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

It’s A New Day at the SBA

ul>

  • SBA Announces New Programs
  • It’s Time to Celebrate 20 Years of Building Wealth in Our Communities
  • The Goodies – This week’s highlight is the announcement of two grants: 1) the PRIME Grant due July 14, 2014; and 2) the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program due June 30, 2014.
  • Reminder: fill out the microTracker census with your 2013 impacts. Email Andrew if you have problems or questions.

SBA Announces New Programs

On Tuesday, the SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet outlined her priorities and goals for the SBA during a speech at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC. And for the past few days, more details about specific programs have been issued by the SBA.

She outlined three priorities: be modern, be inclusive, and make new markets. That translates into modernizing the capital access programs with technology; creating a more inclusive SBA by tailoring programs that embrace our nation’s dynamic demographics; and serve as a “market maker” for small companies by opening new business channels within the federal government, corporate supply chains, and international commerce.

Read her full comments on the SBA’s priorities. Her comments also include several good data points that might help you make your case to funders and other influencers.

It’s Time to Celebrate 20 Years

It’s finally here and we’re at capacity! CAMEO staff is so excited for next week’s 20th Anniversary Celebration. We’ve got a great day lined up – from the morning’s thought-provoking cutting edge research to inspiration of the “Go Local” movement to a dive into disruptive changes in our sector and creative responses to them. Then we top the day by kicking back and celebrating with colleagues. Check out the full agenda that celebrates 20 years of microbusiness and building wealth in our communities.

Check out the story of one of our FACES award winners, Alfredo Garcia of Watsonville Diesel, nominated by El Pajaro CDC.

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 White Paper: Download Do-It-Yourself Economic Growth: How Communities Can Cultivate Their Talent and Thrive. Read it. Use it as a resource. Share it. The Do-It-Yourself Economy is built on a foundation of small, locally-owned, diverse businesses. CAMEO’s white paper focuses on why we need a new approach to economic development, explains the reality of small business and self-employment labor market trends, and delineates some of the tools that local economic developers can use to create a sustainable future for their regions.

Healthcare Webinars: The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are committed to helping businesses navigate the changes and opportunities in health care through the webinar series What the Healthcare Law Means For Your California Small Business . It’s every two weeks in English and monthly in Spanish. The next ones are on June 18, 2014 at 10:00am and July 8, 2014 at 1:00pm respectively. Note the Small Business Health Option Program’s online enrollment function is on hold and will be back online in the fall. Businesses can still purchase insurance through the traditional paper process, working with your Certified agent or the SHOP Service Center.

For Your Clients: The Farmer Veteran Coalition invites all women who have served and are serving in the U.S. Armed Forces to participate in the Empowering Women Veterans Retreat. This event will focus on equipping military women who are interested in business with the tools necessary to be successful. The retreat takes place in Santa Barbara, CA at the beautiful La Casa de Maria Retreat Center on June 20-22, 2014. FVC is offering limited travel grants for up to $500. Apply when you register.

Professional Development Scholarship: Through the Diane Lupke Scholarship Fund, IEDC is proud to award four scholarships to economic development professionals (two IEDC members and two nonmembers) working in distressed communities to attend an IEDC education course of the recipient’s choice. Submit all materials by Friday, July 25, 2014 to be eligible for consideration.

Grant Opportunity: Farmers Market Promotion Program grants will increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets. The maximum amount awarded for any one proposal cannot exceed $100,000; the minimum award is $15,000. Applications are due June 20, 2014.

Grant Opportunity: Local Food Promotion Program offers grant funds with a 25% match to support the development and expansion of local and regional food business enterprises to increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets. Applications are due June 20, 2014.

Free Webinar: CBA hosts When Loans Go Bad on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at 11:00am Pacific. No one wants loans to go delinquent or into default, but when it does happen, what are your responsibilities? How can you help borrowers who fall far behind but reappear to make things right? CBA will review some best practices, as well as Metro2 guidance to help you maintain accurate reporting and work with your borrowers where you can.

Grant Opportunity: The USDA has announced the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program. Funding is now available for organizations who loan to small rural businesses. Notice of funding availability here, and more info here. The application deadline is June 30, 2014.

Grant Opportunity: The SBA announced the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) Grant RFP. Applications are due July 14, 2014. Friedman and Associates are available to request a consultation for PRIME application support, which includes full proposal development or project design, review and refinement of drafts. To request a consultation.

Women Business Leader Conference: Women business owners from across the country will be gathering in Washington, D.C. to grow their businesses, enhance their leadership skills and advocate on key issues impacting the women entrepreneurship community. Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)’s Annual Leadership Meeting is on July 23-24, promising an opportunity to network and cultivate business opportunities with women business owners as well as interact with policymakers to discuss the challenges you are facing in your industry.