In this week’s Must Know:
- Feel the Love, Send the Love
- Writing Tips Webinar
- The Goodies: information on important opportunities like trainings, funding, scholarship programs.
Feel the Love, Send the Love
The Washington Post sent a little love our way by publishing a column by Claudia in response to the possible merger of the SBA and other federal agencies. Claudia wrote:
SBA is too focused on helping larger businesses, possibly a reflection of Ms. Mills’s background in venture capital…. We believe the SBA has largely ignored the needs of micro-businesses in America – despite the importance of such business in creating good local jobs.
Read the entire column, post comments and share widely with colleagues.
Then, send micro-love vibes to Claudia as she takes off for DC. On Monday, she’ll be the only practitioner in a small group addressing the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors on how to stimulate small business in under-served communities. And yes Fed Chair Ben Bernanke will be there. Claudia will make the case for micro and will ask the Fed to use its influence to support business technical assistance. Did you know venture capital creates 11.87 million jobs and micro enterprise creates 31 million? Neither did we until we looked. Check out a comparison of VC to MDO impacts. Claudia is going to leave this chart behind, feel free to use it as well.
On Monday, she’ll be the only practitioner in a small group addressing the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors on how to stimulate small business in under-served communities. And yes Fed Chair Ben Bernanke will be there. Claudia will make the case for micro and will ask the Fed to use its influence to support business technical assistance.
And we want to send out a little love to Sandy Mackovich from TMC Working Solutions, Michel Ottolia from VEDC, Otxin Echaide from Opportunity Fund and Scott Lewis from OBDC for participating in the Fancy Food Lenders forum on Tuesday and was sponsored by NASFT and CAMEO. The lenders discussed loan requirements, the terms of the loans and other aspects that would affect whether a company is eligible for microfinancing.
Writing Tips Webinar
Learn how to write those love letters, um, I mean better grant reports and brochures.
Whether you love to write or love to hate to write, good writing is an important skill. How you write says a lot about you and good writers are highly prized. In this webinar, we will go over a bunch useful tips to making your writing stand out. We will also engage in interactive exercises to practice what we’ve learned. Register for the Writing Tips webinar that will be held on February 24, 2012 at 10:00am PT. The webinar is free for CAMEO members. If you are not a CAMEO member and would like to audit a webinar, please contact us.
The Goodies
New opportunities for trainings, conference information, funding, scholarships, and other information that have crossed our desks since the last Must Know. A running tab of current Goodies is on the CAMEO website.
Webinar: BALLE Accelerating Community Capital Webinar Series presents Lending Circles: A Loan Model for Accessing Community Capital and Building Prosperity for All. Register for the webinar on February 14, 10:00-11:00 a.m. PT.
Survey:
Nonprofit Finance Fund is conducting its fourth annual nationwide survey examining the current state of the nonprofit sector. AEO and CAMEO hope that you will add your voice. The survey, which is anonymous and takes only 10-15 minutes to fill out, collects data on important financial and management issues facing the nonprofit sector. (View previous year’s findings and media attention.) Take the 2012 survey before February 15, 2012!
Free Webinar (hosted by AEO): Due to the state of the economy, accounts receivable (AR) management is one of the most pivotal and valuable traits for companies and organizations nationwide. Every 30 days receivables go down 12% in value. As lenders, effective AR Management can be the difference in your growth as an organization. In this webinar you will learn specific ways to improve your revenue cycle while at the same time gain experience in good collection techniques. Join AEO in taking a deep dive into the heart of valuable AR management and collection skills. Register for the webinar on February 16, 2012 from 10:00-1:00a.m. PST // 1:00-2:00p.m. EST.
California Small Farm Conference: The California Small Farm Conference will take place on March 4-6, 2012 in Valencia. It is the state’s premier gathering of small farmers, agricultural students, farmers’ market managers and others involved in the small farm industry. The three day educational conference includes day-long short courses and on-farm tours; focused workshops; engaging keynote addresses and numerous networking opportunities. Call 888-712-4188 to learn more about the conference.
CDFI Conference: Registration for the 2012 CDFI Institute is open! The Institute will take place on March 7th and 8th in Washington, DC at the Embassy Suites Convention Center Hotel. Learn more and register.
Free Legal Workshop: Attention business trainers and your clients, the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC), and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights are holding STARTING A BUSINESS 101: A FREE Legal Workshop to Help Your Business Idea Become Reality. The workshop will be on Thursday, March 8, 2012, 6:00-8:00pm at Mandela Gateway Community Room, 1350 7th Street, Oakland, CA 94607. Register and learn more or email for questions.
Grant Opportunity: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced the availability of $20.6 million in grant funding for the Reintegration of Ex-Offenders Adult Program. DOL expects to award 17 grants of approximately $1.2 million each for 27-months. Any non-profit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status may apply for these grants to provide pre-release and post-release services (including job training) to ex-offenders returning to high-poverty, high-crime communities. The Solicitation for Grant Applications is available on the Employment and Training Administration website. The deadline is March 13, 2012. Note to CAMEO members: you may want to partner with other prison groups to go after the funding and provide self-employment training.
Small Business Loan Fund Conference: The NADO Research Foundation’s Economic Development Finance Service (EDFS) will host a conference on April 24-26, 2012 in Burlington, VT. The event includes sessions that offer best practice examples from peers, plenaries that bring in top notch leaders in small business finance and technical assistance, a roundtable of federal agency program staff and many opportunities for attendees to share and exchange information, suggestions for problem solving, and a format for learning about new programs or solutions that can be replicated in your region. Register and learn more.
Grant Opportunity: In 2012 the California Consumer Protection Foundation will be accepting applications for approximately $1 million of grants under the Telecommunication Consumer Education Fund (TCEF). Successful TCEF projects will support the efforts of community-based organizations to ensure that Californians become more informed, savvy consumers of wireless telecom services. The next 2012 application deadline is May 1, 2012. Learn more.
Open Source Entrepreneurship Curriculum: C.E.O. Women was perhaps most noted for its groundbreaking ESL (English as a Second Language) entrepreneurship curriculum designed for entrepreneurs with limited English skills. On December 21, 2011, C.E.O. Women unfortunately had to close its doors due to funding cutbacks and the difficult economy. Believing that their work and innovations could still be of great benefit to the micro-enterprise industry at large, they decided to open source their most valuable assets. CAMEO is proud to host CEO Women’s assets.
Take Action: Two-thirds of American small business leaders believe the controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United v. FEC case hurts small companies. Our friends at the American Sustainable Business Council wants to overturn the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision. Learn more.