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Tax Reform and Small Business; Resiliency After Fires

In this Must Know…

Tax Reform and Small Business

Seven months have passed since Congress enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Among taxpayers – from individuals to business owners to nonprofits – the general feeling towards the tax bill is that of confusion. The vague language and complexity of many of the new provisions have left many scratching their heads, wondering if they’ll see any significant benefits on their tax returns. We’re gaining a little clarity, if not of the true impacts of the bill, at least on where the pain points lie and will be cause for concern going forward. For those of us in the microbusiness sector, the question is twofold:

  • how is the new tax law affecting small businesses, and
  • how is it affecting the organizations that serve them?

Check out the blog post on our website that Daniela put together to tease out some of those effects – “The Effects of The Tax Bill Are Starting To Show.”

Two CAMEO Webinars: Disaster Prep & Recovery; SBA Lending Programs

Our thoughts go out to our friends in Redding, Mendocino, and Lake County – as well as all the other areas that are experiencing the effects of the fires.

Register for Small Business Recovery and Resilience After a Disaster on Thursday, August 16, 2018, at 2:00 pm. We’ve gathered a panel of disaster program experts and CAMEO members that have had to respond to “Declared Disasters” and have experience delivering the appropriate services to their clients that have been affected.

After last year’s fire season and the start of this year’s, we’re living in a new normal. Last July saw 112 fire incidents, the year before 24. Fires and other disasters (earthquakes, floods, etc.) have a profound effect on local businesses. Don’t wait until it’s too late, prepare now.

To get an idea of how WEV responded last year, read “The Role of Business Assistance in Disaster Recovery Efforts.”

NALCAB hosts CAMEO for “Using Microloan & Community Advantage to Strengthen your Small Business Programs” on Wednesday, August 15, 2018, noon PT. Susan Brown and Mark Quinn will be giving an introduction to both SBA programs for the NALCAB audience. Feel free to join!

Take Action: The Census 2020

Congress is adjourned for a five-week recess. Your legislators are in their districts and states to meet with constituents, like you, to share updates on their efforts in Washington, D.C. They are eager to learn about how these efforts are impacting you. Take advantage of this opportunity to continue our advocacy work by engaging with your Members of Congress. Download the Summer Federal Recess Packet for 2018, which includes issues to bring up and contact information for your legislators.

One of the issues that were talked about quite a bit in the news last week was the 2020 U.S. Census. The U.S. Department of Commerce has said that the next census will include a citizenship question. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is suing the Trump administration because he says the question would make non-citizens reluctant to participate. California ‘s political representation depends on an accurate count, as does the distribution of billions in federal funds for critical public investments and services. Many California communities are vulnerable: about 75 percent of residents are considered hard to count. Check out PPIC’s 2020 Census Maps: California’s Hard-to-Count Communities to find out if your community is hard to count. Please register your opinion with your legislator.

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!

Partner Kudos: Happy 65th Birthday to the SBA!

Communications Resource: Need images, check out the doodle library.

New Report: The Federal Reserve Board and the Cleveland Fed recently published “Browsing to Borrow: Mom & Pop Small Business Perspectives on Online Lenders.” The report examines small business owners’ perceptions of online lenders and their understanding and interpretation of the information that online lenders use to describe their credit product. One very important finding: participants cited APR as one of the most important factors in understanding the true cost of a product.

For Your Clients: CDC Small Business Finance developed a primer for small business who “Want to Get an Online Small Business Loan?” It’s a great resource to share with all your clients!

For Your Clients: Greenlining invites you to take the 2018 Survey of U.S. Latino Business Owners. Every year, the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative (SLEI) surveys thousands of Latino business owners across the country to measure the critical impact Latino entrepreneurs have on the U.S. economy. Let your clients know that if they fill out a survey, they will have a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card (for completed surveys).

Professional Opportunity: OFN is accepting nominations for the Ned Gramlich Lifetime Achievement Award for Responsible Finance. Nominations are due August 13, 2018.

For Your Clients: California Competes Tax Credit applications are open! Attend an info webinar on August 13, 2018, at 9:00 am.

Free Webinar: Small Business Majority invites you to “Grow Smart: Wealth Building Tactics for Small Business Owners,” a free interactive webinar to help navigate retirement options and discover wealth building tactics for your small business on August 14, 2018, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm PDT.

Professional Meeting: The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the counties of Alameda, San Francisco, and San Mateo partnered with two CAMEO members – Working Solutions and Opportunity Fund – to develop a microloan program that provides capital for nail salons to become recognized as Healthy Nail Salons. Learn about the results of the pilot, and hear the story of how unlikely partners came together to promote the health of low-income nail salon workers. Register for “Expanding Access to Capital to Advance Healthy Nail Salons” on Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 10:00am-12:00noon.

Free Webinar: America’s cities are facing an identity crisis. Cities represent both the idealistic promises of economic opportunity and the unprecedented gap between the “haves” and the have-nots.” Join Prosperity Now and the National League of Cities (NLC) on Tuesday, August 21, 2018, from 11:00am-12: 00 pm PDT for “A Municipal Blueprint for a More Inclusive Path to Prosperity“.

Funding Opportunity: You can watch Go-Biz’s Small Business Technical Assistance Expansion Program (SB TAEP) Pre-Bid Webinar. Go-Biz also created a new page on the GO-Biz website that contains the Program Announcements for SB TAEP, the Capital Infusion Program, and the Small Business Technical Assistance Program (SB TAP). Applications are due for the TAEP program on August 24, 2018.

For Your Clients: The Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards is an annual international business plan competition created in 2006 to identify, support and encourage projects by women entrepreneurs. The application deadline is August 31, 2018.

For Your (Young) Clients: BizWorld is hosting the Girlpreneur competition during the WorldWideWomen Girls’ Festival at Santa Clara University on Sunday, October 6, 2018. They are inviting girls ages 8-18 to apply to pitch their business ideas to our panel of expert judges and compete for the Grand Prize of $1,000! The application deadline is September 2, 2018.

Professional Conference: Join Prosperity Now’s 2018 Prosperity Summit on September 5-7, 2018 in Maryland.

Professional Development: Opportunity Finance Network will hold Executive Training for CDFI Board Members on Thursday, September 27, 2018, in Jacksonville, FL. This is an executive-level course designed to strengthen high-performing CDFI board leadership.

Professional Conference: The 34th OFN Conference – “CDFIs: Agents of Change” – takes place October 8-11, 2018 at the Marriott Marquis Chicago.

For Your Clients: The U.S. Small Business Administration is now accepting nominations for its 2019 National Small Business Week Awards, including the annual Small Business Person of the Year. The deadline is January 9, 2019.

Got Federal Funds: The US General Services Administration has changed their policies regarding the online System for Award Management. As of April 27th, all users must submit a notarized letter naming an Entity Administrator to the Federal Services Desk in order to activate their sam.gov registration. Any organization applying for federal or state funding through grants.gov is required to have a current registration with sam.gov in order to submit their application, so make sure to check your account! More information, including a template for the notarized letter, click the link.

New Report: The SBA Office of Advocacy release “One Year of Equity Crowdfunding: Initial Market Development and Trends.”

New Report: The SBA Office of Advocacy Research release “Why Do Businesses Close“, using U.S. Census Bureau data, and found that over the last 25 years, about 7–9 percent of employer firms close every year and a slightly higher share open. Many reasons for closing are personal.

Free Webinar: EARN hosted “Big Data on Small Savings.” Click to download the slides.