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Budgets: State and Federal, microTracker Census

  • Budgets: California and Federal
  • MicroLending Academy Learning Opportunities
  • Be Counted – Microenterprise Census
  • The Goodies – This week’s highlight includes a big heads up for CDFIs in CA! The CDFI Fund is on a listening tour for ideas on improving this program. The only session for California CDFIs is on July 7 in San Francisco at the Federal Reserve Bank. Registration is free, and each session is open to the first 50 participants that sign up. Register for the San Francisco Session on July 7, 2015 from 9:00am – 1:00pm.

Budgets: California and Federal

Governor Jerry Brown signed a $167 billion budget for California on Wednesday. The budget includes a small amount for small business training – $2 million to match federal dollars for the SBDCs. To access the money, the SBDCs will be encouraged to reach out to other resources partners.

On a more positive side, the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee has marked up the bill that funds the SBA and CDFI Fund. We’re happy to see some major increases in the Microloan Program as well as for the WBC program. Women entrepreneurs win as the majority of the loan recipients in the Microloan Program are women! Next step is the full House (likely to adopt). The Senate has yet to release its draft bill that will eventually merge with the House legislation. Our advocacy continues to pay off, especially since non-defense funding has been cut overall.

  • SBA PRIME – $5 Million (same as FY15)
  • SBA Micro Lending – $35 Million ($25 million in FY15, 40% increase)
  • SBA Micro TA – $25 Million ($22.3 million in FY15, 12% increase)
  • SBA WBC Program – $17 Million ($15 million in FY15, 13% increase)
  • SBA SBDC Program – $117 Million ($115 million in FY15, 1.7% increase)
  • CDFI Fund – $233.5 Million ($230.5 million in FY15, 1.5% increase)
  • USDA Rural Business Development Program formerly RBEG and RBOG) – forthcoming
  • USDA RMAP – forthcoming

MicroLending Academy Learning Opportunities

Two excellent learning opportunities are coming your way in the first half of July, so mark your calendars.

Register for  July 8 – Balance Sheets Part II. Now that we all know what a balance sheet is and how it operates (revisit Balance Sheet Basics), what type of analysis can we do with it? In this webinar we will review some common balance sheet ratios used by lenders, but then move onto analysis that is useful for business owner management decisions:

  • How much working capital does the business need to operate and to grow? Are there ways to manage working capital more efficiently?
  • What is the operating cycle of a business and can it tell the owner about business operations? Particularly, how is the owner managing inventory, bills and collections?
  • What does the balance sheet tell us about how a business has used debt and how much the business might qualify for? What type of debt does the business need most?
  • Finally, even if you work with businesses that don’t have balance sheets, how can you use this knowledge to direct clients to better business development decisions?

Our Excellence in Lending program started with an assessment of operations and performance, and became the focus of our annual Microlending Forum in January. We are following up with quarterly peer calls to discuss lending models and fine tune some metrics. Our goal is to digest big picture topics important to our CDFI members: the frameworks, processes and goals that underlie programs and lead to greater success.  These calls are for the big picture thinker at each CDFI, to support greater competitiveness, volume and efficiency. RSVP for our next EiL peer call on Wednesday July 15 from 1:30 – 2:30pm when we will talk about commitment to scale.

Be Counted – Microenterprise Census

Every year, CAMEO partners with FIELD at the Aspen Institute to conduct a census of microenterprise programs using the microTracker platform.

It’s time to stand up and be counted. CAMEO members that fill out the Census by July 17, 2015 will receive $100 toward lunch for staff members, like Arcata Economic Development Center (see group selfie of Ross and staff at Stardoughs) and others did last year. If you’ve already filled out the census, email Andrew for more information on your ‘free lunch’.

Need help? Tamra Thetford of FIELD presented this user-friendly guide to completing and understanding the microTracker Census. And again, email Andrew, he’ll walk you through it if necessary.

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!

Take Action: The SBA has issued a proposed rule that calls for implementation on sole source authority for the WOSB procurement program. This is the regulatory action required to give contracting officers the ability to sole source contracts to women owned companies. Our colleagues at AEO and WIPP fought hard to win this change to the WOSB program, giving women greater access to federal markets. Please take a couple of minutes to submit an onine support comment for sole source authority on the rule by June 30, 2015. Sample comment:

I support the proposed rule granting sole source authority to the WOSB procurement program. Sole source authority brings parity to the women’s procurement program and would greatly assist women in their access to federal contracts. I urge SBA to expedite the process to put this rule into place as soon as possible since the government is heading into the fourth quarter of its fiscal year. It is important to my business and my ability to access the federal market.

CDFI Conference: Registration is now open for OFN’s Fourth Annual Small Business Finance Forum, being held June 30-July 1,2015 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Chicago. The Forum will focus on the unique needs of CDFIs and other mission-driven small business lenders.

Industry Meeting: The CDFI Fund announced a five-city listening tour to solicit public input on a new strategic framework for the agency. Treasury has partnered with Federal Reserve banks across the country to host listening sessions in San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, New York, and Atlanta. Registration is free, and each session is open to the first 50 participants that sign up. Register for the San Francisco Session on July 7, 2015 from 9:00am – 1:00pm.

Professional Development Opportunity: The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund have two remaining workshops in their Expanding CDFI Coverage in Underserved Areas Capacity Building Initiative training series July 22-23, 2015 in Denver, CO and August 19-20, 2015 in Kansas City.

Funding Opportunity: The third-annual PG&E Economic Vitality Grant Program launched this week (June 1). This shareholder-funded program will support local job creation, workforce training, business development and other innovative programs that support local economic vitality and growth. It’s geared toward local government organizations, educational institutions and 501(c)(3) nonprofits throughout their service area. The online application is due July 31, 2015.