Alliance conforms to meet member needs
In a recession, women”™s business networking groups and programs are trying to cater to their members and students.
“I think that everybody”™s in the same struggle in terms of keeping their businesses going during the recession,” said Nancy Gold, co-chair of The Alliance of Hudson Valley Business Owners, a networking organization that is under the umbrella of White Plains-based Women”™s Enterprise Development Center Inc. (WEDC). “Attendance is increasing in the programs that we are providing. People want to learn and offer each other mutual support, which is encouraging. They”™re looking for ways to attract new business and find cost-effective ways of marketing themselves and be ready as the recovery begins to grow.”
Gold, founder of marketing firm The Gold Standard, said a major area of interest among membership is social media, “a cost-effective avenue for small-business owners.”
“People are networking a lot; they are going on Twitter and Linked in and just finding ways to stay out there creatively,” Gold said. “We had a recent workshop about integrated Internet marketing ”“ it isn”™t just social media, it is your web site, your e-newsletter and your social media exposure all working together in an integrated way that really has a lot of impact.”
The Alliance, which Gold said has about 70 members, gives up-and-coming entrepreneurs the opportunity to find mentors in the more established business owners. “That is a really exciting synergy,” she said. “New business owners can really learn from those that have gone ahead of them.”
Marjorie Finer, co-chair of the Alliance and COO of Peekskill-based The Inner Group Inc., said people are feeling the importance of networking more than ever.
“I think in many ways there”™s a boom in people turning entrepreneurial and I don”™t think people feel that they have the luxury of just waiting for the phone to ring, because they don”™t,” Finer said. “Businesses have to stay visible and promote themselves to keep their businesses going, so certainly e-marketing is really important for every business out there. When the economy does come back you can”™t afford to be off the radar.”
WEDC has also noticed an increase in demand.
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“Our mission is to help women start and expand small businesses to achieve economic self-sufficiency,” said Anne M. Janiak, executive director of WEDC. “These economic times are very challenging, but I think entrepreneurs are looking at ways they can get over these difficult times. They”™re talking about bartering with other business owners and looking for additional services to provide, and they”™re just being very creative in looking for new business opportunities.”
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WEDC provides a wide variety of training programs for female entrepreneurs, including a 15-week training program, workshops, one-on-one business counseling and webinars.
In response to the recession, Janiak said WEDC is launching a program for “dislocated workers.”
“It”™s in the works, but we”™re hoping to start a class in November for people who have been unemployed and now want to turn to small-business ownership,” Janiak said.
She has seen demand for WEDC”™s programs nearly double in the past year. “Our numbers are clearly up,” Janiak said. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and they employ about 70 percent of the work force. That”™s significant. Women business owners play a significant role in the economy; they generate about $3 trillion in revenue. We”™re always focused on the Fortune 500 companies, and they”™re important, but I think what”™s really going to pull us out of this economy is small-business owners, so we have to help them grow in the community. We know from studies that women re-invest money in their families in children, and when you build strong families you build strong communities.”
The Alliance”™s next event will be a dinner seminar Oct. 20 on “women and wealth” at 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains at 5:30 p.m.