In this week’s Must Know
- AB152 Hearing is March 20
- Sequestration and Small Biz
- The Goodies: This week’s highlight is jobs (goes with the theme). Organizations are hiring for positions of all levels from Financial Planning Counselor to CEO.
AB152 Hearing is March 20
Yes, you’ve heard it right. We have our first hearing of the bill to help the unemployed start their own businesses.
We’ve received letters of support from a bunch of you. If you have sent your letter, but haven’t sent it to CAMEO, send us copy of your support letter.
Please support AB 152, Self-Employment Assistance Program, introduced by Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada and sponsored by CAMEO. We estimate it will create 5,000 businesses and 12,500 jobs and generate at least $400 million in economic activity. You can support by writing letters, all the instructions to support AB152 are on a previous Must Know on our website.
Sequestration and Small Biz
On March 1, 2013 automatic across-the-board spending cuts went into effect. The FY2013 defense budget takes a 7.3% hit and other departments a 5.3% cut. The cuts will be spread out over six months. The upshot is that everyone is going to have to do more with less. Entrepreneur magazine has a quick breakdown for what the sequester means for the Small Business Administration – fewer loan guarantees, fewer entrepreneurs helped, fewer government contracts. CAMEO did receive an email from the SBA about how the budget cuts impact the SBA and what it may mean for PRIME recipients.
At this time, the Small Business Administration is taking every step to mitigate the effects of these cuts, but based on our initial analysis, it is likely that your organization’s workforce, revenue, and planning processes may be affected. For example, the Agency may decide not to issue you a continuation award-including not awarding incremental funds on multi-year awards-and may require negotiation of a reduction in the scope of your award.
To the extent that your grant is affected due to these budget cuts, you will be contacted by the appropriate Grants Management Officer with additional details.
We’ve been asking some detailed questions, but the details haven’t been worked out. Everyone’s in a wait and see pattern. But Bloomberg did pull together some context of what the sequester doesn’t mean.
The next step for Congress is to come up with a budget for the rest of FY2013 before March 27, 2013, when the Continuing Resolution expires. The House votes on Thursday on H.R. 933, a proposal to fund the government for the rest of FY2013 at current funding levels (i.e. FY2012 funding levels), minus the 5% cuts due to sequestration.
The White House has broken down what the sequester would mean for California. Cuts in education and government contracts will mean more pink slips and a slower recovery. Which is exactly why we need AB 152…
The Goodies
New opportunities for trainings, 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 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!
Contracting Opportunity: Attention consultants and other orgs, CDBG microenterprise program in the City of Williams, Colusa County is looking for a contractor to administer the CDBG grant, underwrite microloans and provide technical assistance or subcontracting to a qualified service-provider. Contact the City of Williams for more information.
AEO Conference: Tilt Forward will be May 5-8, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. If you’re not an AEO member, CAMEO members receive a $75 discount with the code SMA2013. If you’re an AEO member, registration fees are 50% of the full conference price – another reason to join the national network. The early bird deadline is March 8, 2013! CAMEO can offset some of the costs for this conference; contact Shufina English. Enter the 2013 Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards. Finalists will attend a luncheon on Wednesday and have the opportunity to win real cash. Your organization can win a $75,000 grant from AEO and Citi and your clients can receive up to $25,000 (Last year a CAMEO member client won!) Find out more and apply for the 2013 Citi MicroEntrepreneurship Awards.
Attn PRIME Recipients: AEO is soliciting feedback from organizations that participate in the SBA’s PRIME Program. AEO is interested in learning about your organization’s overall experience with the PRIME Program and welcomes any feedback. The survey results and feedback will help advocate for the program’s budget. Please complete the survey by Wednesday, March 13th.
Renaissance Online Business Prep Class: Attention service-starved areas, the webinar-based classes are scheduled from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. PST one evening a week for 12 consecutive weeks, with two optional 30-minute individual telephone consultations. Clients are expected to participate in every webinar and complete about 3 hours of homework weekly. The next one starts on March 13, 2013. Learn more and register for the Renaissance Online Business Prep Class.
Free Webinar: Aspen’s FIELD staff present Income Patching among Microentrepreneurs on Tuesday, March 19, 11:00 am – 12:30pm PT // 2:00-3:30 pm ET. Learn key findings on income patching and discuss with practitioners and participants what these results mean for the microenterprise industry. Learn more about Income Patching among Microentrepreneurs and register. Read a synopsis of the FIELD findings on income patching.
Free Business Leader Call: Small Business Majority and CAMEO co-sponsor White House Immigration Update on Friday March 22, 2013 at 10:00am PT // 1:00pm EST. Register to receive the call call information and learn about the progress being made towards the passage of immigration reform.
2013 Women in Leadership Conference: The Berkeley-Haas School of Business hosts Path-Bending Leadership – the type of leadership that helps drive business towards a better, more sustainable, healthier, and more just future. The conference offers opportunities to hear from and connect with women leaders who have achieved both personal and professional success. Register for the conference on Saturday, April 6, 2013 from 8:30am – 5:00pm at the Berkeley-Haas School of Business.
Micro Census: FIELD released the comprehensive program and performance data collected last year during its U.S. Microenterprise Census campaign. More than 200 organizations responded to the Census on microtracker.org, contributing their FY 2011 data to a rich data set that is now available online. Stay tuned, this spring, FIELD will launch the 2013 U.S. Microenterprise Census to collect FY 2012 data.
New Report: Our friends at Emergent Research sent us this “FOOD TRUCKS MOTOR INTO THE MAINSTREAM“. Food trucks are expected to be a $2.7 billion industry! It’s a quick easy read on the state of the food truck industry, a must read for all of you with food truck clients.
Healthcare Info: Thanks to Small Business Majority for healthcare resources. Small business owners and the self-employed need to know how the Affordable Care Act will bring down costs, create a greater choice of insurance options, and the opportunities it offers to expand coverage.