Stories Behind the Faces of Entrepreneurship Winners
We have two amazing stories to tell!- Tiffany Hoang and Tyrone Botelho, Circle Up Education, nominated by Youth Business USA.
- Javier Zamora, owner of JSM Organics, nominated by Kitchen Table Advisors; and
Circle Up
How do you turn a deep-seated passion for peace, justice and community engagement into a living?
This is the question Tyrone Botelho, 31, and Tiffany Hoang, 26, were asking themselves in 2014, huddled over a computer and educational materials in Botelho’s rented room in Oakland.
The two former Peace and Conflict Studies majors at the University of California, Berkeley, hit it off during a restorative justice training session Botelho was helping run and Hoang was attending. They were desperately trying to find a way to earn a living while promoting and maintaining their ideals. Read more…
JSM Organics
Living in the agricultural community after so long working in Los Angeles’ food, beverage and hospitality industry, something clicked and Zamora began thinking about farming. He had family roots, as his father and brothers were farmers in Mexico.
He decided to get his GED and then, encouraged by a teacher, enrolled in college, earning two A.S. degrees in horticultural design and organic production.
As a working student and a father with a family to support, things were so tight financially that Zamora sometimes had to scrape together change to put gas in his car. Eventually, hard work began to pay off again and in 2011 he was able to lease an acre and a half of land. Read more…
Claudia Participates in First Republic Community Advisory Board
Claudia has been tapped to serve on First Republic Banks’s Community Advisory Board (CAB). The bank’s President and CEO, Jim Herbert, instructed the CAB members to advise the bank on best strategies for reaching and serving more low-to-moderate income borrowers for home mortgages and for small business loans. They met last week (May 24). In the photo from left to right: Lena Robinson (FRB), Claudia Viek (CAMEO), Rosana Han (FRB), Faith Bautista, (NAAC), John Bryant, Operation HOPE, Charlene Van Horn (FRB), Janice Jensen (Habitat for Humanity, NoCA), and Alyssa Ng (FRB).
And…Action! – Federal and State Budgets for FY 2018
The new section of the Must Know — And…Action! — is in response to the current political reality that demands that we participate more fully in the state and the federal legislative processes. We urge you to assign a staff person to be responsible for taking action.
California News – It’s Good!
Last week the Assembly Budget Committee approved
- Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to cover the self-employed (entrepreneurs) and individuals and households with incomes up to $22,000. Expansion and modification of the EITC was proposed in several bills including AB 75 (Steinorth and Quirk-Silva), AB 225 Caballero, and AB 1010 (Ting).
- $2 million for the SBDCs to provide one-on-one counseling to small businesses seeking new capital. According to the Budget Committee report, the Assembly action proposes an additional $2.8 million with $2 million going to SBDCs and $800,000 going to pilot projects.
- The inclusion of 2 business tax incentives: Manufacturing and Research & Development Equipment Exemption, and the Community Development Financial Institution Tax Credit (COIN).
The Senate Budget Subcommittee has not adopted similar provisions, as best as can be determined from available online documents – and these issues will be finalized through the Conference Committee process
.What you can do: Use this template for a letter to urge Governor Brown to include the extension of the COIN Program in the 2017-2018 budget.
Federal Issues
Recently, Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced bipartisan legislation (S. 1038) to ask the SBA to conduct a comprehensive study on all socio-economic group participation, including women, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and those participating in the 8(a) and Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) programs on 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 drumming up legislative support for S. 1038 by asking our Senators to sign on as a co-sponsor. Go to WIPP’s Action Center where you will find a suggested letter and can send it to your senators with just flew clicks.
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!
Our Condolences: We are sad to report that a CAMEO friend and colleague, Barbara Kasoff, the co-founder of Women Impacting Public Policy, passed away Tuesday, May 23. She was a champion for women’s entrepreneurship and owned several businesses before getting into advocacy. She served as WIPP’s president for nine years, building the organization into an advocacy powerhouse. Read more on Barbara’s contributions to WIPP and WIPP’s full tribute.CAMEO Open CEO Position: If you know of a visionary leader that can lead CAMEO and who is passionate about the microbusiness sector (and fill Claudia’s big shoes) please forward on the CAMEO CEO job description and encourage them to apply.
New Report: SBA Office of Advocacy has a new report – “Women’s Business Ownership: Data from the 2012 Survey of Business Owners” – that shows the major economic contribution of women-owned businesses, in spite of their average smaller size when compared to male-owned firms.
Free Webinar: CalNonprofits is hosting “Recruiting & Retaining Great Staff: Student Debt Toolkit for Managers Webinar” on June 8, 2017 at 11:00am.
New Report and Webinar: The Center for Financial Security (CFS) and Asset Funders Network (AFN) are ready to share the findings from the Financial Coaching Census 2016 (report). Join AFN on June 12, 2017 at 10:00am PT // 1:00pm ET for a live webinar with the author and research team who will host Insights from the Financial Coaching Field.
Professional Conference: Registration is now open for OFN’s 2017 Small Business Finance Forum, June 15 and 16 at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park.
Grant Opportunity: SBA released the NOFA for the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME). SBA will consider granting awards on two tracks — technical assistance and capacity building. It anticipates issuing approximately 35 awards of $50,000 – $250,000. It’s a great source of funding for training and technical assistance for low-income and minority entrepreneurs. Check out this excellent Q&A on the grant. The deadline is June 16, 2017. There are several other SBA grants also available that have to do with veteran procurement and training, Native American entrepreneurship, technology transfer, and more.
Professional Conference: Register for Credit Builders Alliance’s 2017 Credit Building Symposium, June 26-27 in Washington, DC.
Funding Opportunity: OFN announced their NEXT Fund for Innovation, a pilot that will provide flexible capital in amounts ranging from $500,000 to $2 million to CDFIs with innovative ideas. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis now through June 30, 2017. The fund is open to all qualifying CDFIs, including non-OFN Members and past NEXT Awards recipients.
Grant Opportunity: The USDA is seeking applications for technical assistance and training grants in the Community Facilities program. Learn more from the Federal Register Notice. The deadline is July 24, 2017.
Non-Profit Tip: Where to Find Free Training and Support for Nonprofit Professionals.
For Your Clients: The Freelancers Union app connects members in need with lawyers who want to work with freelancers.
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