New Rockville Women’s Business Center Assists Local Entrepreneurs

Lori Gillen

The status of women’s entrepreneurship is a good news/bad news story.

The good news? Women now start businesses at twice the rate of men, according to the Center for Women’s Business Research (CWBR). As a result, 10.1 million firms employing more than 13 million people and generating $1.9 trillion in sales were owned by women in 2008.

So what’s the bad news? Unfortunately, women are not growing, or even continuing, their businesses at the same rate as men. Nationally, only 30% of privately-owned businesses are owned by women, and only 20% of all businesses with $1 million or more in revenue are women-owned.

Moreover, while women make up 46% of the labor force and comprise an estimated 50% of management, professional and related occupations, they comprise only 14.8% of Fortune 500 board seats and a mere 2.8% of Fortune 500 CEOs.

“When was the last time you asked a woman business owner how many employees she has or where she ranks in her industry?” asked Sally Sternbach, executive director of Rockville Economic Development Inc. (REDI), a nonprofit economic development organization that recently launched a Women’s Business Center in Montgomery County. “While many women start a business as a way to gain flexibility over their work schedule, often as they care for others, it is important for us to debunk the myth that they need to stay small in order to succeed. “

In fact, according to a recent study by the U.S. Small Business Administration, businesses with at least one employee have a lower failure rate than those with none. Going solo and staying small may appear less risky, but planned growth may actually offer much greater rewards for women over the long term.

A New Resource

The new Rockville Women’s Business Center (RWBC) aims to address the growth gap while still helping Montgomery County’s diverse population start new women-owned enterprises. Through training, referrals and coaching, the RWBC helps women business owners gain the skills and connections to help them succeed.

The idea of establishing a women’s business center in Montgomery County gained momentum in 2009 with a feasibility study that was funded by Citi/Citi Foundation and managed jointly by the Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia and REDI. The study included a comprehensive survey of more than 300 entrepreneurs who attended seven basic business classes. More than 60% of the participants were women, and nearly 60% represented racial and ethnic minority groups. Three-quarters of the attendees had never been in business before and nearly all of them were seeking additional help to develop their businesses.

The study also looked at two dozen existing business development organizations and women’s groups to evaluate the gaps in service and concluded that women entrepreneurs in Montgomery County were underserved by existing programs in the county.

The feasibility study concluded that proximity is very important to busy entrepreneurial women. Counseling and workshops offered by women’s business centers in neighboring jurisdictions were considered too far away to be helpful to the overwhelming majority of those who were surveyed.

“The study results were fairly conclusive in identifying the need for and sustainability of a women’s business center in this very populous county, and they have been confirmed by the solid attendance at seminars and steady number of inquiries we have received since we opened,” said Sternbach.

Funding Support

On Nov. 4, 2010, the Rockville Women’s Business Center was launched as a REDI program, with financial support from the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development and Citi. In February, the RWBC received a $45,000 grant from Citi Foundation. Sheldon Caplis, regional director, North America Community Development for Citi, explained, “The RWBC serves a need that aligns with Citi and Citi Foundation’s key priority of developing small businesses for growth. We look forward to continuing our work in Montgomery County to support women’s entrepreneurship.”

The City of Rockville also provided a supplemental grant to support operations for the FY2011 year. Recently, continued support for the RWBC was included in the county’s FY12 budget that Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett forwarded to the county council. Montgomery County Council President Valerie Ervin was an early advocate for the RWBC, and noted, “We need a resource like this to help women cut through the maze of issues that can overwhelm them as they start and grow a business.”

The RWBC is currently seeking support from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership in an effort to join a network of 110 similar SBA-funded centers across the country, and has received letters of support from Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin and Congressman Chris Van Hollen to this end.

“The SBA has traditionally been interested in empowering the disadvantaged, and the RWBC will certainly serve that demographic, assisting in the development of businesses that create jobs and boost economic activity,” explained Sternbach.

Early Results

The RWBC offers a full schedule of workshops in marketing, business planning, finance and business resources (see www.RockvilleWBC.org), helping more than 100 women every month. It also offers individual counseling and referrals to the many companies and groups that assist entrepreneurs.

Said Sternbach, “Although there are many sources of information and a number of networking groups for women, they are all volunteer-run, and there has never been a single place for women to go to figure out which are most appropriate for an individual business. The RWBC fills that role, and works with many partners to coordinate business support activities.”

Julian Kiganda, president of Vibrant Design Group, is a big fan of the Rockville WBC. She and her business partner Loán Sewer taught the RWBC’s first workshop on Branding Fundamentals. She was a client of the Northern Virginia Center when she started her business in 2005.

“I drove there from Gaithersburg twice a month for six months, working with a staff member to develop my business plan,” she explained. In 2010, she landed a major national client that has propelled Vibrant Design Group into a global expansion with projects in Brazil and the Caribbean. “Now I need access to mentors to discuss growing pains and to connect me with resources for intermediate stage companies. I also need classes in human resources, financial planning and leveraging our Minority Business Enterprise status to land large contracts.” With the RWBC’s help, Kiganda expects to defy the statistics.

Lori Gillen is managing director of the Rockville Women’s Business Center. She can be reached at 301-315-8096 or e-mail wbc@rockvilleredi.org.