- Women’s Small Business Ownership Act of 2014 – NEW!
- CAMEO Webinars: Train the Trainer on Insurance and DIY
- The Goodies – This week’s highlights includes an hour of free communications consulting with Social Change Consulting.
Women’s Small Business Ownership Act
The momentum for women’s entrepreneurship continues to grow! Yesterday, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the Women’s Small Business Ownership Act of 2014 (S. 2693). The bill addresses three areas where women entrepreneurs continue to face barriers: access to training and counseling, access to capital, and access to the federal market.
- A re-authorization of the Women’s Business Center (WBC) program through fiscal year 2019
- Funding of WBCs increased from $14.5 million a year to $26.75 million a year
- Increased federal contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses,
- More flexibility for the SBA Microloan program that will increase access to capital for women.
We have worked hard with AEO and other partners to promote women’s entrepreneurship. We thank Senator Cantwell for her leadership on this issue and look forward to making sure this bill passes. We will definitely need your support, so get ready to write letters and engage your federal legislators.
Check out the report released at last week’s U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Hearing: 21st Century Barriers to Women’s Entrepreneurship. The report finds that women entrepreneurs still face challenges getting fair access to capital, getting equal access to federal contracts, and getting relevant business training and counseling. It also includes lots of great data and talking points.
The photo is of Patty Rodriguez, who was a 2014 Faces of Entrepreneurship winner and Working Solutions client.
CAMEO Webinars: Insurance and DIY
Business Insurance: A Must Have: a webinar for trainers to learn what their clients need
Are you an insurance expert? If your answer is NO, then this webinar is for you. Your clients need insurance. This webinar is intended to introduce you to the types of insurance that may be appropriate for your clients’ businesses. Join our colleague, Micro Business Champion of the year and insurance expert, Scott Hauge for a short webinar that will provide practical information that you can pass on to your clients. Register for the webinar on August 14, 2014 at 2:00pm.
Building a Do-It-Yourself Economy
The nature of our economy is changing and that means our economic development toolkit needs an update. A shift is needed to move from old methods that may have worked for a different economy to a new innovative, creative and flexible method that will work for today’s economy – a method that is based on creating jobs locally, one that is based on a DIY economy. Register for this webinar on August 13, 2014 at 1:00pm PT about the DIY economy, co-hosted with our colleagues at CALED.
Read the CAMEO White Paper: Do-It-Yourself Economic Growth: How Communities Can Cultivate Their Talent and Thrive.
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!
Free Communications Consulting: With new technology and communication tools popping up all of the time, it can be difficult to know the most effective way for your organization to reach your goals and reach new customers. To help you learn the best tools, resources, and strategies available, Social Change Consulting is offering to host five upcoming one-on-one sessions for our members. In these sessions, you will have the opportunity to ask questions, develop ideas, and discuss challenges with experienced practitioners. Social Change Consulting helps nonprofit and social entrepreneurship organizations grow their audience, reach new members, and create more impact through efficient and effective communication strategies. Their expertise includes social media, database management, email communication, and website implementation.
If you are interested in this free service, email me. The first five organizations to reply will be eligible for a free hour of consulting with Social Change Consulting.
Webinar: IEDC hosts Tourism Resources & Strategies for Your Community on August 12, 2014, 11:00am – 12:30pm PT // 2:00 – 3:30pm ET. Does your community take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the travel and tourism industry? Is tourism part of your economic development strategy? The webinar is $95 for IEDC members, $135 for Non-members.
Healthcare Webinars: The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are committed to helping businesses navigate the changes and opportunities in health care through the webinar series What the Healthcare Law Means For Your California Small Business . It’s every two weeks in English and monthly in Spanish. The next ones are on August 13, 2014 at 10:00am and August 20, 2014 at 1:00pm respectively. Note the Small Business Health Option Program’s online enrollment function is on hold and will be back online in the fall. Businesses can still purchase insurance through the traditional paper process, working with your Certified agent or the SHOP Service Center. A recent survey by Transamerica Center for Health Studies revealed six in 10 small businesses are aware of SHOP, but only 56 percent of them feel very informed about their company’s options for health insurance. Check out this new online guide of small business health plan options and costs through SHOP.
Healthcare Info In Spanish: Our friends at Small Business California helped create a new Spanish-language website to help Latino business owners and employees learn how to comply with the health care law along with The California Endowment and Health Law Guide for Business.