- Annual Member Meeting and Advocacy Day – June 7 in Sacramento
- And…Action! – State Legislation and Federal FY2018
- The Goodies – This week’s highlight is the SBA announcement of the NOFA for the PRIME Program. The application due date is June 16, 2017.
Annual Member Meeting and Advocacy Day – June 7 in Sacramento
Register for our Annual Member Meeting and Advocacy Day in Sacramento on June 7, 2017.
You won’t want to miss this last meeting hosted by our departing CEO, Claudia! You know how much you mean to Claudia, now it’s your turn to show her how much you’ll miss her. Plus it’s a lot of fun! We have a great morning planned, our Faces Awards luncheon, meetings with our legislators, and time for networking with your colleagues.
We’ve heard over and over again that one of the biggest needs of your clients is a lack of understanding of their businesses’ financials. And like everything else, technology is changing many elements of coaching including branding, business planning, and of course financial education.
In our morning session, members who are addressing these changes in innovative ways will explain their solutions. We’ll look at their evolution over time, how their attitudes have changed, the outcomes of their program, how they use technology, and how they are leveraging platforms to help their clients. Business assistance providers will learn about new tool and methods of teaching and lenders will learn some new strategies to ensure their clients are successful borrowers.
After lunch and our Faces of Entrepreneurship Awards, we will be visiting legislators. Please make your own appointments between 2:15pm and 4:00pm. Here’s how:
- Find contact information for your assembly member(s) and your senator.
- Send a written request to the scheduler as well as call the office.
- If the legislator is not available, ask for a meeting with the chief of staff.
If you are from an area that only has one representative in each house, coordinate with other CAMEO members who may be attending. If you are from a large area that has many representatives, we will divide and conquer. Contact Andrew, who will help coordinate with other members who will be going.
More information about the program and lodging is on the Annual Member Meeting webpage.
And…Action! – Federal and State Budgets for FY 2018
The new section of the Must Know — And…Action! — is in response to the current political reality that demands that we participate more fully in the state and the federal legislative processes. We urge you to assign a staff person to be responsible for taking action.
California News
The deadlines are at hand for any bill that may move in the state legislature. This Friday (May 26) is the last day for bills to be released from suspense, which means that it’s been held in the Appropriations Committee because the bill will cost the state money. And Friday, June 2 is the last day for bills to pass out of their house of origin. Then there’s the budget deadline of midnight June 15, 2017. Several issues need action.
California is the only state that excludes self-employment income from eligibility for CalEITC, shutting out an estimated 134,000 low-income earners that are trying to create their own jobs. CFED and the California Asset Building Coalition are partnering to urge key elected officials to include expansion of eligibility to self-employed workers (an estimated $40 million) and increased outreach (an estimated $9 million) in the 2017-2018 budget. The Alameda County Food Bank has a tool that will send a letter to your state representatives and the heads of the budget committees. It takes less than two minutes. The Senate and Assembly budget committees are closing their budgets out this week and then they reconcile in the conference committee process next week.
CAMEO is supporting the AB 626 (Garcia) – 2017 Homemade Food Act – a bill that will permit small-scale food sales from homes in California. If passed, AB 626 would legitimize an important lever of economic empowerment for at-home parents, immigrant communities, and other folks unable to access the professional food industry opportunities, while improving public health safeguards around the existing informal food economy. The bill is sponsored by Oakland-based labor justice startup Josephine, and is supported by a slew of organizations across the state including our friends at Small Business Majority. Please submit a letter of support for AB 626 by Monday, May 29, 2017 before the bill is voted on by the full Assembly.
AB 784 needs to make it out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Friday. The bill takes a first step in addressing predatory lending by capping the interest rate on loans from $2,500 – $5,000 at approximately 24% APR. Both secured and unsecured loans are subject to this cap. You can take action by tweeting through Thursday night – refer to Tweets for AB 784 to Stop Predatory Loans for cut and paste tweets.
CalNonProfits is leading the efforts to oppose SB 741 – the Raffles Bill. You can add your name to their opposition letter by clicking this link by May 31, 2017. This bill would only allow raffles to be conducted at a fair, exposition, or exhibition conducted by, and with the authorization of a district agricultural association, a county fair association, a citrus fruit fair association or the California Exposition and State Fair. There is no logic or persuasive reason to limit 50/50 raffles to these venues. Further, only nonprofits chosen by these few agencies would have the opportunity to benefit from 50/50 raffles.
And some great news: Assembly Budget Subcommittee 4 approved an ADDITIONAL $2.8 Million in funding for the SBDC Program!!! We owe a huge Thank You to Assembly Budget Committee Chair Jim Cooper and his Legislative Director Roy Sianez for including an additional $2.8 million in funding for the SBDC program in FY 2017/18!!! The matching funds with the SBA will be based on $4 million ($2m from GO-Biz and $2m from the GF) with the $800k to be used for 2 pilot projects TBD. This is a major win for small businesses in preserving, protecting and enhancing our SBDC program! CAMEO and our friends have knocked on many a doors to make this happen.
FY 2018 Federal Budget
Earlier this week, the White House released the full budget proposal for FY 2018. There’s so much in there, that I’ve posted the details – The President’s FY2018 Budget Proposal. Some of the highlights, I mean low points include a measly $14 million for the CDFI Fund and a zeroing out of PRIME. Our colleague John Arensmeyer, Founder & CEO of Small Business Majority, released a statement that sums up what the budget means for small businesses – President Trump’s Budget Cuts Would Create More Barriers to Small Business Success.
Congress is going to be hard pressed to accept everything in the President’s proposed budget, but it’s a starting point. We need you more than ever to help advocate for our programs.
Sean Elsbernd, the state director for Senator Feinstein, is looking for stories from Republican districts of how the funds are used. So, I need your stories! Senator Feinstein is especially interested in CDBG funds because she remembers how important they work to economic development when she was the mayor of San Francisco. Email me how funds were used, and give specific stories of business that have benefited.
A letter is circulating in the Senate to support the $250 million for the CDFI fund and we are excited to report that Senator Feinstein has signed on! Fax her from your computer for free to express your thanks!
And in other federal news, the SBA has appointed Michael Vallante as Regional Administrator for SBA Region IX (our region).
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 Open CEO Position: If you know of a visionary leader that can lead CAMEO and who is passionate about the microbusiness sector (and fill Claudia’s big shoes) please forward on the CAMEO CEO job description and encourage them to apply.
Non-Profit Tip: Where to Find Free Training and Support for Nonprofit Professionals.
For Your Clients: The Freelancers Union app connects members in need with lawyers who want to work with freelancers.
Newsy Tidbit: Is the Gig Economy Working?
AEO in Los Angeles: Join AEO, Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), JPMorgan Chase, and the Los Angeles Venture Community for Taking the Lead: Growing Women and Minority Entrepreneurship in America on June 1, 2017 at 11:30am in Los Angeles. The event will honor former SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet and discuss diversity and the latest inclusive entrepreneurship innovations.
DIY Economy Event: The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City bring the Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) to California and kicks off with an event in Oakland. The ICCC program provides free training, education and mentorship to small businesses to build their capacity and access to capital. Join for the Oakland ICCC kick off breakfast on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 from 8:00-10:00am at the .Oakland Marriott City Center, Junior Ballroom, 1001 Broadway, Oakland, CA. Kaiser Permanente and ICIC leaders will present this dynamic partnership to promote local economic vitality, key to the Total Health of our communities.
Free Webinar: Join AEO on June 1, 2017 at 10:00am PT // 1:00pm ET to learn about Silver Lining and how they support small businesses. Silver Lining gives their small businesses a combination of an online platform, accountability, ongoing training, coaching and a peer network of fellow business owners. Silver Lining often works in partnership with organizations like you who share a mission to grow the economy through small business.
New Report and Webinar: The Center for Financial Security (CFS) and Asset Funders Network (AFN) are ready to share the findings from the Financial Coaching Census 2016 (report). Join AFN on June 12, 2017 at 10:00am PT // 1:00pm ET for a live webinar with the author and research team who will host Insights from the Financial Coaching Field.
Professional Conference: Registration is now open for OFN’s 2017 Small Business Finance Forum, June 15 and 16 at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park.
Grant Opportunity: SBA released the NOFA for the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME). SBA will consider granting awards on two tracks — technical assistance and capacity building. It anticipates issuing approximately 35 awards of $50,000 – $250,000. It’s a great source of funding for training and technical assistance for low-income and minority entrepreneurs. Check out this excellent Q&A on the grant. The deadline is June 16, 2017. There are several other SBA grants also available that have to do with veteran procurement and training, Native American entrepreneurship, technology transfer, and more.
Grant Opportunity: The USDA is seeking applications for technical assistance and training grants in the Community Facilities program. Learn more from the Federal Register Notice. The deadline is July 24, 2017.
Professional Conference: Register for Credit Builders Alliance’s 2017 Credit Building Symposium, June 26-27 in Washington, DC.
Funding Opportunity: OFN announced their NEXT Fund for Innovation, a pilot that will provide flexible capital in amounts ranging from $500,000 to $2 million to CDFIs with innovative ideas. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis now through June 30, 2017. The fund is open to all qualifying CDFIs, including non-OFN Members and past NEXT Awards recipients.
Professional Development Opportunity: BALLE has opened the application process for their 2018 BALLE Local Economy Fellowship program. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis (so apply early!) from February 2017 until the cohort is filled. Applicants can expect to be notified of their first round status (finalist, declined, or still under review) within 4-6 weeks of receipt of your application.
New Report: Aspen’s FIELD Institute released “The Promise of Shared Platforms for the Microenterprise Industry.” The three reports look at how advancing technology can help organizations increase the impact of their work by delivering financial and technical support to micro and small businesses more efficiently. CAMEO is featured on page 16 of the report targeted to funders for our work with the MMS platform!
New Report: Did you know California has the world’s 6th largest economy? The Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy published California Economy Fast Facts
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