To help celebrate Women’s History Month in March, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Rural Enterprise Assistance Project’s Women’s Business Center will host a day of speakers designed to inspire and offer down-to-earth advice for women to start or grow a small business.
The Women Entrepreneur Conference is scheduled for
Wednesday, March 18 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the YWCA of Grand Island, 211 East Fonner Park Road.
Patricia Brown-Dixon, Region VII Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration and Rebecca Greenwald, Region VII Advocate for the SBA, will offer remarks. Additionally, among those on the agenda are:
- Jennifer Rosenblatt of Argyle Octopus, a marketing firm which took home the award as the SBA’s Small Business of the Year for the 1st Congressional District in 2014;
- J’Nan Ensz, Accounting & Business Consulting Group, LLC;
- Speakers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic;
- And, Kitty Vacha, owner of Tasteful Indulgence, Cake Art of Seward; Megan Gewecke of Stepping Stones Psychological Services, LLC; and Sally Jurgensmier, owner of sculptures by SALLY, will serve on a panel of local entrepreneurs who will share their challenges and successes as women small business owners.
The event also will offer a half-hour fun and fast networking event hosted by Lisa Tschauner and Megan Arrington of Open For Business Magazine, to connect entrepreneurs with resource providers and other small businesses.
According to figures provided by the SBA Office of Advocacy, 6.6 percent of women in Nebraska are self-employed, and women represent 32.5 percent of all small business owners. Small businesses significantly impact Nebraska’s economy. They represent nearly 97 percent of all employers and employ 48 percent of the private-sector labor force. The latest data shows 167,678 small businesses in the state.
The $35 registration fee also covers lunch and may be paid at the door. Register online at
http://events.sba.gov/eventmanagement/EventRegistration.aspx?id=9bc4ad23-d99c-e411-8f7e-02bfa56e2a24.
For more information, please call Monica Braun, REAP Women’s Business Center Director at (402) 643-2673 or Elizabeth Yearwood, Economic Development Specialist at the SBA, at (402) 221-7200.
For more information regarding SBA, please visit our website at:
www.sba.gov/ne.
