AB 2855 (Frazier, D-11), a bill that places duplicative and unnecessary requirements on nonprofits, and then imposes penalties that are far out of proportion. You can read their letter to Assemblymember Frazier. Please call Assemblymember Frazier’s office now with this simple message: Withdraw this bill. Call 916-319-2011 today.

For Your Client: Do you know a woman in the produce industry that has inspired you with her dedication, fortitude and professional accomplishments? A woman who continues to surpass expectations? Celebrate her success by nominating her as the United Fresh 2016 Women in Produce Honoree! The nomination period closes on Tuesday, April 5, 2016.

For Your Client: Small Business Majority launched a weekly national webinar series (free). Access to Capital 101: Funding Options to Start and Grow Your Business is available April 6, 2016, 11:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time; and April 13, 2016, 11:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time.

Cutting Edge Professional Development: OFN is offering the Small Business Financing Webinar Series focused on growth and innovation. CAMEO will follow each session with dynamic peer group calls to digest and apply what was learned. Susan Brown will lead the calls. Both CEOs and line staff can benefit from this rich training opportunity. The last OFN webinar was ib March 24, 2016 – Building a Value Proposition. The follow-up CAMEO peer call on Monday, April 7, 2016 at 11:00am to discuss the unique set of products and services that you offer your customers and how you distinguish yourself from competitors..

More Cutting Edge Professional Development: CFED is hosting a five-part virtual Listening & Learning Series Exploring Financial Capability & Access for Entrepreneurs. The first one is on April 19 – ‘Cash Flow Volatility: The Ultimate Driver of Business Financial Vulnerability.’ You can learn more about the series on our website.

AEO National Conference: EconoCon25 is on May 18-20, 2016 in Washington, DC. EconoCon25 gathers actors in the small business space who impact America’s smallest businesses and underserved entrepreneurs – lenders, nonprofit and for-profit service providers, advocates and policy makers, entrepreneurs, funders and investors – for meaningful dialogue about how to innovate faster, partner smarter, and execute effectively. Register today! Early bird registration prices have been extended until April 14, 2016. Check out the EconoCon25 agenda. CAMEO offers

Online Financing Forum: Join the SBA San Francisco District Office on Monday, April 18, 2016 from 12:30 – 4:00PM at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (101 Market Street, San Francisco). Hear directly from different online lenders about their target small business client, product and advantage/disadvantages. They will have two panels of experts: Raising Money Online: Peer to Peer Lending and Finding the Right Online Lender and have a small business case study. Please plan to arrive at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco at 12:30PM to allow time to get through security and ensure a prompt start. Feel free to bring your lunch.

OFN Western Regional Meeting: Save June 29, 2016. The meeting will take place in Los Angeles, CA at Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Los Angeles Branch (950 S Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90015).

Take Action: We’re asking all of our members to hold district meetings with their California state representatives to inform California’s small business leaders and elected officials on what good capital looks like. We’ll follow up with meetings in Sacramento at our annual meeting. This is an issue they need to know about!