Mentors at Edison Roundtale

Edison Roundtable, a Southern California Edison (SCE) affinity group that promotes professional and personal growth for women, recently hosted a panel discussion in recognition of National Women’s History Month at the SCE company headquarters in Rosemead. Lisa Cagnolatti, Vice President, Business Customer Division, served as one of four executive female panelists to discuss advancements in the workplace and celebrate the contributions women have made toward achieving equal rights.

I started in the workplace in 1983 and the work environment at that time was very different for women.  Cagnolatti told a group of more than 200 SCE employees. We’ve made phenomenal progress, but there’s still work to do.

Cagnolatti began by recognizing the outstanding turnout and interest in promoting women?s professional development. She said in order to achieve great success women must be determined to overcome obstacles and find ways to turn them into opportunities. She noted that identifying organizations that support a work/life balance, such as SCE, is an important part of maintaining professional happiness.

Cagnolatti discussed the importance of having a mentor and being a mentor to others. I prefer to connect with people and be engaged in their development, she said.

This is the part I want people to see~ Have a mentor!

That way they valued and we move forward together. She also said mentors are excellent resources for feedback and can be strong advocates for a person’s growth within the company.

We’re proud of employees like Lisa Cagnolatti, women who hold themselves to high standards and are positive influences both at work and in their communities,? said Frank Quevedo, SCE’s vice president for equal opportunity. We’re honoring all of our female employees this month for their courage, spirit and contributions to our company’s success.

Stimulus for the Rest of Us (Part 1)

After 56 days in office as the 44th president, Obama has done some work on making life easier for the small business owner. Everone is talking about the stimulus plan and how the small business owner can get in on it.

A lot of people are trying to figure out how to ‘get some stimulus money’. Impacts from the $787 billion stimulus package, the tax breaks from new home buyers to renewable energy, are still rolling out.

On Monday, Obama unveiled his $15 billion plan to inject life into the credit market to help small businesses. The plan calls for $730 million of the stimulus plan to reduce lending fees and increase loan guarantees for small business to 90 percent. The plan also will provide banks $15 billion in hopes of loosening the credit market and increasing lending to small businesses. However, economic plans don’t take effect overnight, and the payoff may not be seen in the markets until next year.

Also, that part of the plan may not help those in trouble. People are not getting the loans because of credit issues and financial problems, not because the bank says they have no money!

If the effects are not going to be seen until 2010, what do we do for the next 9 months?

Right now loan fees are being waived and people are hoping that the taxes will not be raised for the small business owner. Banks will have to report quarterly on how much money they lent out if they received government assistant. Well Fargo recently announced new loans for consumers and commercial loans and did not take government assistance when it took over Wachovia Bank.

Private money is actually more available than Bank money. You can learn about this type of lender here: http://budurl.com/fz2t

Here is my question to you-

Do you know anyone who was turned down because the bank did NOT have money to lend?