Event: From Start-up to Scale-up - Why Don't Women-owned Businesses Grow at the Same Rate as Others?

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Women are the fastest growing segment of business owners – they are a crucial part of our economy, and have been instrumental to the economic recovery of our country. Despite these positive trends, according to National Women's Business Council (NWBC)'s research, women in business face major obstacles when trying to grow their businesses. On December 8^th at 2pm EST the NWBC will bring together a panel of experts for their December public meeting to share success stories and information about helpful programming and resources – so more women can take their businesses to that next level.

"Women entrepreneurs are successfully starting businesses, but then too many of them have trouble scaling. They are not hiring employees. They are not reaching that sought-after $1 million revenue milestone," NWBC Chair Carla Harris said, "We believe all women with aspirations for growth and with innovative and scalable ideas should be able to grow their businesses. An increase in their own receipts and hires is good for them and the economy overall."

For this quarterly public meeting the NWBC gathering women business owners who have successfully grown their businesses to share lessons learned from their own growing pains, best practices, and other words of advice. The panel will touch upon many aspects of scaling – raising capital, building a sustainable infrastructure, and hiring more employees.

"Much media and cultural attention is paid to America's start-up culture. We want to shine light on another critical stage of building a business: the scale-up," Amanda Brown, Executive Director of the NWBC said.

The panel, titled "Preparing for Growth: Learn What it Takes to Scale Up," will include:

• Vanessa Green, CEO of FINsix;
• Kari Warberg-Block, CEO of Earth-Kind Inc; and
• Phyllis Newhouse, CEO and founder of Xtreme Solutions.

Together, they will grapple with questions such as: What are the fears associated with growth? What are the best practices as women entrepreneurs pursue growth? How can more women access the growth capital their companies need to move quickly, respond to market changes, and grow? What are the programs and resources that women entrepreneurs can leverage as they pursue growth?

To highlight some programs and resources, the following guest speakers will also participate in the program: Kerrie MacPherson, Principal in the Financial Services Office, and Entrepreneurial Winning Women North American Executive Sponsor at Ernst & Young LLP to share more about their Entrepreneurial Winning Women program; Teresa Nelson, Astia Global Advisory Board member and NWBC Council Member, to talk about Astia's work with entrepreneurs in high-growth sectors; and Jon Spears, Director of Clusters and Skills Initiatives at the SBA to discuss their new Scaleup America initiative.

The Council hosts a public meeting every quarter to share the latest facts and information on women-owned and women-led businesses, elevate the issues and challenges that women entrepreneurs face as they pursue their business dreams, and update the general public on recent activities and research projects.  This is the first Public Meeting of the new fiscal year.

Details on the meeting:

Date: Monday, December 8^th, 2014
Time: 2pm EST – 4pm EST
Place: Online via Google Hangout

This event is open to the public and can be registered for here: http://bit.ly/nwbcmtg128

ABOUT THE NWBC

The National Women's Business Council (NWBC) is a non-partisan federal advisory council created to serve as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on issues of impact and importance to women business owners and entrepreneurs. For more information about the Council or research on women business ownership, please visit the website at www.NWBC.gov.  

For more information contact:
Samhita Mukhopadhyay
(202) 615 – 6570
[email protected]

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SOURCE National Women's Business Council

Related Links

http://www.NWBC.gov