Giving women the business
If the world slowed down this month to make way for all the ice and snow, the Women”™s Business Development Council in Stamford ”” often known by the shorthand WBDC ”” has instead put the pedal to the metal.
From its Bedford Street headquarters, the WBDC operates with a budget “greater than $1.5 million annually,” according to its founder and director, Fran Pastore. On a recent afternoon in the WBDC second-floor offices, she waxed enthusiastic about a pair of programs for nascent entrepreneurs, a coming physical expansion in Danbury and a cinematic star turn for African ice cream.
Whatever the programs, according to Kimberly Cranston-DeSousa, a WBDC senior manager and project director, “We”™re consistently about the economic equity of women.”
The WBDC”™s two classes focus on: “Passion to Profit: Business Plan Development Program” and a four-month budget coaching program.
“The business plan class is about testing the feasibility of your idea,” Pastore said. “There is critical analysis of the idea and then we figure out how to make it work.” The deadline of Feb. 17 has been extended, but the two separate classes ”” one in Norwalk and one in Shelton, each with 15 students ”” will begin as scheduled: Feb. 24 at the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce in Shelton and a Norwalk Community College-sited class that begins Feb. 27. The nine-week course costs $300, but reduced-fee scholarships are available to those who qualify. (Kenyetta Banks is the sign-up contact for this class: KBanks@ctwbdc.org.)
At least to begin the process, there is no fee for the budget coaching class, which will vet entrepreneurs and eventually pair “about 25” of them with personal coaches. After introductory assessments, those selected will pay a $50 fee for the four-month-long course. Initial sessions are Feb. 25 at the Greater Valley Chamber and March 6 at WBDC”™s Stamford headquarters. (Jill Foster is the contact for this class: JFoster@ ctwbdc.org.)
“A lot of interest in entrepreneurship started at the beginning of the recession,” Pastore said. “But a lot of people found out they weren”™t cut out for it. What they discovered was they have to readjust their personal finances instead. After WBDC assessments, some were urged not to create a business, but to look at how they spend money. It”™s a critical first step.”
Cranston-DeSousa said, “We don”™t want to discourage a potential entrepreneur from trying, but to begin a successful business you need a solid personal foundation.”
It”™s part of a broad business picture that can delve into detail, but remain fixed on the big picture.
“We offer a holistic approach to economic empowerment for women as well as for men,” Pastore said, emphasizing WBDC oomph in the arenas of professional development, access to capital, business expansion and personalized financial and business advice, both for startups and for existing businesses. “That”™s the driving message from the WBDC: providing a unique, hands-on, comprehensive, holistic approach to business.”
The nonprofit WBDC, which dates to 1997, conducts courses on the road and will continue to do so, but it also is preparing to set up a permanent satellite in Danbury.
Danbury floated to the top of the choice list because of the intense interest in WBDC programs there, as Pastore explained. She called the process that led to Danbury”™s selection “methodical and thoughtful.” She said plans for the office “are happening quietly.”
Finally, the WBDC office addressed African ice cream. Litchfield County-based filmmakers Rob and Lisa Fruchtman will screen “Sweet Dreams” at Garden Cinemas in Norwalk March 6 (and again in Litchfield March 20). Pastore in 2010 was among those on a Business Council for Peace trip to Rwanda that led to the founding of the ice cream shop. The Rwandan entrepreneurs who founded Blue Marble Ice Cream and eventually opened a Brooklyn store with it are all survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.