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Small Business Saturday; Federal Reserve Micro Study

Small Business Saturday

It’s the holidays and you know what that means – shopping for presents. Over the past six years, Small Business Saturday has helped small business owners with their most pressing need – getting more customers. We want to make this our biggest and best year yet. It’s when communities everywhere show their love for small businesses on November 26. Help to spread the word and create excitement leading up to the day by leveraging your brand reach and social media channels.

It’s really easy to participate. Your clients can customize materials on the Shop Small website or download ready made collateral, such as posters, email templates and social media posts.

You’ll find for example a sample FaceBook or Twitter post and an image to use with the post.

Calling all small business owners: prepare for #SmallBizSat at ShopSmall.com/GetReady #ShopSmall

Federal Reserve Micro Study

We hope that most organizations already have joined the Federal Reserve’s effort to better understand the credit landscape for small business and the experience of small business owners that the Federal Reserve. You know that data-driven insights into demand for the services your organization provides are imperative to mobilize resources, shape what you do and inform the work of policy-makers. All you need to do is get the word out!

They need your help in distributing an important national survey of small business credit to your loan applicants and business assistance clients. When you register (click on the link), The Federal Reserve System will then send you the communications tools you’ll need to invite small businesses to participate.

As in prior years, the Federal Reserve System will release a national report of the survey findings. This year, they will also share custom data reports that compares your clients to the national sample.

The survey will be open now through November 23, so sign up, get the toolkit and communicate with your clients

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: Last week, the New York City Council passed The Freelance Isn’t Free Act, which extends unprecedented protections against nonpayment for millions of New York City’s freelance workers. Seven out of ten freelance workers face nonpayment and freelancers are stiffed an average of $6000 annually. YIKES. Please sign and share the petition to bring the Freelance Isn’t Free legislation to your city.

Member in the News: AEO’s Tammy Halevy wrote, “Understanding the Importance of Small Businesses to Low-Income Communities” on the Citizen IBM Blog.

Free Webinar: U.S. DOL and Small Business Majority host “Workplace Benefits and High Road Employer Practices for California Small Businesses”, a webinar about high-road employer practices, including equal pay, paid leave and a host of workplace benefits programs and policies impacting California small businesses. Register for either one by clicking on the date: Wednesday, November 16, 2016 from 1:00-2:00pm (PST) or Wednesday, December 7, 2016 from 9:30-10:30am (PST).

For Your Clients: Small Business Majority hosts Access to Capital 101: Funding Options to Start and Grow Your Business every other Wednesday, the next one is November 16. They present an overview of alternative lending options including community development financial institutions, SBA’s loan guarantee program and reputable online options, key questions to consider when seeking funding, the Small Business Borrowers’ Bill of Rights and helpful tools and resources.

Take Action: The coalition that brought you the Small Business Borrowers Bill of Rights (BBoR) has come up with BBoR 2.0 that incorporates the feedback that BBoR supporters have shared over the past year. You can read a draft of the BBoR 2.0 with new language highlighted in yellow and deleted provisions indicated with the strike-through marks. Your comments on BBoR 2.0 can be submitted by email or via an online survey by November 18, 2016.

For Your Clients: La Cocina’s Food and Entrepreneurship Conference, presented by Whole Foods Market, will kick off on Sunday, November 13 with a full day of conversations, workshops and food with a focus on how small businesses can be activists for change in their communities. On Monday, November 14, we’ll be hosting guided walking tours (with plenty of eats!) to experience food entrepreneurship on the ground.

For Your Clients (and all trainers!): NerdWallet recently released a special report on the merchant cash advance industry and a new MCA educational portal.

For Your Clients: According to AB 2883, beginning January 1, 2017 all business workers’ compensation insurance policies, including in-force policies, will be required to cover, among others, certain officers and directors of private corporations and working members of partnerships and limited liability companies that may have been previously excluded from coverage. Insurance companies are required to identify and provide notice to each employer that may have employees that were previously excluded from coverage and are affected by the new law.