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Microlending Essentials, a CAMEO Training

  • Microlending Essentials, a CAMEO Training
  • Be Counted! Go to microTracker! The deadline is August 31, 2017.
  • And…Action! – Summer Recess for Senators!
  • The Goodies – This week’s highlight is National Black Business Month. If you’re in the Bay Area this month, visit Bay Area Organization of Black Owned Businesses to find black-owned businesses that you can patronize..
  • CAMEO in the News: CAMEO’s support of the Small Business Borrower’s Bill of Rights was featured on their blog.
  • Microlending Essentials, a CAMEO Training

    Join us for MicroLending Essentials on November 7-9, 2017 in Los Angeles. Sign up before September 30 to take advantage of the early bird rate of $350 for member; $550 for non-member. After that the prices will go up by $100.

    CAMEO members often ask us where they can send staff for microloan underwriting training. When we looked around, we didn’t find any that had evolved with current underwriting practices. Nor did we find one that helped loan officers understand how microlending differs from Community Advantage . So we designed a training ourselves.

    Susan Brown, CAMEO’s microlending specialist, developed a training for microlending credit analysis, with input from some of the strongest lenders in the field today.

    The training will consist of a brief overview of Community Advantage and two and a half days on microlending credit analysis including discussion and application to several case studies. We are including a snippet of Community Advantage because seeing how and why microlending differs from underwriting large deals helps community lenders design programs appropriately.

    Join us!

    • Opportunity to train staff on underwriting microloans
    • Dialog with fellow lenders and compare notes, consider what
    • Learn from successful microlenders, our guest speaker
    • Gain understanding on why microloans and Community Advantage loans are different, and how to design an appropriate underwriting program for microloans.

    Register now to take advantage of the early bird pricing.

    Topics to be covered:

    • Community Advantage Overview: Community Advantage Goals, Typical Business Characteristics, Key Indicators, Key Documents, Analyses Undertaken, Financial skills, understanding of the owner, Community Advantage Criteria
    • Microlending Underwriting: Microlending Goals, Typical Business Characteristics, Financial skills, financial management level of the owner, Typical loan products, Expectations of client self-sufficiency in getting through loan process, Support documents, Underwriting Criteria, Underwriting Analysis, Credit Memo Template
    • Case Studies: Participants will be given application, supporting documents and then be asked to fill write the credit memo and make a recommendation.

    The training will take place at the Sheraton Grand, 711 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017 in downtown Los Angeles. Hotel room information and other logistics forthcoming.

    Be Counted! Go to microTracker!

    When we ask our members about what they value most about CAMEO, a common answer is “advocacy.” We can’t do the advocacy effectively without good data in normal times. Today’s political climate means that it has never been more important to make the micro voice heard.

    Be Counted. Fill out the microTracker Census! The survey closes on August 31.

    If you’re not responsible for collecting your organization’s data – forward this email to the person who is!

    And…Action! – Summer Recess for Senators!

    Congress has adjourned, and Members are in their states and districts for the August recess. In 2017, CAMEO has aggressively advocated for California’s small businesses and entrepreneurs in the districts and DC this year, but your voice is the most powerful tool we have to sway legislators! Take advantage of the recess to engage with your representatives and tell our collective story.

    For a recap of where we stand, see last week’s Must Know.

    Appropriations bills that support our programs (USDA, SBA, and CDFIs) are in the Senate. Senator Feinstein is a member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and understands the value of robust funding for the USDA’s Rural Business Program. Both of our Senators need to hear from you! The best way to make sure our sector’s message is heard is for you to schedule a meeting with your Senators in their local office, urging them to support CAMEO’s FY2018 Appropriations request. Below please find an update on the status of our appropriations requests so far, and information that can help you set up meetings with our Senators.

    If you can’t meet – then call! Every effort is appreciated. And let us know that you did!

    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!

    August is National Black Business Month: The Bay Area Organization of Black Owned Businesses lists black-owned businesses that you can support. Your spending choices are your power!

    Member Kudos: A new IBM report recognizes AEO’s research initiative behind “The Big Picture: A Larger View of the Small Business Market” for their use of data-driven research to drive social impact. A data set of more than eleven million records was analyzed in order to provide an overview of small businesses in low-income communities across the U.S., and their impact on the overall economy. The findings of this study are key to AEO’s advocacy efforts, and were instrumental in shaping Project CUE, a marketplace connecting small businesses with CDFIs able to serve them. The IBM report also acknowledges AEO’s effective use of partnerships to take on a project of this scope.

    For Your Clients: Please pass this on to your clients – “As part of their vision to make quality jobs for working people the norm (and not the exception) our friends at Pacific Community Ventures are working to equip small business owners like you with practical tools and cost-effective resources to offer higher quality jobs in a way that balances your business’ financial and operational needs with doing right by your employees. In order to better create resources that meet your needs and serve as true actionable guides, they’re asking for your input in a 5 minute, anonymous survey. The goal is to better understand small businesses’ current employee benefit and engagement practices, pain points, and goals when it comes to providing quality jobs. Take the survey: http://bit.ly/2sP5WmA.”

    For Your Clients: The U.S. Department of the Treasury will phase out the myRA program, the program is no longer accepting new enrollments. Savings in existing accounts remain safely in the investment issued by Treasury. Account holders have been notified; and the Treasury website has been updated. Account holders can continue to manage their accounts until further notice. We will be establishing regular communication with account holders to keep them informed of next steps and relevant deadlines through this transition. As the phase-out continues, the most up-to-date information and resources can be found at myRA.gov.

    Professional Development: Credit Builders Alliance is offering a one-day training that will help non-profit community-based organizations enhance their understanding of credit building as an asset building strategy as well as best practices in credit education. The training will provide participants with an opportunity to learn from each other and credit experts and about the growing field of credit building including. The training is on August 21, 2017 from 9:30am-5:00pm PDT at the National Asian American Coalition, 15 Southgate Avenue, Daly City, CA 94015.

    Professional Conference: Register for the OFN Conference in Washington, DC on September 26-28, 2017.

    Professional Development: The Nonprofit Tech Roundup is in Portland this fall, October 3-4. At the two-day conference, you’ll get the inspiration and practical tips you need on topics like websites and accessibility, data visualization, project management, email campaigns, and more.

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