New Address: Two Embarcadero Center, 8th floor, San Francisco, CA 94111     

Martín Madriz, The Green Waffle

In mid-2015, Martín Madriz found himself uncertain how to get his waffles off of the griddle and into grocery stores. El Pajaro CDC’s Kitchen Incubator gave him the space and support he needed.

MLA Newsletter: Lending Gone Wild

In this Issue… MMS Going Gangbusters DBO Report: Online Lending Surges DBO Guidance on SB 197 Education Electeds on Responsible Lending Banker's Perspective: Byron Reed, Wells Fargo Research:  SmallBiz Perspective on Online Lenders News MMS Going Gangbusters Our participating CDFIs continue to have success with MMS! CDC Small Business Finance opened their program up to

MLA Newsletter: Strengthening the Case for Responsible Lending

In this Issue… Process Mapping MMS and Increased Businesses Creditworthiness State Electeds Educated on Responsible Business Lending at Annual Meeting Research: U.S. Department of Treasury – Opportunities and Challenges in Online Marketplace Lending Research:  Opportunity Fund Report – Unaffordable and Unsustainable Opportunities News Process Mapping Process mapping, which creates transparency and detail, is one solution

MMS and Increased Businesses Creditworthiness

Thanks to Andrew Cole for this article. Many of the borrowers that CAMEO microlenders serve aren’t able to access traditional capital for a variety of reasons – their credit is below bank standards, their business is too new, their cash flow is too tight. What happens to those borrowers, when they don’t quite qualify for

Process Mapping Your Way to Increased Loan Volume and Impact

Thanks to Susan Brown for this post. Lending is a complicated affair. Most CDFIs start small, with informal, idiosyncratic loan processes that involved much conferring among staff. As an organization grows, there isn’t time or resources for these labor-intensive ways. Yet process, once established, can become entrenched – staff is attached to established practices. It

Micro Lending Academy: Lending Life Cycle and Technology

We know that FinTech’s technology led to an explosion of online lending, much of it usurious. Across the country, CDFIs are building their own online platforms for quality community lending — including our own Robert Lopez, COO of Valley Economic Development Corporation in Los Angeles.

2016 Annual Meeting Recap

Thanks to everyone who came to our annual meeting! What a packed day! Pamela Patterson, CEO, West Company and President of the CAMEO Board opened the CAMEO member meeting with a recognition of outgoing board members and board members elect. A big hearty thanks to Pamela and Stacey Sanchez, Senior Loan Officer for CDC Small