by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
More than 300 people including Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings came to the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center’s grand opening celebration last week.
The center, inside the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Center on Norwood Avenue, was opened in November thanks to a five-year grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Executive Director Sandy Bartow said the center provides multiple services to help “advance the success of women entrepreneurs at every stage of women business development.”
Bartow, who also founded and directed a women’s business center in Kansas, said the Jacksonville center offers training, mentoring, consulting and networking services to aspiring local business women.
“Our goal is to teach the critical skills and provide the knowledge necessary for women entrepreneurs to start and grow successful businesses,” Bartow said. “This is really a community initiative with a focus on entrepreneurship.”
Since the November opening, about 60 aspiring or current local women business owners have received business counseling and more than 300 individuals have taken part in the center’s training programs.
Though the grants are guaranteed for the next five years, Bartow said the amount of the grants each year depends on the annual legislation of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The first year’s grant was for $150,000. After the grant funds are exhausted, the center will apply for a sustainability grant from the SBA. Bartow said the center should ultimately be funded through community support in the future.
“I am glad that Jacksonville received a grant to launch (a center) here and I think it will impact the city tremendously.”
Mayor John Peyton mirrored Bartow’s sentiment, saying small businesses are a major factor for maintaining and building Jacksonville’s economic health.
“We see headlines about big businesses moving here but the bread and butter of Jacksonville’s economy are small businesses,” Peyton said.
After speaking, Peyton, Lt. Gov. Jennings and several members of the JWBC’s staff and advisory board ditched the traditional ribbon cutting and took turns signing a large ceremonial banner which will be displayed at the center.
Jennings, who is part owner of her family’s construction business, which she ran before taking her most recent government position, said 48 percent of the small businesses today are owned by women and the number of women owned businesses is growing faster than any other area of business.
“We might be the fourth largest state but we are third (in the U.S.) when it comes to women-owned businesses,” Jennings said. “So tell me that women-owned businesses aren’t part of the economic fabric.”