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Youth Zeitgeist and Us

CAMEO’s Viva! symposium gets some ink!

In this week’s Must Know:

  • Small Business Saturday
  • The Goodies: information on important opportunities like trainings, funding, scholarship programs. This week’s highlight is Valley Economic Development Center hosts a bunch of CAMEO members for Where’s the Money? Access to Capital Business Expo on November 19, 2011 in San Francisco.

Small Biz Zeitgeist

A recent essay in The New York Times“Generation Sell” – explores today’s youth culture, what they value and how that manifests itself in society. And guess what my fellow micros… the really hip thing to do is open your own business!

The small business is the idealized social form of our time. Our culture hero is not the artist or reformer, not the saint or scientist, but the entrepreneur…. The characteristic art form of our age may be the business plan.

Read the article. Think about what this means for your organization and what steps you might take to address the new zeitgeist. THEN comment on our Facebook page (like us while you’re there), so that we can learn how to take advantage of the opportunity and not risk looking like a hippie in a hipster world.

Now if only the federal government would get with it. The first of the FY2012 spending bills came out the conference committee today – the one that funds the U.S.D.A has $24.3 million for RBEG in FY2012 – a 38% cut from 2010 funding for rural business support.

Small Business Saturday

First there was Black Friday, then Cyber Monday. Now, Small Business Saturday is an event that drives shoppers to local, independently-owned merchants. Small Business Saturday is a national initiative that marks a day to support the local business that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country – something that CAMEO and its members do every day. Learn how you can get involved and support the national recognition. Check out the small biz stats. Two of our sister organizations, AEO and WIPP (Women Impacting Public Policy), are national sponsors!

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.

CAMEO Member Event: Valley Economic Development Center hosts Where’s the Money? Access to Capital Business Expo on November 19, 2011 from 8:00a.m – 2:30p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. Joining VEDC are other CAMEO members and many of our banking partners. Register for $10.

Advocacy Action: Support Individual Development Accounts. Our colleagues at CFED are asking organizations to sign a letter that opposes cuts to the matched savings program. The deadline to add your organization is Tuesday, November 22 9pm ET.

New Policy Guide: CFED released a new report – With a Stroke of a Pen: Two Dozen Low-cost, Politically Viable State Policy Ideas to Increase Financial Security and Opportunity in Tough Fiscal Times, which presents 24 low-cost, politically-viable policy ideas to increase financial security and opportunity in fiscal times.

Free Webinars on Measuring Success by Field: Free webinars to learn how to adopt data analytic techniques long used by the private sector to improve performance. The December 1st and December 9th webinars will help you use benchmarking tools in detail to understand the state of the industry and assess your program’s performance. Register today!

For your clients: CARAT is providing technology training programs for free to small businesses in California. Check out the schedules for November 2011, December 2011 and January 2012.

Capacity Building Grants for Consulting: Three consulting grants are available for Women, Green and General Microenterprise Development through several organizations who are working with Friedman Associates – CAMEO member, Women’s Initiative is one of those organizations. Applications are due November 30, 2011.

Webinar: Building the Right Funding Model: Building upon years of primary research and consulting experience with dozens of nonprofit clients, The Bridgespan Group has developed an approach for how an organization can identify and develop a funding model that will allow it to achieve its programmatic aspirations. The Stanford Social Innovation Review hosts this webinar on November 30, 2011 at 11:00a.m. The cost is $49. Learn more and register.

Facilitator Training: Learn how to implement Ice House Entrepreneurship Program in your community. From young adults to higher education and workforce training, this highly interactive and engaging program is redefining entrepreneurship education in America. The training is Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 6:00 PM – Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 3:00 PM in Kansas City, MO. Register here.