iResult, LLC – Monterey Bay

Nominated by the California State University at Monterey Bay Small Business Development Center

In 2009, the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District was working to turn the district around, but found themselves hampered by the lack of real-time data. Enter Dawn Verdick and iResult. The company developed software to gauge the impact of district policies and an efficiency model to help fully utilize existing community supports. iResult tracks student engagement, academic progress and college readiness for each student in the district, and connects those results to the community services the student receives, allowing the district to determine which programs and services are most effective.

During its two-year pilot program, iResult helped the MPUSD secure $16 million of much-needed additional funding for Seaside’s Turnaround Schools as part of a School Improvement Grant. The number of high school students applying to college doubled in a single year, and 28% more students passed required high school exit exams.

iResult transitioned to a for-profit Limited Liability Company in 2011, but operates as one of the few for-profit Social Enterprises in the United States, with 50% of their shareholder base made up of local and family foundations. They currently serve over 35 schools and more than 25,000 students, and employ four workers and seven independent contractors. As the company grows, they plan to reduce the number of contractors by hiring directly. iResult launches nationwide in the spring of 2013.

Don Polvoron – Hayward

Nominated by the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center

Jorge and Oscar Flores started Don Polvoron in 2006, specializing in traditional Latin American dishes and baked goods. The brothers were committed to their business; Jorge sold his house in order to raise capital to get the business off the ground.  With their clientele expanding and orders pouring in almost faster than they could process them, they realized they needed some extra guidance and support to ensure their continued success. Thanks to training they received from Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, they developed a business strategy that enabled them to extend their hours and broaden their range of products.

In addition to running their business, the Flores brothers are also strong community advocates. Twice a week, the bakery hosts a free cake testing for the community, gaining new clients and adapting their cake recipes to the dietary restrictions of surrounding communities. They also conduct cake-making workshops with kindergartners from local schools, teaching students how make dough, shape and decorate cookies. For more information, visit their website at www.donpolvoronpanaderia.com

• CAMEO at AEO
• The Goodies: This week’s highlight includes a free webinar – Working Smart: How to Understand Your Profit and Loss Statements to Increase the Bottom Line – hosted by JEDI with Arcata EDC, CAMEO, North Coast SBDC and West Company on May 22 @ 6:00pm.
• Watch our video CAMEO Connects to illustrate the power of locally-grown small-businesses.

CAMEO at AEO

As is our tradition, the CAMEO membership was out in full force last week’s AEO Conference in St. Louis. The conference started with Marsha Bailey (WEV) and Sharon Miller (Renaissance Center) at a forum that celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Business Ownership Act and engaged the audience in a great discussion of how women need to ‘think big’ and how we can bring more resources to women entrepreneurs. Claudia participated in a panel with the head of the National Association of Workforce Boards on how to integrate self-employment into the workforce system (and gained a new partner in the process.) Others from the CAMEO family that were on panels include Megan Fielding (Microplace), Jason Friedman (Friedman Associates), Maika Hemphill (Kiva), Dairo Romero (Mission Economic Development Agency) and Eric Weaver (Opportunity Fund.) And of course we had our fun at the CAMEO dinner. It was great to see so many new faces.

Other highlights for me were two inspiring speakers: Will Allen of Growing Power and Daymond John of Shark Tank and FUBU. Will Allen spreads profitable urban food gardens in the inner city of Detroit and around the world. And Daymond went from selling urban style T-shirts in his mom’s basement to his own plush corporate office of a $4 billion company and a leading role on Shark Tank. Both men are engaged in interesting projects that are inspiring entrepreneurs in under-served areas. If you didn’t attend AEO and have the chance to hear them speak – do it – and make sure you check out their projects by visiting their websites.

The Goodies

New opportunities for trainings, 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 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!

Member Kudos: Salam Nalia (CAMEO board member) was profiled in the Fresno Business Journal.

California Economic Forums: They began last month and are taking place all over the state. The goal is to identify local priorities for investing in people, infrastructure and innovation to prepare our state to compete in the 21st century global economy. Please participate if you can and represent our sector. Make sure you identify as a member of CAMEO and spread the message of micro (download the talking points).

Free Webinars: Opportunity Finance Network hosts Scaling Up Microfinance, a series of ten, free technical assistance webinars from now to October 2013. The goal of the CDFI Fund’s Scaling Up Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative is to create jobs, build assets, and reduce poverty by scaling microfinance operations. The next topic is Technology to Improve Performance and Efficiency: on May 21, 2013 at 11:00am PT. Find a full list of topics and webinars as well as registration information.

Free Teleconference: Hear what’s coming for National Small Business Week on June 17-21, 2013 with Fred Baldassaro, the Assistant Adminstrator at the SBA. Register for the call on May 23 at 11:00am PT sponsored by Small Business Majority and CAMEO.

Free Webinar: (for your clients) – Inspired Marketing: How to Creatively and Consistently Communicate to Your Ideal Customers: Understand the benefits to sending consistent messages to your potential clients; design a compelling mission statement; illustrate and demonstrate your business value; and integrate your messaging into your marketing plan. Join Joy Taylor and JEDI on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 from 6:00-7:15pm. Learn more and register. This webinar is presented by JEDI in collaboration with Arcata EDC, CAMEO, North Coast SBDC and West Company.

Free Teleconference: The last Wednesday of each month, a representative from the White House holds Chamber Chatter with The White House to talk about what’s being done at the federal level for small business. The next one is on May 29 at 11:00am PT. Register for the call sponsored by Small Business Majority and CAMEO..

Grant Opportunity – (for your client): The EILEEN FISHER grant program seeks applicants from wholly women-owned businesses that combine the principles of social consciousness, sustainability, and innovation to create new businesses or invigorate existing ones. Deadline is May 31st, 2013.

Public Banking Conference 2013: Funding the New Economy will take place in San Rafael, California on June 2-4. They will explore one of the core foundations of successful economies around the world: a distributed network of public banks that operate in the public interest of each respective community. It starts off with a Conversation among Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone magazine), Birgitta Jonsdottir (Member of Icelandic Parliament), Ellen Brown (author of Web of Debt), and Gar Alperovitz.

Free Webinar: (for your clients) – Working Smart: How to Understand Your Profit and Loss Statements to Increase the Bottom Line. Numbers tell stories when you know how to read them. In order to be sustainable and thrive, smart entrepreneurs turn to their financial statements to make empowered decisions. Questions to be answered:

• How does understanding my financial statement help me?
• What are some of the ABC’s so I can talk to my accountant and banker more easily?
• What are some new ways for me to improve my profits that I can recognize through Profit and Loss (P&L) analysis?
• How does P&L assessment help me grow?

Join Susan Brown and JEDI on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 Monday, June 10, from 6:00-7:15pm. Learn more and register. This webinar is presented by JEDI in collaboration with Arcata EDC, CAMEO, North Coast SBDC and West Company.

Refugee Microenterprise Development Grant: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has announced the availability of funds for the Refugee Microenterprise Development Project. ORR has supported microenterprise development projects since 1991 through the award of discretionary grants to a variety of public agencies, community economic development agencies, local mutual assistance associations, and voluntary agencies. Non-profits qualify. Applications are due June 10, 2013.

2013 Small Business Finance Forum: OFN hosts a CDFI conference focused on the small business sector on June 11-12, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. Remember CAMEO can offset some of the costs for this and other conferences. Contact Shufina English for more information.

• Deadline for Free Lunch, Fill Out Survey
• CAMEO’s Annual Meeting
• The Goodies: This week’s highlight includes a free webinar – Selling Products in California: How to Get a Resale Tax ID – hosted by JEDI with Arcata EDC, CAMEO, North Coast SBDC and West Company.
• Watch our video CAMEO Connects to illustrate the power of locally-grown small-businesses.

Deadline for Free Lunch, Fill Out Survey

FIELD at the Aspen Institute has launched the 2013 U.S. Microenterprise Census! And CAMEO is partnering once again with FIELD for our annual survey. We can’t emphasize enough how critical this information is to our policy work on your behalf. So it’s time to gather your data and fill out the census.

If you complete the survey by tomorrow May 10, 2013, CAMEO will treat you and your staff to lunch up to $100!! That’s the Renaissance Center Marin staff enjoying their lunch last year.

CAMEO’s Annual Meeting

CAMEO’s Annual Member Meeting, Faces of Entrepreneurship Award, and Legislative Day
June 5-6, 2013
Sacramento

Sign up! today!

We promise you an intellectually stimulating, personally inspiring and just plain fun time– as always! (see pic left where CAMEO members are engaged in last year’s local economic development game.)

This year’s main theme is Self-employment: THE Labor Market Trend and what it means for Micro. Other highlights include:

• Fifth Annual Rural Summit
• Self-employment: THE Labor Market Trend
• Faces of Entrepreneurship Awards and Celebration (see below for nomination information)
• Member-only dinner at Tequila Museo Mayahuel Tequila Museum
• Leg Day: support the micro bills that are moving through the California legislature

Sign up! Learn more about the agenda, hotel, parking and other logistics. The deadline for the block rooms in the hotel is May 14, 2013.

The Goodies

New opportunities for trainings, 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 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!

Member Kudos: Congratulations to Catherine Marshall, whose e-book edition of “Field Building: Your Blueprint for Creating an Effective and Powerful Social Movement” has been named the Gold Medal winner of the 2012 e-Lit Awards for Current Affairs-Social Issues. The e-Lit Awards are dedicated to honoring the best independently published e-books of the year.

California Economic Forums: They began this week and are taking place all over the state. The ones in April are in SLO, Inland Empire and San Joaquin Valley. The goal is to identify local priorities for investing in people, infrastructure and innovation to prepare our state to compete in the 21st century global economy. Please participate if you can and represent our sector. Make sure you identify as a member of CAMEO.

Free Webinar: CAMEO is co-sponsoring a webinar hosted by Small Business Majority – What Immigration Reform Means for your California Small Business – on May 10, 2013 at 10:00am PT. Register to learn about the latest of immigration reform and what it means for small business.

Free Webinars: Opportunity Finance Network hosts Scaling Up Microfinance, a series of ten, free technical assistance webinars from now to October 2013. The goal of the CDFI Fund’s Scaling Up Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative is to create jobs, build assets, and reduce poverty by scaling microfinance operations. The next topic is Adding New Microfinance Products to Scale & Increase Impact on May 14, 2013 at 11:00am PT. Find a full list of topics and webinars as well as registration information.

Free Webinar: Credit Builders Alliance hosts Know the Score: What’s in a Score? on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 11:00am – 12:00noon PST // 2:00pm – 3:00 pm EST. Whether you make loans, coach consumers on credit issues, or just want to keep abreast of new industry endeavors, join CBA and CoreLogic to learn more about the myriad of credit scores available to both lenders and consumers today and new supplemental credit sources. Register for the credit score webinar.

Free Webinar/Grant Opportunity: Need help applying for a national CCHD grant? On May 15, 2013 at 11:00am, CAMEO will host a webinar with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), a funding source for micro-business development. Presented by Beth Hyser, the session is aimed at 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that serve low income people in rural or urban areas. Pre-applications for the next cycle of the CCHD grant program will be available from Sept. – Nov. 1, 2013. Register for this webinar to learn how to apply for a CCHD grant. Login and dial-in information will be furnished upon registration.

Free Webinar: (for your clients) – Selling Products in California: How to Get a Resale Tax ID and e-file with the State of California. Are you a business owner and anticipate that your company will be selling a product? Then join JEDI on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 from 6:00-8:00pm. Learn more and register. This webinar is presented by JEDI in collaboration with Arcata EDC, CAMEO, North Coast SBDC and West Company.

Conference: The Social Enterprise Alliance hosts Building an Economy on Purpose, May 19-22, 2013 in Minneapolis, MN. Summit ’13 is designed around the goal of building our economy on a purpose greater than profit. They’ve identified seven building blocks of a for-purpose economy and structured conference programming around them: policy, capital, markets, knowledge, spirit, talent, and community. CAMEO’s Individual Training program that can offset some of the costs for the conferences listed here. Contact Shufina English for more information.

Public Banking Conference 2013: Funding the New Economy will take place in San Rafael, California on June 2-4. They will explore one of the core foundations of successful economies around the world: a distributed network of public banks that operate in the public interest of each respective community. It starts off with a Conversation among Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone magazine), Birgitta Jonsdottir (Member of Icelandic Parliament), Ellen Brown (author of Web of Debt), and Gar Alperovitz.

Refugee Microenterprise Development Grant: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has announced the availability of funds for the Refugee Microenterprise Development Project. ORR has supported microenterprise development projects since 1991 through the award of discretionary grants to a variety of public agencies, community economic development agencies, local mutual assistance associations, and voluntary agencies. Non-profits qualify. Applications are due June 10, 2013.

2013 Small Business Finance Forum: OFN hosts a CDFI conference focused on the small business sector on June 11-12, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. Remember CAMEO can offset some of the costs for this and other conferences. Contact Shufina English for more information.

Born and raised in Texas, Chef Tina Ferguson-Riffe tapped a unique source of “start-up” funding to get her BBQ restaurant—Smoke Berkeley—off the ground.

“I got a call out of the blue. It turned out my father had owned some water rights in Texas, and twenty years after he passed away they tracked me down. I sold them and used the money to help start this business. So it’s almost like this restaurant is a gift from my daddy, twenty years in the making,” said Tina.

Tina had been out of work for three years before opening Smoke Berkeley. Previously employed as a head chef, in 2008 she was laid off when the recession hit.

“I started this business because I wanted a job. I’m 62 years old. It’s hard to get work at my age. I was making really good money and then the market crashed. I couldn’t get anyone to give me a chance,” said Tina.

Tina opened Smoke Berkeley’s doors in October 2011 with the goal of cooking the kind of food she grew up eating, made with fresh, local ingredients. She’s also committed to hiring staff from employment training programs, like The Bread Project. But despite garnering rave reviews, the restaurant needed additional financing to become more profitable.

Opportunity Fund gave Smoke Berkeley a $20,000 loan.

“We used the loan to buy equipment for the restaurant. We wanted to make it run better and cook more food, just to increase the volume of our revenue. And oh yeah, we have definitely seen an increase!” said Tina.

Now that the summer months are coming, Tina and her staff of seven employees are looking forward to watching Smoke Berkeley grow. Barbecue cuisine is a seasonal business. As Tina explains, “We thrive in sunshine and wither in the rain.” Fortunately for her, Opportunity Fund has a one-of-a-kind loan for small businesses just like Smoke, unique in the U.S. microlending industry. Tina received Opportunity Fund’s EasyPay loan, which is repaid when her credit card processor takes a small percentage of daily credit card transactions as repayment. With EasyPay, she pays back the loan bit by bit every day as sales ebb and flow, rather than in a fixed monthly payment that can be too big in the lean months.

“My business has grown so much. I don’t know what my options would have been without Opportunity Fund.”

Marc earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in History with an Economics minor from California State University, Chico in 1976.

Marc currently serves as Investment Committee chairman and Board member with the $24 million California Economic Development Lending Initiative (CEDLI). He received the Certified Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) designation from the National Development Council in 1992.

• CAMEO Works For You
• CAMEO Webinar on Grant Opportunity
• The Goodies: This week’s highlight includes a possible refund for you and your clients, whomever collects money via credit cards. Learn more about the credit card settlement.
• Watch our video CAMEO Connects to illustrate the power of locally-grown small-businesses.

CAMEO Works for You

CAMEO loves its members. We love to have you all in the same room, so we can generate new ideas and energy to move our sector forward. We advocate on your behalf. We’re always on the look out for opportunities and information that will benefit your organization. And that’s what this issue of the Must Know is all about, as the next few months hold many opportunities for you and your organizations.

Nominate your client for CAMEO’s 3rd annual Faces of Entrepreneurship Awards by April 30, 2013. Awards will be presented at the Annual CAMEO Member Meeting in Sacramento on June 5-6, 2013.

FIELD at the Aspen Institute has launched the 2013 U.S. Microenterprise Census! And CAMEO is partnering once again with FIELD for our annual survey. So it’s time to gather your data and fill out the census. If you complete the survey by May 10, 2013, CAMEO will treat you and your staff to lunch up to $100!! Last year, CVBI (pictured) took advantage of the opportunity for some staff bonding time on CAMEO. If you’re not the person who fills out the census, then mention the free staff lunch to them.

CAMEO Webinar on Grant Opportunity

Need help applying for a national CCHD grant? Beth Hyser and the National Catholic Rural Life Conference are here to help!

On May 15, 2013 at 11:00am, CAMEO will host a webinar about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), a funding source for micro-business development. Presented by Beth Hyser, the session is aimed at 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that serve low income people in rural or urban areas. Pre-applications for the next cycle of the CCHD grant program will be available from Sept. – Nov. 1, 2013.

Register for this webinar to learn how to apply for a CCHD grant. Login and dial-in information will be furnished upon registration.

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops created the CCHD grant program 40 years ago to provide funding to groups of low income people who are empowered to address the causes of poverty in their communities. CCHD has provided nearly 8,000 grants to community groups address a range of issues such as micro-enterprise development, community marketplaces or co-operatives for small artisans and growers, legal advocacy to enforce fair wages, environmental justice, affordable housing in low-income neighborhoods, and church/parish based social action organizing. The National Catholic Rural Life Conference works with CCHD to offer free outreach and consulting to rural community groups that address poverty.

The Goodies

New opportunities for trainings, 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 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!

Possible Refund for You and Your Clients: In the last few months, many businesses should have received letters regarding the large settlement reached in the long-running lawsuit over the interchange rates that Visa and Mastercard have charged businesses and non-profits in the past. Any person, business or other entity that accepted Visa or MasterCard credit or debit cards in the U.S. at any time between January 1, 2004 and November 28, 2012 may be eligible to receive a payment from the $6.05 billion settlement fund. You can learn more about the settlement and preregister for reimbursement at the court authorized website. This is the only website with court authorized information about the settlement.

California Economic Forums: They began this week and are taking place all over the state. The ones in April are in SLO, Inland Empire and San Joaquin Valley. The goal is to identify local priorities for investing in people, infrastructure and innovation to prepare our state to compete in the 21st century global economy. Please participate if you can and represent our sector. Make sure you identify as a member of CAMEO.

Grant Opportunity: The Huffington Post, Skoll Foundation and Half the Sky Movement are teaming up to Invest in Women who Change the World. On April 24, they’re launching the RaiseForWomen Challenge, a fundraising Challenge to help female-focused charities gain recognition and resources. And, they’re giving away $75,000. Deadline is April 24, 2013 to sign up.

Small Business Event: Intuit hosts Hire Smart on April 27, 2013 at Intuit’s offices in Mountain View. It’s a free event to help small businesses hire their first employee. Learn more and register.

Free Webinars: Opportunity Finance Network hosts Scaling Up Microfinance, a series of ten, free technical assistance webinars from April to October 2013. The goal of the CDFI Fund’s Scaling Up Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative is to create jobs, build assets, and reduce poverty by scaling microfinance operations. The next topic is Encouraging Innovation and Developing Talent on April 30, 2013 at 11:00am PT. Find a full list of topics and webinars as well as registration information.

CAMEO Event: CAMEO co-sponsors a networking reception hosted by New Resource Bank and ASBC on May 1, 2013 5:30-7:30pm at the New Resource Bank Office in downtown San Francisco. Join with fellow business leaders to share ideas about the important role that business can play in supporting public policies that build a more just and sustainable economy. RSVP required.

Free Webinar: Friedman Associates host: Prep My CDFI! and Get the CARS(TM) Rating You Deserve! on May 1, 2013 at 11:00am PT // 2:00pm ET. More investors require CDFIs to produce positive financial returns and data that demonstrate long-term impacts. Register to learn more about CARS(TM) and how Friedman Associates will help you get the CARS(TM) rating you want!

RFP Opportunity: The City of Ukiah invites proposals for Underwriting Services for Community Development Block Grant Economic Development Allocation Program. Proposals are due no later than 12:00 pm, May 8, 2013. Download Ukiah’s RFP (it includes contact information.)

Economic Development Conference: California Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA)’s annual teaching and learning conference is in San Francisco on May 9 at the Hilton. Registration fees are $75 for members and $90 for non-members Scholarships are available, contact CAMEO for information.

Free Webinar: CAMEO is co-sponsoring a webinar hosted by Small Business Majority – What Immigration Reform Means for your California Small Business – on May 10, 2013 at 10:00am PT. Register to learn about the latest of immigration reform and what it means for small business.

Conference: The Social Enterprise Alliance hosts Building an Economy on Purpose, May 19-22, 2013 in Minneapolis, MN. Summit ’13 is designed around the goal of building our economy on a purpose greater than profit. They’ve identified seven building blocks of a for-purpose economy and structured conference programming around them: policy, capital, markets, knowledge, spirit, talent, and community. CAMEO’s Individual Training program that can offset some of the costs for the conferences listed here. Contact Shufina English for more information.

Public Banking Conference 2013: Funding the New Economy will take place in San Rafael, California on June 2-4. They will explore one of the core foundations of successful economies around the world: a distributed network of public banks that operate in the public interest of each respective community. It starts off with a Conversation among Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone magazine), Birgitta Jonsdottir (Member of Icelandic Parliament), Ellen Brown (author of Web of Debt), and Gar Alperovitz.

Refugee Microenterprise Development Grant: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has announced the availability of funds for the Refugee Microenterprise Development Project. ORR has supported microenterprise development projects since 1991 through the award of discretionary grants to a variety of public agencies, community economic development agencies, local mutual assistance associations, and voluntary agencies. Non-profits qualify. Applications are due June 10, 2013.

2013 Small Business Finance Forum: OFN hosts a CDFI conference focused on the small business sector on June 11-12, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. Remember CAMEO can offset some of the costs for this and other conferences. Contact Shufina English for more information.

Have a pressing question affecting the Micro sector? Share it with us so we can open up discussion on the Question of the Week.

In this week’s Must Know

• CAMEO at AEO
• Annual Survey
• The Goodies: This week’s highlight includes CAMEO’s Individual Training program that can offset some of the costs for all of the conferences listed in The Goodies. Contact Shufina English for more information.
• Watch our video CAMEO Connects to illustrate the power of locally-grown small-businesses.

CAMEO at AEO

Let us know if you are going to the AEO Conference, Tilt Forward on May 5-8 in St. Louis. We want to invite you to the CAMEO member dinner. And early bird prices for the conference are still available until Friday.

Once again, the California imprint will be strong at AEO. Because of her leadership of integrating entrepreneurship within the Workforce system, Claudia will participate in a panel entitled One in Three in Action: How the National Association of Workforce Boards and AEO are Partnering to Unleash Main Street’s Power to Hire One. Micro-businesses and self-employment are key to rebooting the American economy. What is the the community support, infrastructure and resources that entrepreneurs and small businesses need to survive, thrive, and ultimately grow? Others from the CAMEO family that are on panels include Marsha Bailey (Women’s Economic Ventures), Megan Fielding (Microplace), Jason Friedman (Friedman Associates), Maika Hemphill (Kiva), Sharon Miller (Renaissance Center), Dairo Romero (Mission Economic Development Agency) and Eric Weaver (Opportunity Fund.)

On Monday May 6, 8:00am-12noon, join CAMEO members Marsha Bailey (WEV) and Sharon Miller (Renaissance Center) at a very special forum celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Business Ownership Act. The Women and Business Ownership Forum has a great line up of speakers and panelists that include Michele Ozumba, CEO of the Women’s Funding network and other key leaders in the field.

And vote for Opportunity Fund. They’re a finalist for the 2013 Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards (CMA) under the capital access category and can win a $75,000 grant from AEO and Citi. Voting closes Friday, April 19 at 11:59pm ET.

As always, CAMEO can offset some of the costs for this conference, which is a terrific opportunity for professional development. Scroll down to Goodies to find out other opportunities in the next couple months. Contact Shufina English for more information.

CAMEO Annual Survey

FIELD at the Aspen Institute has launched the 2013 U.S. Microenterprise Census! And CAMEO is partnering once again with FIELD for our annual survey. So it’s time to gather your data and fill out the census. If you complete the survey by May 10, 2013, CAMEO will treat you and your staff to lunch up to $100!! Last year, CVBI (pictured) was the first team to submit their survey results and photo. This year it will be your organization! Community Action Agency of Butte County has already finished their survey, but hasn’t submitted the staff photo, so there’s still a chance!

The Goodies

New opportunities for trainings, 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 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!

Save the date for the Annual CAMEO member meeting in Sacramento on June 5-6, 2013. The Faces of Entrepreneurship Awards will be presented by legislators from the business owners’ districts on June 5 at a reception.

California Economic Forums: They began this week and are taking place all over the state. The ones in April are in SLO, Inland Empire and San Joaquin Valley. The goal is to identify local priorities for investing in people, infrastructure and innovation to prepare our state to compete in the 21st century global economy. Please participate if you can and represent our sector. Make sure you identify as a member of CAMEO.

Grant Opportunity: The Huffington Post, Skoll Foundation and Half the Sky Movement are teaming up to Invest in Women who Change the World. On April 24, they’re launching the RaiseForWomen Challenge, a fundraising Challenge to help female-focused charities gain recognition and resources. And, they’re giving away $75,000. Deadline is April 24, 2013 to sign up.

Small Business Event: Intuit hosts Hire Smart on April 27, 2013 at Intuit’s offices in Mountain View. It’s a free event to help small businesses hire their first employee. Learn more and register.

Free Webinars: Opportunity Finance Network hosts Scaling Up Microfinance, a series of ten, free technical assistance webinars from April to October 2013. The goal of the CDFI Fund’s Scaling Up Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative is to create jobs, build assets, and reduce poverty by scaling microfinance operations. The next topic is Encouraging Innovation and Developing Talent on April 30, 2013 at 11:00am PT. Find a full list of topics and webinars as well as registration information.

CAMEO Event: CAMEO co-sponsors a networking reception hosted by New Resource Bank and ASBC on May 1, 2013 5:30-7:30pm at the New Resource Bank Office in downtown San Francisco. Join with fellow business leaders to share ideas about the important role that business can play in supporting public policies that build a more just and sustainable economy. RSVP required.

Free Webinar: Friedman Associates host: Prep My CDFI! and Get the CARS™ Rating You Deserve! on May 1, 2013 at 11:00am PT // 2:00pm ET. More investors require CDFIs to produce positive financial returns and data that demonstrate long-term impacts. Register to learn more about CARS™ and how Friedman Associates will help you get the CARS™ rating you want!

RFP Opportunity: The City of Ukiah invites proposals for Underwriting Services for Community Development Block Grant Economic Development Allocation Program. Proposals are due no later than 12:00 pm, May 8, 2013. Download Ukiah’s RFP (it includes contact information.)

Economic Development Conference: California Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA)’s annual teaching and learning conference is in San Francisco on May 9 at the Hilton. Registration fees are $75 for members and $90 for non-members Scholarships are available, contact CAMEO for information.

Free Webinar: CAMEO is co-sponsoring a webinar hosted by Small Business Majority – What Immigration Reform Means for your California Small Business – on May 10, 2013 at 10:00am PT. Register to learn about the latest of immigration reform and what it means for small business.

Public Banking Conference 2013: Funding the New Economy will take place in San Rafael, California on June 2-4. They will explore one of the core foundations of successful economies around the world: a distributed network of public banks that operate in the public interest of each respective community. It starts off with a Conversation among Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone magazine), Birgitta Jonsdottir (Member of Icelandic Parliament), Ellen Brown (author of Web of Debt), and Gar Alperovitz.

Refugee Microenterprise Development Grant: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has announced the availability of funds for the Refugee Microenterprise Development Project. ORR has supported microenterprise development projects since 1991 through the award of discretionary grants to a variety of public agencies, community economic development agencies, local mutual assistance associations, and voluntary agencies. Non-profits qualify. Applications are due June 10, 2013.

2013 Small Business Finance Forum: OFN hosts a CDFI conference focused on the small business sector on June 11-12, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. Remember CAMEO can offset some of the costs for this and other conferences. Contact Shufina English for more information.

A message from San Francisco Small Business Week.

San Francisco is a world-class city. One reason it is called this is because of the natural beauty that we find all around us and just across our bridges. But, it’s also considered a world-class city because of our unique and vibrant neighborhoods and the merchants that make them places we all want to revisit time and time again. The businesses that shape our communities range from iconic, family-owned businesses with roots in the gold rush to diverse, new start-ups determined to change the world with their innovative products and artisanal creations.

Thank you to all of our small businesses who make San Francisco a world-class city!

But who helps our small business community stay vibrant? You may not know this, but San Francisco’s network of behind-the-scenes nonprofits, community groups and city agencies is also world-class. They provide inspiration, education and access to funding to allow so many of our creative citizens to be successful when they start and grow their small business. We may all take having access to an Office of Small Business for granted, but very few cities have one.

The secret to San Francisco’s Small Business success is the world-class network of organizations dedicated to the success of San Francisco small businesses.

Real leadership and community input has led to unique programs and collaborations that just don’t exist anywhere else. Take sf.citi, for example, an organization that leverages the power of the tech community to form new ideas to make San Francisco a better place to do business. The San Francisco Economic Development Alliance is a hard-working collaboration of nonprofit organizations focused on strengthening and coordinating support for small and micro businesses. This type of collaboration does not exist in most other cities.

Small Business Resources