Moira Forbes Joins Key4Women National Advisory Board

CLEVELAND, June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Moira Forbes, vice president and publisher of ForbesWoman, has joined the Key4Women National Advisory Board. Key4Women, KeyBank's women-owned business banking program, formed the board in 2006 to help the bank understand the diverse needs of women business owners, spot burgeoning trends, and develop the right solutions for women business owners. Forbes joins a group of 14 women business owners and business experts. The women business owners represent a variety of industries and companies with annual sales of up to $15 million.

"We are delighted to have Moira join the Key4Women National Advisory Board," said Maria Coyne, head of KeyBank's Business Banking and founder of Key4Women. "As the first female publisher at Forbes, Moira is a great role model, and running ForbesWoman gives her an excellent perspective on the interests and concerns of women business owners and executives."

ForbesWoman, which launched last year, is a quarterly magazine and website (www.forbes.com/forbeswoman) focused on professional women and offering a mix of consumer, lifestyle, money and career information.  Key4Women recently partnered with Forbes' research arm, ForbesInsights, to develop a survey that revealed women business owners' customer service practices: http://www.forbes.com/forbesinsights/WomanSmallBizCustSvc .

Moira Forbes, who is also associate publisher for ForbesLife magazine, joined Forbes in 2001. She has a BA in Art History from Princeton University and graduated from the Harvard program for Leadership Development in January 2008.

Along with Moira Forbes, the 2010-2011 Key4Women National Advisory Board is comprised of:

• Marsha Firestone, founder and president of the Women Presidents' Organization (www.womenpresidentsorg.com)
• Gwen Martin, PhD, director of research and interim executive director of the Center for Women's Business Research in Washington, D.C. (www.nfwbo.org)
• Diane Brunner, owner and president of Davis College in Toledo, Ohio (www.daviscollege.edu)
• Carrie Davenport, owner of Century Personnel, Inc. in Carmel, Indiana (www.centurypersonnel.com)
• Wendy Goldstein, owner of Costume Specialists in Columbus (www.costumespecialists.com)
• Angie Hofelich, owner of VANITYLAB in Westlake, Ohio (www.vanitylab.com)
• Karyn Korteling, owner of Noodle, Inc., Pastabilities, and Our Daily Bread, in Syracuse, New York (www.pastabilities.com)
• Janice Parker, founder and CEO of Arbor Park Child Care Center in Albany, New York (www.arborparkchildcare.com)
• Heather Paine, vice president and co-owner of Spirited Living, Inc., in South Burlington, Vermont (www.candlesandcreations.net)
• Andrea Crisafulli-Russo, owner of Crisafulli Bros. Plumbing & Heating Contractors, Inc. in Albany, New York (www.crisbro.com)
• Gretchen Schauffler, color philosopher and founder of Devine Color Inc. in Lake Oswego, Oregon (www.devinecolor.com)
• Vanetta Chesbro Wilson, CEO of Chesbro Music Company in Idaho Falls, Idaho (www.chesbromusicretail.com)
• Roberta Winchell, CEO of the Law Office of Roberta Winchell in Bangor, Maine; and
• Tammy Wise, president of Wise Group in Cleveland, Ohio (www.wisegroup.com)

Female entrepreneurs represent a highly dynamic segment of the small business market. According to the Center for Women's Business Research, 10.1 million firms are majority-owned by women. As of 2008, these firms accounted for 40 percent of all privately held companies, employed more than 13 million people and generated $1.9 trillion in sales.

As one of the nation's largest financial services companies and top small business lenders, Key provides financial services to thousands of women-owned businesses in 14 states.

About KeyCorp

Cleveland-based KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $95 billion at March 31, 2010. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for certain businesses, internationally.  For more information, visit https://www.key.com/.

About Key4Women

Founded in 2005, Key4Women is grounded in research and dedicated to helping women business owners achieve their goals by providing:  

• Access to capital:  Research shows that women owned business are still less likely than male-owned businesses with comparable revenue to use or intend to use business credit or equity financing (Center for Women's Business Research). Key4Women helps to close the gap for women business owners in the use of financial services and helps them access the right kind of capital at the right time.  
• Customized service: KeyBank has Key4Women Champions in each of its 21 districts -- business bankers dedicated to supporting women business owners.  These Key4Women Champions understand that each business owner is unique, and they work closely with clients to provide customized solutions.
• Networking events: Local Key4Women networking events bring women business owners together to share ideas and develop new business partnerships.  Key4Women members also benefit from partnerships with national organizations like the Women's President Organization (WPO), the Center for Women's Business Research, and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).
• Educational opportunities: Key.com/women offers resources and information, including business tips on SBA lending, marketing, business development, Human Resources, and Information Technology.  Other educational resources include roundtables, the Key4Women Forums, local speakers, email newsletters, access to the mariaonmoney.com blog, and access to webinars.  Local Key4Women events address topics designed to help women business owners build skills and knowledge.  

SOURCE KeyCorp