Women seeking to open businesses or assistance to further an existing one have a new resource in the Granite State. The Center for Women & Enterprise, which has offices in Boston, Worcester and Providence, officially opened a Nashua office in June to serve as the SBA’s Women Business Center for NH.
The center has worked for the past 20 years to help women in business increase professional success, personal growth, and financial independence through one-on-one consultations, training and providing official certification that a business is woman-owned.
While entrepreneurs and businesswomen can sign up for the center’s free classes, seminars and networking events online, Terry Williams, program manager for the NH division, says the best thing to do is to contact the center and arrange a consultation. “We want to get a sense of what their needs are. Starting a business, you don’t realize all the things you don’t know,” she says, adding the Center is then able to offer women action plans and guide them to the most suitable resources.
Programming at the center includes: “Pricing for Profitability,” “Marketing on a Shoestring,” “Mastering Time Management Skills” and “Legal Considerations for New Businesses.” In 2014, the Center provided training and counseling to 3,258 clients in all its locations.
The Center also provides opportunities for women to network. “They may need to broaden their business network. We have regular networking events. Women can be very supportive of other women,” says Williams, who previously served as assistant director of the Merrimack Valley Small Business Center in Lowell, Mass. “I think that events like that can be very helpful in terms of finding a community and helping each other.” Williams says the Center has a goal of helping 10 business start-ups get off the ground this year, creating at least 15 jobs.
For more information, visit cweonline.org.
Current Issue - May 2024