CAMEO Statewide Demonstration Project: Building Partnerships with MicroEnterprise and Workforce Investment Boards (WIB)
Beginning in May 2010, CAMEO set out to establish a key role for its member Micro Enterprise organizations to serve California’s unemployed entrepreneurs. With the technical assistance of CAMEO consultant, Judy Hawkins, CAMEO members are encouraged and supported to initiate and build relationships with their local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs).
CAMEO’s goal is to establish 3-5 demonstration projects throughout California to set successful self-employment outcomes to influence workforce development strategies and regulations.
The project goals are 1) to fund CAMEO members to provide vital training, technical assistance and access to loan programs and 2) to influence WIBs and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to permanently adopt and integrate self employment training for the unemployed.
The materials provided are for use in conversations with CAMEO members’ local WIBs.
TOOLKIT
Talk With Your WIB (a PowerPoint to help CAMEO members design a conversation/presentation to their local WIB)
Self-employment IS Job Creation (A two page print-out of the content below.)
WIB Performance Measures
Living and Working in the a 1099 Economy: We used to call it “Free Agent Nation.” Now, it seems like the new term of art will be “The 1099 Economy.” While the names may change, they all point to a phenomenon of rising importance: the growing number of Americans who don’t have a “regular job” but instead work on individual contracts with employers or customers.
Case study: Santa Cruz WIB Beats the ROI Gold Standard
Self-employment IS Job Creation
Job Creation: The Workforce Imperative in California
It is time for Californians to embrace new job creation strategies that build on our cultural advantage of entrepreneurship and utilize the untapped entrepreneurial capacity in our diverse communities. We are poised to rely on America’s historical enthusiasm and support for our entrepreneurial spirit that is generating and expanding small businesses to create jobs and grow the economy.
- 64% of new jobs are created by very small (micro) businesses, most of them without employees.
- Homegrown, locally owned businesses hire locally.
- Self-employment grew 28% over past 5 years (new labor trend).
Background
The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 created a system that encouraged local businesses to participate in the delivery of workforce development services. The principal vehicle for the delivery of services is the local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) which are required, under the WIA, to be chaired by members of the local community working in the private sector and/or representing business interests.
In 2010, the Department of Labor (DOL) released directives encouraging WIBs to integrate entrepreneurial training as a vital workforce development strategy:
- TEGL-12-10: Supporting Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment Training through the Workforce Investment System
- DOL Study: Think Entrepreneurs: A Call to Action; Integrating Entrepreneurship into the Public Workforce System throughout America
WIA Discretionary Funds for California
In 2010-11 the WIA base funding for California decreased to $460 million, of which about $73 million is available for state discretionary purposes.
Each year the Governor lays out a plan for the expenditure of the discretionary funds, taking into consideration the greatest workforce development needs in the state. In the past, the specific initiatives have included funding for nurses, parolees, and veterans. For 2010, California’s greatest needs are the creation of new jobs through the development of new businesses and the expansion of existing small businesses. If just 10% or $7.3 million was directed to business skills training for Self-employment and Entrepreneurship, these funds would stimulate start up or growth of 2,400 businesses that over 3-5 years would create an estimated total 5,800 jobs, including the owners.
Rationale for Funding Micro Enterprise Development
It is estimated by the Employment Development Department that 5% of the unemployed have entrepreneurial potential, meaning there are an estimated 120,000 people in CA who could benefit from self-employment training offered through the 100 Micro Enterprise Development and Small Business Development Corporations throughout the state. If only half of those unemployed entrepreneurs obtained help in starting a business (60,000), they would create a total of 144,000 jobs over 3-5 years (the owner plus two employees).
CAMEO and WIB Partnerships
CAMEO is your premiere California resource to introduce entrepreneurial training in a WIB/One Stop.
- CAMEO member organizations are poised to contract with local WIBs to provide vital training, technical assistance and access to small business loan programs.
- CAMEO can put you in touch with its member providers and lenders who are leaders in training and promoting self-employment as a workforce strategy. Find a local provider near you.
- CAMEO is funding limited consulting and technical assistance as part of a WIB Demonstration Initiative throughout California. CAMEO assists local/regional WIBs to meet and partner with CAMEO providers, provide performance measures and collect outcomes/job creation data across the project, demonstrating the efficacy of self-employment training as a workforce development resource. These projects will set the stage for successful self-employment outcomes to influence workforce strategies and regulations.
Additional CAMEO Activities to Encourage Partnerships
CAMEO is working to ensure entrepreneurial training as a job creation strategy in the workforce development system by:
- Advocating for Department of Labor waiver of or revisions of performance measures to simplify tracking of job creation through self-employment for WIB staff;
- Advocating for California state WIA Discretionary Funds to be allocated to CAMEO for entrepreneurial training via CAMEO members as a key job creation strategy;
- Designing alternate performance measures for WIA Reauthorization to standardize self-employment tracking;
- Partnering with California Workforce Association (CWA) – a trade association of statewide WIB directors – to provide conference presentations, education, connections, statistics and storytelling of successful entrepreneurship; and
- Collaboration and information sharing with Association for Enterprise Opportunity (the national equivalent of CAMEO) and its member organizations to demonstrate national best practices in WIB-Micro Enterprise partnerships.