The Women”™s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC) has long been a fixture for women looking to expand their entrepreneurial ventures in Westchester. Now, it is undergoing its first change in leadership, with founding CEO Anne Janiak stepping down. Her successor Nikki Hahn will take over starting Jan. 1.
Janiak took on the role initially after WEDC began in 1997, as a volunteer on a pilot project in collaboration with several organizations based in Westchester.
“The timing was perfect for me to take a leadership role, having just finished my term as mayor of Scarsdale and always having had a strong interest in empowering women, providing opportunities for them and advancing their rights,” Janiak said.
Now, over two decades later, WEDC is still doing this critical work, supported by federal, state, municipal and private funding. It has offices in White Plains and Poughkeepsie, both of which are Small Business Administration-designated Women”™s Business Centers and Empire State Development-designated Entrepreneurship Assistance Centers.
Programming from WEDC is inclusive of businesses in all stages of growth, whether just starting out, looking to strengthen operations or scaling up and growing an established business. In fact, over half of its clients are business owners who have been in business for more than three years.
“I think we do a really good job of meeting our clients where they are and helping them move to the next phase,” Hahn said.
Other than free resources, regular educational sessions and lectures, networking opportunities, one-on-one business counseling, funding assistance and MWBE certification assistance, its core programming includes a 60-hour entrepreneurial training program that addresses multiple aspects of starting, running and maintaining a business.
WEDC”™s programming and resources are aimed specifically toward helping women, and especially those in underserved communities and communities of color.
“Another thing that I think makes us unique and is really important to me is that we go into the communities that need our programs the most,” Hahn said. “We partner with places like new Rochelle and Mount Vernon, and we go into those communities and provide our programs and services, and we do it in English and in Spanish.”
WEDC is able to reach out into these communities partially through its connections with county and local governments. After 24 years in Westchester, these networks are well-forged, and Hahn noted that she is hoping to strengthen them in the same way with the organization”™s growing Hudson Valley regional office, especially drawing upon the area”™s expanding Spanish-speaking populations.
“In Westchester we’ve done it very successfully,” she said. “I think in the Hudson Valley region, we just didn’t have the resources to be able to do that. So I think with this new Women’s Business Center designation, that’s what will enable us to do that right. And we have more relationships with county government up there too, so that’s paving the way.”
For Hahn, a background in nonprofit work and public administration led her to WEDC ”” although she never sought out her position as development director.
“When I was tapped to work at WEDC, I wasn’t looking for a job actually ”” I was working at Volunteer New York part time,” she said. “I was very happy and loved my team and loved what I was doing. One of the WEDC board members and a long-time friend and mentor of mine said, ”˜Hey, they’re looking for someone. And I think you’d be perfect for this.”™ And I said, ”˜No, I’m not really looking for anything.”™ And she said, ”˜Just go meet with Anne Janiak.”™ So I met with her and we just hit it off immediately.”
That was three years ago. Since then, she”™s helped diversify and grow the organization”™s revenues, through corporate and foundational support and strategic partnerships with other local business organizations. Before Hahn arrived, WEDC didn”™t have a dedicated development leader.
Prior to WEDC, she had been part of Volunteer New York”™s social corporate responsibility team as well as the organization the Acceleration Project. Her “first career,” over 20 years ago, was as a teacher. Although she was never a business owner herself, her experience seeing the challenges of such an undertaking has influenced how compelled she feels to work in this space.
“My husband was a small-business owner for many, many years,” she said. “He started a business in grad school, built it up and sold it very successfully. And, you know, he is a white man who has access to whatever education he wants. And I remember how difficult it was for him to go along that entrepreneurial journey. And so to think about the women and the minorities who we serve, who are predominantly from BIPOC or lower-income, underserved communities, and the barriers that they face, I just quite honestly feel like it’s unfair, and I want to remove those barriers and I want to give them access to all those same training opportunities and mentoring, networking, financing opportunities that I think they should have.”
According to Hahn, Janiak has been a mentor to her throughout the years, and she is looking forward to continuing the work the founding CEO has done for WEDC and the community.
“I think she was fighting for underserved communities, especially women, to have access to these programs far before it was fashionable,” Hahn said. “Now, it’s kind of in vogue that we should be focusing on minority and women-owned businesses. But Anne has been fighting that fight since 1997. So I have so much gratitude and awe over what she’s been able to accomplish. It started as a small committee and it’s grown into this really amazing organization.”
Janiak will remain involved with WEDC as needed, as a special adviser.
Both leaders look forward to seeing through recent initiatives for WEDC, including the continued Hudson Valley expansion, more Spanish-language offerings, a child care business training program and a formal mentoring program.
A new strategic partnership with the Business Outreach Center, a community development financial institution, will allow WEDC to provide loans to clients ranging from $500 to $50,000. Another with Ossining Innovates!, a business accelerator program in Westchester, will allow both organizations to shore up their methods of teaching entrepreneurship.
“With the recent focus on and interest in small business, primarily because of the pandemic, WEDC now has the available financial resources to help us move forward on these important and significant projects in meaningful ways,” Janiak said.
“What I am so excited to see is how well positioned and poised WEDC is at this juncture in our organization”™s history to keep the momentum going and achieve even more success in helping both women who want to launch a business, and who may not have access to the traditional banking and financial resources, as well as helping women who are already in business achieve their next-stage goals to grow their enterprises.”
Janiak will take on a new position as executive director of the Westchester Municipal Officials Association, a countywide organization of the government officials across the 45 cities, villages and towns in Westchester County focused on solving problems concerning public safety, health and welfare.
