By Anna Pratt, former staff member
October is Women’s Small Business Month, making it a great time to highlight the work and accomplishments of Women’s Business Centers across the country. Nationally, there are about 115 centers that service more than 146,000 women.
These centers provide free and high quality resources, business coaching, trainings, and mentorship for women who are seeking to start or improve their small business. The recipients of these services are a growing group of entrepreneurs.
Business ownership by women continues to increase. Recent studies show that women-owned firms account for 39 percent of all privately held firms in the U.S. Women are also starting new businesses at four times the rate of men. They employ 9 million employees and generate 11.7 million in annual revenue.
In Nebraska, our Center for Rural Affairs Women’s Business Center serves entrepreneurs across the state. Our small business program utilizes loan specialists and business consultants statewide to meet the needs of female entrepreneurs. Trainings, one-to-one business coaching, and small business loans are available through our program.
In the past year, our Women’s Business Center has offered 213 training sessions serving 647 clients, 370 of which were women. Loan specialists and business consultants have also worked one-on-one with 929 clients, and served 471 women through direct business coaching.
