In late May, the Women”™s Business Development Council began a statewide series of meetings to advise small business owners ”” men and women ”” on financing options, marketing tactics and general growth strategies.
Through the sessions, the WBDC staff will also identify the areas of greatest need for women business owners. The council will then determine where in Connecticut to add permanent satellite offices.
The “On the Road” campaign began May 28 in Stamford, where the WBDC is headquartered. Between now and September, WBDC staff will travel to other Fairfield County towns and cities as well as places such as Hartford, Milford, Torrington, Waterbury, New London and other Eastern Shore towns.
“This is giving us the opportunity to do what we have been wanting to do for a long time, which is to take our services on the road and reach out to communities that don”™t have access to services like the WBDC,” said CEO Fran Pastore. “The intent is to determine which communities have the greatest need.”
Pastore said this is the first mobile business advisory campaign the center has launched. The campaign is being funded by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The WBDC, a nonprofit, is one of more than 120 women”™s business development centers from around the U.S. that are supported by the SBA.
Sessions will be run entirely by WBDC staff and will primarily revolve around one-on-one meetings between staff and business owners. Topics will likely range from how to best secure capital for expansions to the most efficient use of social media for marketing purposes, in addition to general strategy and business planning.
“The sessions are going to be basically focused on whatever the entrepreneur needs, but based on our research we”™ve determined that those are the most significant issues,” Pastore said.
Pastore highlighted Torrington and the Eastern Shore as the two areas that appear to be most in need of business advising services, and said data and input that are collected by WBDC during its mobile campaign will factor into decision by the center to add satellite offices beyond Stamford.
In the latter two areas, Pastore said, “There are really a lot of micro-entrepreneurs and a lot of micro-businesses that are owned and operated by women that don”™t have access to our services or any business development services. So we”™re going to be looking at those communities in particular.”
The sessions that have taken place to date have been filled to capacity, Pastore said.
“We could not have predicted the volume of people that showed up,” she said. “What was really fascinating was that they continue to be women and men from all walks of life ”” people who are in business already, people who are just starting a business, and people who have been in business for years and years.”
WBDC staff will be in Norwalk June 10 for a session on financing, in Shelton June 12 and in Stamford June 18 for sessions on general strategy and operations, and in Greenwich June 19 for a session on marketing. All sessions will run from 1 to 5 p.m., with information on their precise locations available at ctwbdc.org.
