10.23.17
Plenty of help available for female entrepreneurs
As included in Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, JG Letters
Excerpt
“Did you know Fort Wayne is home to one of two U.S. Small Business Administration-designated women’s business centers in Indiana? The Women’s Economic Opportunity Center is at the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, which is its host organization and provides funding, supplemental technical support, and resources to serve women at all stages of their business ventures.
Although WEOC just completed its second year as a designated women’s business center, the program was founded more than 25 years ago. It is a public-private partnership, partially funded by the Small Business Administration. Women’s business centers represent a national network of more than 150 centers designed to assist women in starting and growing small businesses. They empower and assist female entrepreneurs and help to level the playing field for a group that still faces many obstacles in the business world.
The programs provide training, mentoring, counseling and access to capital for one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy: women business owners. In 2016, WEOC counseled 165 women and trained 700 individuals. WEOC also helped local female entrepreneurs access $530,000 in capital. This was achieved during our first year of operation! National Women’s Small Business Month is the perfect time to applaud the amazing advancements these women have made in the business world. It takes courage, ambition, and ingenuity to start your own business.”
