UConn Stamford conference targets women entrepreneurs

There were 8.9 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. last year, accounting for about 23 million jobs and representing a $3 trillion impact on the economy.

Since the start of the recession, women-owned businesses have grown 274,000 jobs, said Claire Leonardi, CEO of Connecticut Innovations. Despite those gains, there were still three challenges that existed for women: access to capital, access to federal contracts and access to businesses, training and counseling.

“On the capital side, only $1 out of $23 that are lent to small businesses go to women-owned companies,” Leonardi said. “That”™s only 7 percent of the venture capital. On the supply side, only 10 percent of venture capitalists are women. While these statistics are frustrating, real sustainable change only comes from demonstrated business success. And this comes from being really good at what we do. We need female CEOs because women are as talented as men can be and it takes talented people to build companies.”

Leonardi fired up the 350 women attending the University of Connecticut”™s second annual women entrepreneurs conference at the campus in downtown Stamford.

Keynote speakers were Jenny Lawton, CEO of MakerBot Industries, a Brooklyn-based 3-D printing company, and Linda Scott, University of Oxford DP World chairwoman for entrepreneurship and innovation and creator of the Double X Economy concept, which focuses on globalization and women”™s empowerment.

Some of the key workshop panelists were David Heath, co-founder of New York-based Bombas Socks, who spoke about how to make crowdfunding work and Anne Ravanona, founder and CEO of Paris-based Global Invest Her, who flew in from France the night before to moderate a workshop on the realities of being a woman entrepreneur.

In her speech, Leonardi spoke of the importance of networking among women entrepreneurs and providing capital for promising startups. Growing up in the Adirondack Mountains of New York state in a distressed rural town where the nearest grocery store was 25 miles away, Leonardi saw firsthand the reality of how poor economic conditions affect business.

She began to work closely with a number of small companies in her town to help them structure their business strategies and guide them financially.

“One was a women-owned natural body care company that was financing all her growth with her credit cards, and it was basically eating her alive,” Leonardi said. “So we helped her restructure her balance sheet. Another was a professor whom I helped focus on creating products and creating a revenue model. It was very rewarding. As a mentor I felt like I shared a lot, but I learned more from those entrepreneurs than I taught them.”

Once Leonardi moved to Connecticut with her husband, she was named CEO of Connecticut Innovations, the state”™s quasi-public authority responsible for technology-based economic development. In this role, she supports growing bioscience, information technology, clean technology and advanced manufacturing companies in their early stages. The organization has 100 companies in its portfolio and $200 million in assets, Leonardi said.

“It is a very special thing to take your idea, that”™s really personal, that you”™re passionate about, and bring it in front of someone, and they”™re not just judging your ideas, they”™re judging you,” Leonardi said. “And that”™s a really difficult place to be. That really helped me identify how the financing industry of how they dealt with entrepreneurs needed to change. That informed my approach to Connecticut Innovations.”

Workshops followed the morning event, where panelists led seminars on topics ranging from marketing and branding to finding what state resources can help entrepreneurs hit the ground running.

In the workshop on what investors look for, Candice Hughes, founder of Darien-based AdapTac Games, said she has been personally financing her business and paying her staff since last April. Her staff includes two programmers and a gaming artist who have helped her design a video game that helps kids practice their strategic thinking skills. Hughes, who is a neuroscientist, has a son with ADHD. She said she wants to help families like hers through education.

“Our initial goal is to make the game as fun and entertaining as possible and put all the educational parts in the background,” Hughes said. “So they”™re learning, but they don”™t have talking panda bears saying, ”˜You need to learn social skills, and this is what a smile looks like.”™ We”™re making it built into an actual game.”

Women-owned businesses were stationed in booths and available to chat with women throughout the day. One of the vendors at the event was a Danbury-based candy cake making company called Sweet Equations, which just started its women and family-owned business in January.

Sade Owoye, Sweet Equations co-founder, came up with her business idea when one day she simply added KitKats and M&Ms to a cake she baked for her family and posted it on Facebook.

“It got over 100 likes,” Owoye said. “So I said, ”˜Huh, this could be something.”™”

Now she runs her own business with her mother, Vanessa Owoye, and she has the opportunity to come back to her alma mater, UConn, to showcase her first venture. Currently, she is receiving support from her family and working with nonprofits and a community center in New Milford. They plan to work with the UConn Business School”™s Stamford Learning Accelerator and participate in advisory meetings to move her business to the next phase.

Mary Brewster, founder of American Flora, a Redding-based women”™s apparel company, is a returning vendor. She started her business three years ago. Along the way, she applied for the Stamford Learning Accelerator program to help steer her vision and business strategies. A team of UConn business students along with two professors studied her startup and wrote a detailed business plan to get her sustainable fashion business off the ground.

“All my items are made from recycled plastic bottles, and I”™ve been running my business from my house, selling sustainable fashion wear online,” Brewster said. “I do a lot of trunk shows, where I go to a party at a friend”™s house or to retailers and people can meet me and see my clothing line and buy that day.”

After consulting with UConn students on her business plan, she decided to expand her line of polyester spandex wraps, which was her most popular and expensive item in her inventory.

“You can wear it as a sash, and it has no wrinkles,” Brewster said. “It”™s good for traveling. You could wear it as a halter top or a scarf. You can swim in it and throw it in the wash. You can even wear it at yoga or put on a wrap over your leggings and go out to the city.”

All proceeds from the event, barring overhead costs, go to supporting scholarships for female UConn students who are interested in entrepreneurship, said Brian Brady, director of the Stamford Learning Accelerator. Last year, the School of Business raised $6,500 in scholarships for the same event. This year, the school hopes to raise $10,000. If all goes well, next year they plan to bring more sponsors on board and grow its pool of panelists and vendors.

“We wanted to take the resources of UConn in Stamford along with UConn”™s School of Business to make our facilities, faculty and students and staff available to put together an event like this for women to network and to get mentored,” Brady said.

This story has been corrected to reflect that Candice Hughes has a son with ADHD.