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Micro Goes to Market in Watsonville

  • Micro Goes To Market, A Specialty Foods Conference in Watsonville
  • 20th Anniversary Celebration
  • The Goodies – This week’s highlight is a new study by CFED – In Search of Solid Ground: Understanding the Financial Vulnerabilities of Microbusiness Owners.

Micro Goes To Market

California is a foodie state if there every was one. There’s no better place to grow food, explore food innovations or market food. Many CAMEO members are seeing more clients in food-based businesses – from raw foods to wholesale products to artisanal creations. CAMEO has teamed up with the National Specialty Foods Association to offer up a full day of learning about the food industry: what are the business and marketing opportunities, how to stay viable and competitive, and where to secure financing.

Micro Goes to Market,
Specialty Foods Conference

May 28, 2014
*9:00am – 4:00pm Conference
Watsonville Civic Plaza
*4:30pm – 6:00pm Networking Reception
El Pajaro Kitchen Incubator in Watsonville

If you’re interested in starting a food business or work with food businesses, Micro Goes to Market is for you. Join us!

We are holding this on the central coast because Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties have a history of strategic collaboration to support local economic development. The counties have recognized that their existing resources – a diverse and dedicated workforce, proximity to urban regions and a fertile growing region – is also fertile ground for business opportunities. Also, the counties are reviewing how infrastructure investments (broadband, transit corridors, etc.) can support a pro-business/slow growth economy that formally supports and recognizes job creation through entrepreneurship.

Learn more and register for the Micro Goes to Market, Specialty Foods Conference.

20th Anniversary Celebration

Sheilah RogersForescee Hogan-RowlesWe are very excited for this year’s annual member meeting! We’ve come a long way from 4 women leaders to a statewide network of over 170 organizations and individuals who support the microbusiness sector. Two of those women leaders who are active in the field will be honored at our luncheon, Forescee Hogan-Rowles, RISE Financial Pathways (photo left) and Sheilah Rogers, McKenzie Consulting (photo right).

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!

CAMEO White Paper: Download Do-It-Yourself Economic Growth: How Communities Can Cultivate Their Talent and Thrive. Read it. Use it as a resource. Share it. The Do-It-Yourself Economy is built on a foundation of small, locally-owned, diverse businesses. CAMEO’s white paper focuses on why we need a new approach to economic development, explains the reality of small business and self-employment labor market trends, and delineates some of the tools that local economic developers can use to create a sustainable future for their regions.

New Report: CFED released a new study – In Search of Solid Ground: Understanding the Financial Vulnerabilities of Microbusiness Owners. The report gathers insights from business owners, identifying their greatest challenges and informing the suite of solutions that might address them. The study sheds light on the many factors that contribute to or detract from microbusiness owner’ financial capability—a combination of knowledge, behaviors, and access and use of safe, appropriate financial products and services.

New Resource: Accion’s The Orange Book 2014 – What’s on the minds of America’s small business owners? The Orange Book offers a timely and insightful look at the current state of the economy through the lens of “everyday entrepreneurs” — individuals who own very small businesses with less than five employees.

Healthcare Webinars: The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are committed to helping businesses navigate the changes and opportunities in health care through the webinar series What the Healthcare Law Means For Your California Small Business . It’s every two weeks in English and monthly in Spanish. The next ones are on May 7, 2014 at 10:00am and May 21, 2014 at 3:00pm respectively. Note the Small Business Health Option Program’s online enrollment function is on hold and will be back online in the fall. Businesses can still purchase insurance through the traditional paper process, working with your Certified agent or the SHOP Service Center.

Industry Conference: CCEDA is hosting its 25th Anniversary Conference on Thursday, May 8, 2014 from 9:00am-5:00pm at the Los Angeles Radisson Hotel @ Los Angeles Airport, 6225 W Century Boulevard. Join the discussion on trends, views of the field, financing resources, and organization diversification. Workshops include: Social Enterprise-Planning, Financing, and Management; New Market Tax Credits; and Project Structuring & Financing in Post Re-development Credit.

Communications Resource: If you don’t know about Aspiration, then check them out. They hold technology and communications workshops for non-profit at low to no-cost all around the state. Their next one is May 15, 2014 in Los Angeles – Nonprofit Workshop to Simplify Online Communications.