Last week, unemployed, potential entrepreneurs moved closer to being able to start their own small business. Congresswoman Lois Capps (CA-23) announced legislation that would enable local Workforce Investment Boards to offer training and assistance for self-employment.
“As we work to help small businesses grow and create jobs, we can’t overlook the importance of the smallest of businesses – our innovative entrepreneurs,” said Capps. “And the Central Coast is home to some of the nation’s most creative of them. This legislation will build on their success by helping ensure entrepreneurs have access to the resources they need to start their own businesses, create jobs and help our economy grow.”
This bill will help the unemployed all over the state become their own boss. This is welcome news in anticipation of Friday’s job numbers.
“In this time of high unemployment, we need to encourage job creation,” says Claudia Viek, C.E.O. of the California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity. “We need to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of the unemployed who could become self-employed. This bill enables us to turn the long-term unemployed into small business owners by eliminating systemic obstacles in the Workforce system.”
In December of 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) – authorized the Workforce Investment Boards (WIB) to provide entrepreneurial training services. However, local WIBs are reluctant to offer training; one of the reasons being that self-employment is more difficult to measure than wage employment. When someone is hired by a company from through the WIB system, a box can be checked. But when someone is building their own business, different measures must be used, measures that don’t fit neatly into current Department of Labor regulations
The Entrepreneurial Training Improvement Act of 2012 (H.R. 5805) addresses this problem and directs the DOL to establish alternative measures for the success of entrepreneurial training programs, making it easier for WIBs to offer these programs.
Company Information:
CAMEO’s mission is to promote jobs, economic opportunity and community well-being through entrepreneurship training, business coaching and microfinance. CAMEO is California’s statewide Micro Enterprise association made up of over 160 organizations, agencies and individuals dedicated to furthering the fortunes of micro-businesses in California..
Read this press release on PRWeb.