Successful Practices for Establishing and Modifying 

Entrepreneurship Programs for Women:

Resources for Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs 

I. Report of Findings from an Exploratory

Literature Review and Interview Study 

National Women’s Business Council 

with 

Evaluation Edge, LLC 

1st Choice Staffing and Consulting 

and 

3D Studios 
Cover photographs ©Dreamstime.com or ©iStockphoto.com and their artists. 

Cover photographs and licenses purchased through 

Dreamstime (www.dreamstime.com) and iStockphoto (www.istockphoto.com). 

The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations found in this study are those of the authors 

and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Women’s Business Council, the United States 

Small Business Administration, or the United States Government. 

© June 2009 by the National Women’s Business Council 
Table of Contents 

About NWBC and the Contributors................................................................................................................ 5 

Review Committee Members......................................................................................................................... 6
 

Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................................... 7
 

Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 8
 

Introduction and Purpose............................................................................................................................. 10
 

Women’s Business Ownership: Current Trends ............................................................................. 10
 

Challenges for Women Business Owners ...................................................................................... 11
 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women ............. 11
 

Successful Learning Styles and Learning Environments for Women .................................................... 11
 

Human, Financial and Social Capital..................................................................................................... 13
 

Women’s Business Centers: Success in Serving the Needs Women Entrepreneurs ................................... 14
 

Reasons for Colleges to Support Entrepreneurship Centers & 

Non-Credit Programs for Women............................................................................................. 15
 

Literature Review and Interview Findings .................................................................................................... 16
 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women.................... 16
 

Knowing the Target Audience......................................................................................................... 16
 

The Audience of Women Business Owners .......................................................................................... 16
 

Understanding the Local Audience........................................................................................................ 17
 

Conducting a Needs Assessment.......................................................................................................... 23
 

Providing Support Services ............................................................................................................ 25
 

Networking............................................................................................................................................. 26
 

Mentoring............................................................................................................................................... 28
 

Counseling or Consulting Services........................................................................................................ 29
 

Creating Collaborations .................................................................................................................. 30
 

Marketing and Promoting Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs to Women..................... 37
 

Marketing to Women ...................................................................................................................... 37
 

Successful Marketing Practices of WBCs....................................................................................... 37
 

Successful Marketing through Collaborations................................................................................. 39
 

Evaluating Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women............... 40
 

Evaluation Basics ........................................................................................................................... 40
 

Measuring the Success of WBCs ................................................................................................... 40 
 

Evaluating Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women .................................... 41
 

Methodology ................................................................................................................................................ 42 

Research Questions, Methods & Successful Practice Selection......................................................... 402
 

Limitations of the Research and Implications for Interpretation of the Findings .................................. 403 

Updating the Companion Resource Guide.......................................................................................... 404
 

Endnotes ..................................................................................................................................................... 45
 

Table of Contents 1 
 

 

 

List of Successful Practice Exhibits 

Successful Practice: Understanding a Local Audience.................................................................................. 1
 

The Microbusiness Advancement Center Serving Tucson and Southern Arizona: 

The Microbusiness Advancement Center, Arizona:
 

Successful Practice: Implementing the Findings of a Needs Assessment into 

Nebraska’s Rural Enterprise Assistance Project: Women’s Business Center......................................... 1
 

Successful Practices: Supporting Cultural Sensitivity and Diversity in Women’s Business Education .......... 1
 

Center for Women & Enterprise: Supporting Spanish Language ............................................................ 1
 

ONABEN – A Native American Business Network.................................................................................. 1
 

Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team: Serving Native American and Spanish Speaking Clients... 1
 

Successful Practices: Programming for Women at Different Business Stages.............................................. 1
 

Jacksonville Women’s Business Center: “Supporting Women Entrepreneurs at Every Step”:................ 1
 

Center for Women & Enterprise: Serving Women “At Every Stage of Business Development” .............. 1
 

Successful Practice: Specific Topics of Interest for a Local Audience ........................................................... 1
 

“Tech Basics and Tech Tools for Marketing”........................................................................................... 1
 

Successful Practice: Specific Industry Training for a Local Audience............................................................ 1
 

Women’s Enterprise Development Center of Westchester, NY: “Child Care Provider Training” ............. 1
 

Successful Practice: Developing an Online Entrepreneurship Program ........................................................ 1
 

Santa Fe Community College of New Mexico: Entrepreneurship Institute .............................................. 1
 

Successful Practice: Conducting a Needs Assessment for Gender Issues in Entrepreneurship Education .. 1
 

Dakota County Technical College of Minnesota: Business Entrepreneur Program................................. 1
 

Successful Practice: Creating an Effective Networking Event ....................................................................... 1
 

Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia’s Annual Women Entrepreneurs Expo.......................... 1 

Successful Practice: Providing a Full Spectrum of Networking Activities....................................................... 1
 

Center for Women & Enterprise’s Networking and Special Events ......................................................... 1
 

Successful Practice: Unique Approaches to Mentorship ............................................................................... 1
 

The Alliance Women’s Business Center’s: WNET Monthly Mentorship Roundtable............................... 1
 

Jacksonville Women’s Business Center: Roundtables and Mentor Teams............................................. 1
 

Successful Practice: Understanding Gender and Cultural Sensitivities with Counseling Services ............... 1
 

Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team: One-on-One Business Consulting...................................... 1
 

Successful Practice: A Large Collaborative Network ..................................................................................... 1
 

Multiple Organizations: Jacksonville, FL ................................................................................................. 1
 

Successful Practice: Collaborating in Statewide Initiatives ............................................................................ 1
 

REAP Women’s Business Center of Nebraska....................................................................................... 1
 

Successful Practice: Collaborations Supporting Entrepreneurial Education Programming for Women ......... 1
 

Women’s Enterprise Development Center, Inc.: A Collaboratively Launched Effort ............................... 1
 

Successful Practice: Collaborations Supporting Entrepreneurial Education Programming for Women ......... 1
 

Collaborations for Community Development........................................................................................... 1
 

Program Design and Marketing ..................................................................................................................... 1
 

Dakota County Technical College of Minnesota: Business Entrepreneur Program................................. 1
 

Successful Practice: Unique Co-Branding and Co-Marketing in Entrepreneurial Education Programming ... 1
 

The Community Business Partnership of Fairfax Virginia: Five Co-located Programs............................ 1
 

Other Featured Examples 

Virginia Community College Stystem (VCCS)....................................................................................... 24 
 

The Wharton School – Small Business Development Center (SBDC) .................................................. 27 

Babson College located in Wellesley, Massachusetts .......................................................................... 36 

Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia .................................................................................... 40 
 

2 List of Best Practice Exhibits 
Icon Guide 

The following icons are used in the report as a general guide for navigating through several sections of the report. 

Each section highlights background research and specific practices concerning that topic collected from the literature 

review or interviews. The report can be read from beginning to end or readers can focus on areas of specific interest 

by using the icons as a guide to each section. For a more detailed reference use the “Table of Contents” listed on 

the first page of this report. 

Executive Summary 

Introduction and Purpose 

The Audience of Women 

Business Owners 

Understanding the Local 

Audience 

Conducting a Needs 

Assessment 

Providing Support Services 

Networking 

Mentoring 

Counseling or Consulting 

Services 

Creating Collaborations 

Marketing and Promoting 

Entrepreneurship Centers 

and Non-Credit Programs to 

Women 

Evaluating Entrepreneurship 

Centers and Non-Credit 

Programs for Women 

Icon Guide 3 
4 This Page Left Blank 
 

About NWBC and the Contributors 

NWBC 

The National Women’s Business Council is a bi-partisan federal government council created to 

serve as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the U.S. 

Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners. 

Members of the Council are prominent women business owners and leaders of women’s 

business organizations. The Council’s mission includes conducting and supporting research on 

issues of importance to women business owners and their organizations in order to promote 

bold initiatives, policies and programs designed to support women's business enterprises at all 

stages of development in the public and private sector marketplaces. 

For more information about the Council, its mission and activities, contact: National Women’s 

Business Council, 409 3rd Street, SW, Suite 210, Washington, DC 20024; phone: 202-205-

3850; fax: 202-205-6825, e-mail: info@nwbc.gov; Web site: www.nwbc.gov. 

Evaluation Edge, LLC 

Becky A. Melzer, MA, of Evaluation Edge, LLC has more than 13 years experience in research 

and evaluation services, including more than 5 years experience documenting the challenges 

and successes of women business owners and programs that serve them. Evaluation Edge, 

LLC, established in 2008, provides collaborative program evaluation as well as survey and 

social science research services to produce usable information for all stake-holders in program 

development and improvement. 

For more information about Evaluation Edge, LLC, contact Becky A. Melzer of Evaluation Edge, 

LLC, Rockville, MD, 20852, phone: 240-994-0143, e-mail: becky@evaluationedge.com, Web 

site: www.evaluationedge.com. 

1st Choice Staffing and Consulting 

1st Choice Staffing and Consulting provides services to local, state and federal government 

agencies, as well as the commercial and non-profit business communities. Established in 2000, 

1st Choice is headquartered Silver Spring, Maryland, with offices in Richmond, VA and 

Baltimore, MD. We provide nationwide services in the areas of Administrative Support, Business 

Management Services, IT Support, Human Resources Management, Organizational 

Development and Records Management. 

1st Choice is an SBA certified 8(a) and HUBZone firm that holds both the MOBIS and TAPS 

Federal GSA supply schedules. 1st Choice is also an MDOT and NMSDC certified Minority 

Business Enterprise and a WBENC certified Woman Business Enterprise. 

For more information about 1st Choice Staffing and Consulting, contact 1st Choice, 8121 Georgia 

Avenue, Suite 700 Silver Spring, MD 20910, phone: 301 563-6404, fax 301 563-6482. Web site: 

www.1stchoicestaffingagency.com. 

3D Studios 

3D Studios has been providing professional imaging services since 1997. As a certified small, 

minority and women-owned business 3D has extensive experience in the collegiate and non-forprofit arenas and in addressing the hurdles and pitfalls inherent to small and women-o wned 

businesses as speakers in seminars and conferences addressing these specific issues. 

For more information about 3D Studios, contact 3D Studios, 75 South Broadway, Suite 400, 

White Plains, NY 10601; phone: 914-304-4229; fax: 914-304-4235, email: info@3dstudios.net; 

Web site: www.3dstudios.net. 

About NWBC and the Contributors 5 
 

 

Review Committee Members 

The National Women’s Business Council would like to express its sincere appreciation to the 

following colleagues who reviewed and provided feedback on early drafts of this report and 

guide. The Council greatly acknowledges their generous, knowledgeable, and constructive 

contribution to this report. 

Sandy Bartow, Jacksonville Women’s Business Center 

Susan Duffy, Simmons College 

Mary Godwyn, Babson College 

Patricia Greene, Babson College 

Katherine Korman Frey, George Washington University 

Gwen Martin, Center for Women’s Business Research 

Dorothy Moore, The Citadel 

In addition, the Council recognizes the following colleagues for their participation in this project. 

Candida Brush, Babson College 

Susan Coleman, University of Hartford 

Julie Weeks, Womenable 

6 Review Committee Members 
 

 

 

Acknowledgments 

The National Women’s Business Council would like to thank the U.S. Small Business 

Administration for its continued commitment to the entrepreneurial initiatives of women and the 

Women’s Business Center program. In addition, NWBC greatly appreciates the cooperation 

from the following ten (10) Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), five (5) two- and four-year 

colleges and universities, and three (3) Small Business Development Center (SBDCs) that 

participated in the interview and review process and whose valuable contributions provide the 

framework to expand entrepreneurship education for women. 

Arizona 

Microbusiness Advancement Center, Women’s Business Center • Tucson, AZ • 

Debbie Chandler, Executive Director 

Florida 

The Alliance: Minority/Women Business Enterprise Alliance, Inc. • Orlando, FL • 

Carrie Williams, Project Director 

Jacksonville Women's Business Center • Jacksonville, FL • Sandy Bartow, Executive Director 

Small Business Development Center (SBDC), University of North Florida • Jacksonville, FL • 

Janice Williams Donaldson, Regional Director 

Iowa 

Iowa Women's Enterprise Center • Des Moines, IA • Jan Owens Bruene, Director of Microenterprise 

Massachusetts & Rhode Island 

Center for Women & Enterprise • Boston, MA• Susan Rittscher, CEO and 

Carol Malysz, Former Director, CWE-RI 

Minnesota 

Dakota County Technical College • Rosemount, MN • Christine Pigsley, Associate Dean 

Nebraska 

Rural Enterprise Assistance Project, Women’s Business Center • Omaha, NE • Monica Braun, Director 

New York 

Berkeley College • Westchester, NY • Dr. Orestes Diaz, Designer/Instructor 

Westchester Community College Mainstream • Westchester, NY • Shelley Garnet, Director

Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC) • Anne Janiak, Executive Director 

New Mexico 

Entrepreneurship Institute at Santa Fe Community College • Santa Fe, NM • Drew Clausen, Instructor 

Women's Economic Self-Sufficiency Team (WESST) • Gallup, NM • Grace Boyne, Regional Manager 

Oregon 

ONABEN Women’s Business Center • Portland, OR • Kedma Ough, WBC Director 

Pennsylvania

Small Business Development Center (SBDC) – The Wharton School • Philadelphia, PA • 

Erin McGowan, Associate Director 

Virginia 

Community Business Partnership (CBP), an SBDC• Springfield, VA • Kathy Wheeler, President & CEO 

Northern Virginia Community College’s Entrepreneurship Program • Annandale, VA • 

Robert P. Rogers, Jr., Special Assistant to the President 

Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia • Springfield, VA • Lisa Goodman, Director 

Review Committee Members 7 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Executive Summary 

In 2007, the National Women’s Business Council 

(NWBC) began to investigate how two- and four-year 

colleges and universities could broaden the reach of 

entrepreneurial education to women. The primary goal 

of this investigation was to identify successful practices 

from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women’s 

Business Center Program. In addition, an introductory 

exploration of some successful practices being utilized 

by two- and four-year colleges and universities or Small 

Business Development Centers (SBDC) was 

incorporated into the research. These successful 

practices have been used to create a practical guide for 

colleges as well as other organizations establishing or 

modifying entrepreneurship centers and non-credit 

training programs for women. 

The resulting report, Successful Practices for 

Establishing and Modifying Entrepreneurship 

Programs for Women: Resources for 

Entrepreneurship Programs & Non-Credit 

Programs, includes two components. 

•	 The first document, I. Report of Findings from an 

Exploratory Literature Review & Interview 

Study, includes the findings from an exploratory 

review of literature and organizational practices 

along with interviews of WBCs and other 

organizations demonstrating successful practices. 

•	 The second document, II. Resource Guide for 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship

Centers & Non-Credit Training Programs for 

Women, summarizes the findings of the report into 

a practical reference for program designers. The 

guide is intended to be a “living document,” 

designed to be periodically updated according to 

new research or based on feedback from the field 

and practitioners.i 

It is important to note that this exploratory study is not 

intended to guide curriculum design. Any examples of 

training and educational programs are intended as 

suggestions for complimenting for-credit programming. 

Many of the colleges listed in this report have for-credit 

programs, but the focus in this publication is on the 

delivery of services. 

Summary of the Part One Report Findings 

The review of the literature provides considerable 

evidence that implementing entrepreneurial programs 

i Please see the “Methodology” section for more information 

on sharing your input for future guides. 

specifically with a focus on the audience of women is 

beneficial. First, there is evidence that specific learning 

styles and learning environments contribute to inspiring 

women to consider entrepreneurship and for helping 

current women business owners attain success in their 

entrepreneurial endeavors. For instance, research 

shows that women prefer relationship oriented 

education and holistic approaches to learning. 

Second, women encounter more obstacles than men 

when becoming entrepreneurs in terms of experience, 

financial and social capital. Education has been one of 

the best options for helping to close these gaps. 

Entrepreneurial education is successful in serving 

women if, in addition to academic learning, it provides 

training in practical skills, support services and 

experiential learning aimed at increasing women’s 

understanding and access to human, financial, and 

social capital. 

Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) have been very 

successful in providing entrepreneurial programming 

tailored to women’s learning preferences and using 

support services. In 2007 alone, WBCs served more 

than 148,000 clients–an increase of 18 percent from 

2005.1 Women who utilized WBCs reported $550.2 

million in receipts for FY 2007 which included a $40.8 

million increase in profits. That year, WBC clients 

created approximately 3,300 new businesses and 8,750 

new jobs.2 In addition to these economic trends, the 

majority of WBC clients indicate that they are satisfied 

with WBC services.3 WBCs provide successful models 

for entrepreneurship program design for female 

students and are also important organizations with 

which colleges and universities should collaborate when 

establishing or modifying entrepreneurship programs for 

women. 

As of 2008, there are 10.1 million firms that are 51% or 

more owned by women, and these firms have 7.3 

million employees and $1.1 trillion in sales.4 The 

number of women-owned businesses and women 

engaging in entrepreneurial activity is growing, but large 

gaps still exist between men and women.5 It is 

important to support nascent women entrepreneurs and 

established women business owners to make sure they 

have the resources to succeed.6 Establishing or 

modifying entrepreneurship centers and non-credit 

training programs with a focus on the preferences and 

needs of women in colleges and universities would 

increase the number of aspiring and current women 

business owners being served and promote 

entrepreneurship to currently enrolled female students 

who are not yet considering entrepreneurial pursuits.7 

Executive Summary 8 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship 

Centers and Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Three common themes for establishing or modifying 

entrepreneurship centers and non-credit training 

programs for women emerged from the literature and 

successful practice interviews: 

•	 knowing the target audience, 

•	 providing support mechanisms such as mentoring, 

networking, and counseling, and 

•	 collaborating or partnering with other organizations 

or providers. 

Knowing the Target Audience 

Four key strategies for programming for an audience of 

female learners consistently are demonstrated in the 

literature and by WBCs. These strategies are to: 

1) have learning environments that incorporate 

relationship and holistic approaches; 

2) have “safe spaces” for learning; 

3) have women teachers or speakers; and 

4) incorporate experiential learning and formal support 

networks. 

Programmers should also consider the specific needs of 

their local audiences, including: 

•	 learning styles and preferences; 

•	 cultural or diversity sensitivities, including language; 

•	 topic and industry interests; 

•	 location and time of programming; 

•	 dependent care or similar needs; and 

•	 demographics such as: age, educational 

attainment, work/student status, type of profession 

or job titles, and family/age of children 

Support services 

Research has shown that support services can help 

narrow the gap between women and men for accessing 

human, financial and social capital. Networking, 

mentoring and counseling opportunities are important 

support services that entrepreneurship centers can 

provide to their students. When designing a program 

for current or potential women entrepreneurs, an 

educational institution should consider providing access 

to support services such as women-only networking 

events, classes or workshops featuring women rolemodels or speakers, and access to mentorship 

programs that provide opportunities for women to build 

relationships with successful role models. 

Collaborations 

Successful practices of WBCs identified in the report 

provide ample evidence that colleges and universities 

should engage in collaborations with and leverage the 

resources of partners within their own campuses and in 

the surrounding community in order to provide more 

extensive programming and services. Colleges and 

universities that engage in collaborative endeavors 

when creating entrepreneurship centers and non-credit 

training programs for women are more likely to be able 

to increase women’s access to elements of human and 

social capital–namely access to experiential learning 

and formal social networks. Collaborations and 

strategic alliances also help prevent duplication of 

services within a community or region and can be 

leveraged when marketing the program. 

Other practices important to program success include: 

marketing and promoting the programs to women and 

evaluating programs to maintain and improve them. 

Marketing Programs to Women 

After designing a program that addresses the learning 

styles of women entrepreneurs, current and prospective 

female students must be made aware of these newly 

tailored elements. Programs must be promoted 

frequently and in numerous ways because WBC leaders 

and other research has shown that it takes at least three 

contacts for reaching and attracting women business 

owners to entrepreneurial centers or training initiatives. 

Techniques that may be useful for marketing 

entrepreneurship programs to women include featuring 

women students with successful businesses in articles 

or on local TV programs; using social media tools such 

as blogs, message boards, and podcasts; and providing 

orientations to a center or program so women can 

become acquainted with the offerings, staff, and space. 

Evaluating Programs for Women 

Program evaluations help determine the success of an 

entrepreneurship program and the impact it is having on 

female students and women business owners. Most 

importantly, colleges embracing entrepreneurial 

education programming for women would get the most 

out of evaluations that endeavor to: 

1) learn if and how the program has met needs and 

preferences of women entrepreneurs, and 

2) determine ways in which programs can be 

improved to continually meet the changing needs of 

women entrepreneurs. 

Conclusion 

The findings of this report support taking specific steps 

to establish or modify entrepreneurship training for 

women. The companion resource guide is designed to 

serve as a practical tool for program designers, listing 

many of the successful practices and organizations 

contained in this report. 

Executive Summary 9 
 

 

Introduction and Purpose 

The National Women’s Business Council 

(NWBC) strategic plan outlines a need for 

increased support for entrepreneurial training 

and education for women. Traditionally, 

NWBC has focused on promoting access to 

business training and technical assistance 

through the Women’s Business Center 

Program implemented by the U.S. Small 

Business Administration’s Office of Women’s 

Business Ownership. Research shows that 

women benefit from learning in the setting of 

Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), which 

offer programming to the preferred learning 

styles and environments of women. 

Additionally, WBCs have successfully 

contributed to increasing women business 

owners’ access to financial, human, and 

social capital.8 

However, in addition to its continued support 

of WBCs, NWBC recognizes the benefits of 

the development of female-focused 

entrepreneurial education in alternative 

settings, such as entrepreneurship centers 

and non-credit training programs at two- and 

four-year colleges and universities. These 

programs can increase the number of 

entrepreneurial training and educational 

options to women. Organizations such as the 

National Association for Community College 

Entrepreneurship (NACCE) and the National 

Consortium for Entrepreneurship Centers 

(NCEC) have also expressed an interest in 

understanding how best to meet the needs of 

the growing community of women 

entrepreneurs. 

For these reasons, the Council chose to 

investigate the ways in which the educational 

community could better address the needs of 

current and potential women business owners 

by introducing women to entrepreneurship 

and providing business support services. As 

an initial foray into this subject, NWBC 

focused primarily on the lessons and 

successes from WBCs to inform educational 

institutions or organizations considering the 

establishment or modification of programs to 

provide non-credit entrepreneurship training 

for women. These institutions have the 

potential to provide successful opportunities 

and services to female students by 

recognizing and applying successful practices 

used by WBCs. 

This report describes knowledge and skills 

needed by women business learners, 

describes successful WBC models, and 

explores the role that community colleges and 

universities as well as other organizations can 

take in developing entrepreneurial and 

business management training programs to 

promote female entrepreneurship and serve 

aspiring women entrepreneurs. 

As WBCs are the primary focus of the 

analysis of this report, it is important to 

understand the characteristics of this 

population. The majority of WBC clients are 

nascent entrepreneurs. While the findings 

may be suitable for a college audience of 

female students who may not yet be 

considering entrepreneurship, it is important 

to note that the age and race/ethnicity of the 

female students in the target audience may 

or may not be similar to that of the WBC 

clientele. Therefore, some of the 

characteristics of successful programming in 

WBCs may not be applicable. This report 

addresses this concern through its 

recommendation of conducting local needs 

assessments. 

It is also important to note that this 

investigation did not include an attempt to 

thoroughly review successful practices in 

entrepreneurial curriculum. NWBC recognizes 

that many colleges and universities deciding 

to establish and modify entrepreneurial 

programming for female students through 

entrepreneurship training or non-credit 

programs may also be looking for guides for 

developing curriculum and this is an area for 

potential future research. This report aims to 

discuss important factors in regards to the 

delivery of services to women in an 

entrepreneurship center or non-credit training 

program. 

Women’s Business Ownership: Current Trends 

Women’s business ownership in the US 

continues to grow and women entrepreneurs 

are making increasingly larger contributions to 

the economy.9

 As of 2008, the Center for 

Women’s Business Research indicates that 

there are 10.1 million firms that are 51% or 

more owned by women, and these firms have 

10 Introduction and Purpose 
 

 

 

 

7.3 million employees and $1.1 trillion in 

sales.10 Between 2000 and 2008, there was 

an increase of 10 percent in the number of 

firms, 2 percent growth in employment, and 

14 percent growth in revenues. These figures 

show that women continue to view business 

ownership as a viable path to economic 

independence and continue to demonstrate 

their increasing economic impact. 

Challenges for Women Business Owners 

Despite documented gains for women 

entrepreneurs, businesses owned by men still 

outpace those owned by women in terms of 

revenue growth. The 2007 total early-stage 

entrepreneurial activity index (TEA), which 

measures the percentage of the adult 

population who are either a nascent 

entrepreneur or owner-manager of a new 

business, was 7.3 percent for women in the 

U.S.11 Although gender gaps have narrowed, 

men’s TEA rate was higher, at 12.0 percent. 

In addition, research shows that the revenues 

from women-owned firms contribute 

approximately 9 percent of the U.S. economy 

in comparison with 36 percent from menowned firms with the remainder coming from 

publicly traded, foreign-owned, or nonprofit 

organizations.12 

In their study Women Entrepreneurs, Growth, 

and Implications for the Classroom, Brush, 

Carter, Gatewood, Greene, and Hart indicate 

that the differences in growth and size are 

most likely “a result of the unique difficulties 

women face in starting and growing their 

firms.”13 The difficulties include, but are not 

limited to, a lack of experiential education and 

training, limited access to start-up and 

expansion capital, not being taken seriously 

due to cultural constraints for women, child 

and dependent care responsibilities, limited 

social networks, and industry choices. 

Despite data showing that women are a 

growing force in the U.S. economy, significant 

gaps remain between their success and that 

of men. In part, these gaps can be attributed 

to the unique obstacles faced by women – 

many of which can be addressed with 

continued education and training.14 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship 

Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

When deciding whether to establish or modify 

an entrepreneurship program for women, 

program designers should consider four main 

issues. 

•	 First, in order to know how to deliver 

programming, designers need to 

understand the preferred learning styles of 

women and the types of learning 

environments that assist women to 

succeed. 

•	 Second, in order to understand what kinds 

of programming are important for female 

students of entrepreneurship, program 

designers need to understand women’s 

access to human, financial and social 

capital. 

•	 Third, it is important to understand who is 

currently delivering successful business 

management and entrepreneurial training 

to women. Currently, WBCs serve as 

important models for any organization 

establishing or modifying their own 

entrepreneurship programs for women. 

•	 Finally, it is import to understand how 

colleges, universities, and education 

institutions serving adults are uniquely 

positioned to provide entrepreneurial 

programming to women. 

Successful Learning Styles and Learning 

Environments for Women 

Research shows that learning environments 

designed specifically for women contribute to 

higher levels of success. In her 

groundbreaking work, M. Elizabeth Tidball, 

found that graduates of women’s colleges 

tended to be higher achievers and entered 

non-traditional careers, such as science, at 

higher rates than women from co-ed 

programs.15 Follow-up studies by other 

researchers controlled for factors such as 

motivation, socioeconomic status, and choice 

of attending schools with high institutional 

prestige.16 In a review of these studies, Betty 

Harper concludes that even when controlling 

for these factors, students of female-only 

education experience more positive outcomes 

in career and educational achievement.17 

Similar to these earlier studies which 

demonstrated the success of female 

educational programs, Godwyn, Langowitz, 

and Sharpe found that women business 

owners who attended WBCs flourished.18 

Introduction and Purpose 11 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their study, The Impact and Influence of 

Women’s Business Centers in the United 

States, shows that women have different 

preferred “learning styles” than men. These 

learning styles include 1) valuing learning 

through relationships and 2) responding to 

holistic teaching. 

Learning through Relationships: Other general, 

business resource centers, like the Small 

Business Development Centers (SBDCs) 

funded by the US Small Business 

Administration (SBA), are available to women. 

SBDCs offer many of the same training topics 

as WBCs, but research affirms that many 

women prefer and seek business training 

programs and learning environments that are 

tailored specifically for them.19 Some WBC 

clients express apprehension about attending 

classes with “white, middle-class men” and 

indicate a desire to find “safe spaces” for 

learning. Safe spaces are supportive learning 

environments in which relationships are built 

between women educators and women 

learners, free from concerns of being 

dismissed because of gender, race, or lack of 

knowledge.20 

A multi-year research initiative begun by the 

Center for Women’s Business Research in 

2006 demonstrates this preference among 

minority, women business owners. The 

Center found that the participants in this study 

were motivated to learn new entrepreneurial 

skills and to grow their businesses because of 

the forums’ supportive environment of likeminded women with similar experiences. One 

woman stated, “[I wanted] the opportunity to 

meet with women of color who can relate to 

what we go through as business owners. 

Additionally, I feel whenever I am around 

women of color they inspire me to new 

heights.”21 

An extensive research study including a 

survey, focus group, and interviews confirmed 

the ability of WBCs to neutralize stereotypical 

threats experienced by many female 

entrepreneurs.22 Furthermore, the same 

study addresses the misconception that 

tailored programming for women or minorities 

is unnecessary because of the belief that 

discrimination no longer exists. The author 

cites several research studies showing that 

there is still stereotypical treatment of women, 

which undermines women’s confidence in 

their ability to be successful business leaders.

23 In addition, the author references a study 

of the reactions of various groups to 

photographic images of people of various 

genders, races, and ethnicities in business 

settings. Both female and male 

undergraduates were more likely to think the 

men in the images were in charge or the 

leader, while WBC attendees were more likely 

to see women in the pictures as being in 

charge.24 This type of finding further 

illustrates the need and ability for genderspecific programming to aid in neutralizing or 

changing stereotypes. 

Another series of studies, described in Seeing 

is Believing: Exposure to Counterstereotypic 

Women Leaders and Its Effect on the 

Malleability of Automatic Gender 

Stereotyping, shows that U.S. students in 

both co-ed and single-sex educational 

settings had less stereotypical views of 

women as leaders in fields such as math and 

science if their professors were women.25 

These studies also provide evidence that a 

student’s own sense of self-efficacy in these 

non-traditional fields is effected by the gender 

of the professor, implying that female 

students with instructors or mentors of the 

same sex are more likely to pursue nontraditional careers in areas such as science, 

math, or in this case entrepreneurship.26 

Holistic Teaching: Holistic instruction includes 

teaching skills that are useful in multiple areas 

of life beyond a pure business use, rather 

than teaching skills in isolation.27 WBCs are 

successful in teaching to these learning 

preferences. In Launching Women-Owned 

Businesses: A Longitudinal Study of Women’s 

Business Center Clients, the Center for 

Women’s Business Research showed that the 

majority of WBC clients were using the 

business skills they learned in the WBC 

programs in other areas of their lives.28 

Furthermore, in another study in which 

leaders of WBCs were interviewed, more than 

a third indicated that their centers used a 

holistic, life-skills approach to programming.29 

Section Summary: These findings provide 

considerable evidence that specific learning 

styles and learning environments contribute to 

inspiring women to consider entrepreneurship 

12 Introduction and Purpose 
 

 

 

 

 

 

and help current women business owners 

attain success in their entrepreneurial 

endeavors. 

Human, Financial and Social Capital 

The literature indicates that human, financial, 

and social capital are key components to 

entrepreneurial success. In Accelerating the 

Growth of Businesses Owned by Women of 

Color: Opportunities and Possibilities, 

Research to Roadmap, the Center for 

Women’s Business Research summarizes 

these components as follows: 

•	 Human capital is “what a person brings to 

a specific situation-his or her attributes 

and achievements” including such things 

as education, experience, social class, 

and knowledge.30 

•	 Financial capital is “the amount of start-up 

capital that often determines the size of 

the start-up, the type of industry, and the 

circumstances under which a business is 

started.” Furthermore, businesses require 

“continued and favorable access to 

financial capital” in order for their business 

to grow.31 

•	 Social capital is “the networks, friends, 

organizations, clubs, churches, and other 

people and entities relied upon for advice, 

suggestions, and introductions to people 

and opportunities.”32 

Human capital: Education and experience are 

key components of human capital in terms of 

developing entrepreneurial success.33 

Several research studies suggest that both 

men and women business owners are more 

successful in maintaining and growing 

businesses if they receive a post-secondary 

education.34 However, while women have 

made gains in corporate and professional 

careers over the past several decades fewer 

women have business and managerial 

experiences, which is another key component 

to overall development of human capital.35 

This suggests a need to educate and 

encourage female students to obtain these 

experiences. In addition, entrepreneurial 

education programs should incorporate 

practical, experiential learning opportunities 

for women. A qualitative case study of 

nascent female entrepreneurs who attended a 

Self-Employment Training program, found 

that a fundamental educational need among 

nascent female entrepreneurs “is to cultivate 

individual self-efficacy through experiential 

learning situations that remove ambiguity from 

the entrepreneurial process and build the selfconfidence of the learner.”36 

Financial capital: Women’s access to financial 

capital has improved over the past several 

decades, beginning when legislation was 

enacted to prevent discrimination in lending to 

women.37 Between 1996 and 1998, women 

business owners’ use of bank credit 

increased from 20 to 32 percent. However, 

other research shows that women still lag 

men in terms of financial capital. Women 

business owners are less likely than men to 

use trade credit, business credit cards, credit 

lines, vehicle loans, trusts and pensions, 

capital leases, and equipment loans.38 

Furthermore, banks tend to require women to 

pay higher interest rates and have higher 

collateral requirements, despite a history of 

similar or better repayment than men.39 This 

diminished access to capital often limits 

women’s industry choices when starting 

businesses.40 In addition to having less 

access to various types of credit, women 

moving from employment to business 

ownership are often doing so with a history of 

lower pay and therefore less access to the 

crucial capital savings needed for start-up. 

Thus, women start and operate firms with less 

capital and use fewer sources of financing for 

their firms, further impacting the future 

performance of their firms. 41 This indicates a 

need for educators to encourage female 

students to pursue fields with higher 

generating incomes in preparation for future 

entrepreneurial pursuits.42 

Social capital: Entrepreneurs attain greater 

success, both in terms of start-up and growth, 

through more formal business networks.43 

Women have overcome many historical 

barriers by accessing established networks or 

by building new professional networks; 

however, women business owners still 

indicate a higher reliance on family contacts 

and fewer formal connections of less variety 

than men.44 The continued reliance on less 

formal networks remains a barrier to business 

success for more females in comparison with 

their male counterparts, especially since 

Introduction and Purpose 13 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these connections are integral to gaining 

financial support for start-up and growth 

activities. 

Section Summary: Women encounter more 

obstacles than men when becoming 

entrepreneurs in terms of experience, 

financial and social capital. Education has 

been one of the best options for helping to 

close these gaps. Entrepreneurial education 

has the potential to be more successful in 

serving women if, in addition to training in 

basic entrepreneurial skills, it provides 

support services and experiential learning 

aimed at increasing women’s understanding 

and access to human, financial, and social 

capital. 

Women’s Business Centers: Success in 

Serving the Needs Women Entrepreneurs 

As of 2008, there were 114 Women’s 

Business Centers in 48 states and 

territories.45 In 2007 alone, WBCs served 

more than 148,000 clients–an increase of 18 

percent from 2005.46 Women who attended 

WBCs reported $550.2 million in receipts for 

FY 2007 which included a $40.8 million 

increase in profits. That year, WBC clients 

created approximately 3,300 new businesses 

and 8,750 new jobs.47 Currently, minority 

women lead 26 percent of all women-owned 

firms48 and they are nearly half (48 percent) of 

WBC clientele.49 Furthermore, more than half 

(58 percent) of WBC clients are nascent 

entrepreneurs.50 While federal funding for 

WBCs has remained level over the past 

several years, the WBCs continue to serve 

increasing numbers of women with success. 

Between 2001 and 2003, the federal 

government’s return on investment as 

measured by clients’ business revenues to 

federal investment dollars was 14 to 1.51 

Women’s Business Centers are successful in 

meeting the needs of their female clientele 

through training programs that include 

women’s preferred and successful learning 

styles and environments, while also providing 

access to resources for establishing financial, 

human, and social capital.52 When 

developing a training curriculum, the 

Women’s Business Centers take into 

consideration issues such as location, time of 

day and length of seminars, individual client 

motivations and even gender of instructors.53 

Research also shows that women perceive 

WBCs as safe spacesii for learning that 

provide relationship-oriented approaches to 

teaching.54 The 2006 report, The Values, 

Views and Visions of Women’s Business 

Center Leaders in the United States, found 

that large percentages of WBC leaders 

embraced programming with 1) “a 

comfortable, nurturing, supportive, nonjudgmental atmosphere” 2) “personalized, 

hands-on support” and 3) “a focus on being 

women-friendly.”55 Furthermore, many WBC 

leaders indicated that WBC instructors and 

mentors taught business skills with a “lifeskills” approach.56 

Other research corroborates that WBCs 

influence client outcomes related to financial, 

human, and social capital. For example, 

women business owners using WBC 

resources tend to decrease reliance on 

personal credit and seek business credit and 

loans.57 Their personal knowledge, a 

component of human capital, also increases. 

Clients indicate that they are better able to 

describe competitors, identify customers, 

create business visions and financial plans, 

seek business capital, and use business skills 

consistently.58 WBC support services include 

uniquely female-focused opportunities for 

formal networking, mentoring, and peer-topeer roundtable discussions to increase 

women’s access to social capital.59 

Section Summary: In addition to WBCs clear 

impact in terms of increased numbers of 

businesses started and increased revenues 

by their clients, women business owners are 

satisfied with WBC services. The majority of 

WBC clients (75 percent) indicate that they 

are very satisfied or satisfied with their 

Center’s services.60 

ii A safe space, as defined in the section above 

“Learning Styles and Learning Environments,” is 

one in which relationships are built between 

women educators and women learners, free from 

concerns of being dismissed because of gender or 

race. 

14 Introduction and Purpose 
 

 

 

 

 

Reasons for Educational Institutions to Support 

Entrepreneurship Centers and Non-Credit 

Programs for Women 

NWBC considers the SBA’s Women’s 

Business Center Program an important 

endeavor worthy of federal government 

funding and support. However, the need is 

still growing for female-focused 

entrepreneurial education. While WBCs and 

SBDCs are located throughout the country, 

they may not be accessible to all people 

seeking entrepreneurship or business 

management training. For instance, in many 

areas WBCs are located in urban centers or 

serve large regions with limited resources, 

staff, and facilities. Furthermore, most WBCs 

serve women who are already considering 

business ownership. 

However, many two-year and four-year 

institutions are especially poised to serve 

female students who are not yet considering 

entrepreneurship. These organizations can 

encourage women to enter into non-traditional 

programs of study and can encourage women 

enrolled in science, math, technology, and 

professional degree programs to consider 

entrepreneurship as part of their career 

potential. 

Both two- and four-year institutions of higher 

education have the community connections, 

structure, and locations that are needed to 

introduce more women to the concept of 

entrepreneurship, in addition to facilitating 

business training.61 While community 

colleges were traditionally seen as gateway 

degrees to four-year institutions, in the 1980s, 

community colleges increased their 

educational role through career-oriented 

training and certificate programs.62 This was 

an integral step which tied community 

colleges with local business owners.63 

Community colleges continue to be flexible as 

they strive to address changing educational 

and training needs.64 The National 

Association for Community College 

Entrepreneurship (NACCE) is an example of 

how community colleges are already leading 

the way in terms of creating entrepreneurship 

curriculum and programming.65 Through 

relationships with the business community, 

colleges and universities are in a good 

position to strengthen the human and social 

capital of female students. 

As explained in the paper, A Place of Her 

Own: The Case for University-Based Centers 

for Women Entrepreneurs, colleges and 

universities can contribute to economic 

development and to the knowledge base of 

entrepreneurship by: 

...building mutually beneficial 

university-business partnerships, 

advancing and disseminating crossdisciplinary research on women’s 

entrepreneurship, and developing 

innovative educational and support 

programs for current and future 

entrepreneurs.66 

More than 2,000 two- and four-year colleges 

and universities in the US offer at least one 

course in entrepreneurship, and a smaller, but 

growing, number offer baccalaureate 

degrees, or concentrations within master’s 

and doctoral programs.67 However, according 

to expert roundtables conducted by Project 

Tsunami (now Quantum Leaps) in 2004, only 

a select few of these programs are designed 

to address the unique needs, learning styles, 

and preferences of women entrepreneurs.68 

Section Summary: The number of womenowned businesses and women engaging in 

entrepreneurial activity is growing, but large 

gaps still exist between men and women.69 It 

is important to support nascent women 

entrepreneurs and established women 

business owners to make sure they have the 

resources to succeed.70 Establishing or 

modifying entrepreneurship centers and noncredit training programming in two- and fouryear college and university settings with a 

focus on the preferences and needs of 

women would increase the number of aspiring 

and current women business owners being 

served and promote entrepreneurship to 

currently enrolled female students who are 

not yet considering entrepreneurial pursuits.71 

The following section outlines successful 

practices in establishing and modifying 

entrepreneurship programs for women, as 

found during interviews and an exploratory 

literature review. 

Introduction and Purpose 15 
 

 

Literature Review and Interview The Audience of Women Business Owners

A main component of successful Women’s Findings Business Centers (WBCs) is the ability of 

The primary goal of this report is to identify 

successful practices in entrepreneurial 

education for women to provide assistance to 

educational institutions seeking to establish 

new or modify existing entrepreneurship 

centers and non-credit training programs for 

women. The SBA’s Women’s Business 

Center Program, SBDCs, and programs of 

some two- and four-year colleges and 

universities provide examples of successful 

practices. 

Three common themes for establishing or 

modifying entrepreneurship centers and noncredit training programs for women emerge 

from the literature and interviews: 1) knowing 

the target audience, 2) providing support 

mechanisms such as mentoring, networking, 

and counseling, and 3) collaborating with 

other organizations. Other important practices 

for program success include marketing and 

evaluation. These practices for establishing or 

modifying entrepreneurship centers and noncredit training programs are discussed in this 

section, emphasizing the needs and 

preferences of women. 

Establishing or Modifying 

Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit 

Programs for Women 

Knowing the Target Audience 

Whether the goal is to improve upon an 

existing program or to establish a new 

entrepreneurship center or non-credit training 

program, having a clear understanding of 

your target audience is integral for success.72 

This section reviews two elements key to 

understanding the audience of women for 

entrepreneurial programming. First, it reviews 

what is known about the audience of aspiring 

and current women business owners. This 

knowledge can be used as a starting point for 

designing a program or determining what 

modifications should be made to an existing 

program for women. Secondly, it explains the 

need for understanding a local audience and 

ways in which this information can be 

gathered. 

these centers to understand the audience of 

women. Developers in college-based or other 

organizational entrepreneurship centers or 

training programs should consider the lessons 

learned by WBCs. 

•	 Offer programming using relationship and 

holistic instructional strategies.73 

•	 Provide women and minority women with 

a “safe-space” for learning.74 

•	 Provide women with role-models by 

employing women and minority women as 

instructors or featured speakers.75 

•	 Develop experiential learning 

opportunities and formal support networks 

to increase women’s access to human, 

financial and social capital.76 

•	 Offer programs to bring together women 

and minority women with similar 

experiences to provide a motivating 

atmosphere for learning and exchanging 

ideas.77 

•	 Recognize that women often have a 

disproportionate amount of child care 

responsibility, which may impede their 

ability to attend programs and classes.78 

•	 Offer course training in topics that women 

prefer. The majority of WBCs indicate 

business planning, finance, and marketing 

are the most heavily attended classes.79 

•	 Offer courses that focus on issues specific 

to the industries common to womenowned businesses. Women attending 

WBCs showed the greatest interest in 

retail trade; accommodations and food 

services; and other services, including 

child care and pet care.80 

Section Summary: Four program elements 

should be considered when establishing or 

modifying an entrepreneurship center or noncredit training program. These considerations 

include: 1) having learning environments that 

incorporate relationship and holistic 

approaches, 2) having supportive learning 

environments, 3) having women in teaching 

and speaking roles, and 4) incorporating 

experiential learning and formal support 

networks. Additional strategies are likely to 

differ by local audience. 

16 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Knowing the Target Audience: The Audience of Women Business Owners 
 

 

 

 

Understanding the Local Audience 

While there are some universal issues for 

women, one single model fitting all women’s 

business centers has not emerged. Focusing 

on the local audience is a main reason for 

WBCs’ ability to attain and sustain positive 

impact.81 Many factors can affect the success 

of a community-based program. An 

organization that has had success with its 

approach to serving its local audience is a 

WBC located in Nebraska, which has 

considered the rural characteristics of its 

audience and how best to serve them. 

Successful Practice: Understanding a Local Audience 

Nebraska’s Rural Enterprise Assistance Project: Women’s Business Center 

In Nebraska, the SBA-affiliated WBC is located in Center for Rural Affairs (CRA) Rural Enterprise Assistance 

Project (REAP). REAP’s WBC focuses on assisting the needs of start-up and existing rural Nebraska women 

entrepreneurs. Incorporating the WBC within the REAP organization made sense because half of Nebraska’s 

residents live in rural communities. The program provides basic training in writing a business plan and 

e-Commerce; several types of counseling, mentoring and networking activities; and assistance with microloans. A 2003 report by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Corporation for Enterprise Development 

included focused examinations of both Kentucky and Nebraska because of each state’s surprisingly strong 

entrepreneurial environments. In Nebraska, there is a high entrepreneurial output based on the dollars 

invested by the state in business development and education. The authors concluded that an element of 

Nebraska’s success as a top state for entrepreneurial growth was that several organizations focused on and 

had a strong commitment for supporting microenterprises, especially within the rural population. As a 

testament to the WBC’s ability to serve its audience in this way, in April of 2008, the REAP WBC was one of 

only thirteen organizations nationwide selected to receive funding from the Women & Co.® Microenterprise 

Boost Program, which was designed to help low- and moderate-income women who are owners of 

microenterprises. It was the WBC’s fourth year selected for the program. 

Sources: 

Rural Enterprise Assistance Project: Women’s Business Center, Monica Braun, Center Director 

http://www2.cfra.org/reap/womens_business_center.htm, Retrieved December 2008. 

Center for Rural Affairs 

http://www.cfra.org/node/1167, Retrieved December 2008. 

W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Corporation for Enterprise Development. (2003). Mapping Rural Entrepreneurship.

Battle Creek, MI: W.K. Kellogg Foundation. (http://www.cfra.org/node/1167). 

Colleges establishing new programs or 

modifying an existing entrepreneurship center 

or non-credit program for women should 

consider whether the findings across WBCs 

are similar for their audiences. A number of 

audience and program characteristics should 

be researched in order to understand unique, 

local programmatic needs. These include, but 

are not limited to: 

•	 Sensitivity to ethnic and cultural 

background or diversity (including 

language use) 

•	 Size and stage of business 

•	 Preference for course topics or industries 

of interest 

•	 Time of programming and preference for 

class format (including considerations for 

child care or other family responsibilities) 

•	 Demographics of the audience including 

age, family, and work status 

Sensitivity to Ethnic or Cultural Backgrounds and

Diversity. More attention continues to be 

placed on multicultural education.82 One main 

reason for this is that the number of students 

of different ethnic and racial background 

entering schools has increased, including 

those with primary languages other than 

English. Another reason is that students of 

different backgrounds, including women, 

actively sought to have their history, culture, 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 17 Knowing the Target Audience: Understanding the Local Audience 
ideology and pedagogy “accepted, barriers. Between 2001 and 2003, two-thirds 

appreciated, and affirmed in every aspect of of WBCs experienced a growth in the 

the policies and practices of the education numbers of minorities served.85 As such, 

system.”83 Educational institutions are WBCs have actively considered ethnic and 

familiar with considering the needs of their cultural diversity in regards to program 

students based on characteristics such as design.86 The following WBCs demonstrate 

race, class, gender, and disability.84 Similarly, successful practices for determining these 

WBCs recognize this need. WBCs serve types of needs within a local audience and 

many women with different ethnic and cultural tailoring programming around those needs. 

Successful Practices: Supporting Cultural Sensitivity and Diversity 

in Women’s Business Education 

Center for Women & Enterprise: Supporting Spanish Language 

The Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) is a non-profit organization serving prospective and current 

women business owners at several offices located in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Since 1995, the 

organization has served more than 15,000 clients. Nearly one-third of these clients are minorities, some with 

Spanish language backgrounds. CWE serves this population by offering courses in Spanish and provides a 

Spanish language website. The website provides the primary content about the organization and links which 

help market the training with an online registration process. Spanish language programs are offered in all of 

their locations. 

ONABEN – A Native American Business Network 

The ONABEN Women’s Business Center located in Portland, Oregon serves women by providing access to 

resources, training, and support for starting and growing businesses with a particular focus on Native 

American female entrepreneurs. The nonprofit organization was started by Oregon Tribes which has a distinct 

mission to “enable Native Americans to realize their dreams for a better quality of life through owning and 

operating a successful business.” While this was the mission of the organization, it did not at first, have a 

distinct curriculum that met the needs or reflected the unique experiences of the audience. As such they 

embarked on a project to develop their own curriculum that was trademarked and launched in 2005. The 

Indianpreneurship® program is story-based and uses Native American entrepreneurial experiences as a basis 

for illustrating business principles. The executive director of ONABEN, Tom Hampson, has said, “We want our 

students to identify with the lives and stories in our curriculum as well as be encouraged and inspired to follow 

their own small business.” ONABEN has had great success serving more than 1,000 clients since the 

development of the program in 2005 and marketing and selling their Indianpreneurship® curriculum and 

training program. 

Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team

Serving Native American and Spanish Speaking Clients throughout New Mexico 

The Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team (WESST) is a nonprofit Women’s Business Center based in 

Albuquerque, New Mexico. Approximately 75 percent of WESST’s clients are female and more than 60 

percent are members of an ethnic minority. Because WESST has such a large Native American population, 

they work with the regional Navajo Nation Small Business Development Center to ensure that they are 

honoring tribal laws. WESST provides services in English and Spanish to accommodate their many Spanishspeaking clients and have seven offices around NM in urban and rural areas to facilitate access to one-on-one 

counseling. 

Sources: 

Center for Women & Enterprise, Carol Malysz, Former Director, CWE-RI 

http://cweonline.org, Retrieved December 2008. 

ONABEN – A Native American Business Network, Kedma Ough 

http://www.onaben.org , Retrieved December 2008. 

Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team, Grace Boyne, Regional Manager 

http://www.wesst.org, Retrieved December 2008. 

18 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Knowing the Target Audience: Understanding the Local Audience
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Size and Stage of Business. A key to 

entrepreneurial programming which differs 

fundamentally from business management is 

that entrepreneurial education “must address 

the equivocal nature of business entry.”87 A 

woman may seek information to help her 

decide whether to start a business or what 

kind of business to start. Studies indicate that 

many women require the opportunity to 

explore entrepreneurship before committing 

to it.88 This may be especially important for 

entrepreneurship centers and non-credit 

training programs that serve female students 

who have not previously considered 

entrepreneurship as a career option. 

Presenting female students with various 

options for starting businesses as well as 

providing skills needed to begin a venture, 

may encourage then to create a path leading 

to business ownership. 

In Women Entrepreneurs: Moving Front and 

Center: An Overview of Research and 

Theory, Greene and her colleagues describe 

another issue that is often overlooked in 

training programs for nascent entrepreneurs. 

They explain that “personal decisions about 

timing and commitment to the business 

currently play a greater role in women’s 

entrepreneurial choices than they do for men; 

as do issues of work and family balance.”89 

These are important considerations for 

women deciding between various 

entrepreneurial options including the size and 

types of ventures they build.90 Similarly, 

research shows that college entrepreneurial 

programs need to encourage students to 

develop new ideas with a focus on growth 

ventures.91 

At the same time, in order to truly expand the 

number and size of women-owned 

businesses in a local community, program 

designers should determine if they are 

meeting the needs of existing business 

owners. Many current women business 

owners require more sophisticated training to 

meet specific challenges such as marketing 

their business or expanding for growth. To 

best serve existing women-owned 

businesses, courses must be offered to 

address varying stages of development and 

experience-levels. 

The report, Entrepreneurial Education and 

Training for Women–Best Practices and 

Recommendations along the Business 

Growth Continuum, describes the findings 

from expert roundtables of educators, policy 

makers, and women entrepreneurs convened 

to explore challenges, recommendations, 

resources, best practices, and new strategies 

for increasing women’s entrepreneurial 

training.92 The expert panels found that 

“women entrepreneurs have different 

education and training needs at different 

times, depending on the type and size of 

business they own” and that “there are not 

enough entrepreneurial training opportunities 

available for businesses transitioning from 

small to midsized and from midsized to 

large.”93 Many WBCs understand the 

business stage continuum and offer programs 

that fit the many needs of their audiences. 

The two programs on the following page 

demonstrate best practices for recognizing 

and targeting programming to the differing 

business development needs of local 

audiences. 

It is also important to know the extent to 

which an audience has had the opportunity to 

explore or understand elements necessary for 

business growth. Even though women may 

not express a desire to grow large 

businesses, research suggests that current 

business owners may not consider growing 

large businesses because of inadequate 

education and encouragement to do so.94 

Educational programs that introduce female 

students to the concept of entrepreneurship 

should educate them about the benefits of 

engaging in the development of large 

businesses as well as how to select business 

opportunities in industries more suited for 

growth.95 

Topics and Industries of Interest. Women’s 

Business Centers tailor programming to best 

suit the needs of women. Programming is 

offered across a range of topics and 

industries.96 In 2004, WBC directors reported 

that the most frequently attended courses 

included business planning, finance, and 

marketing. The least attended classes 

covered employment and equity financing.97 

The industries of greatest interest were retail; 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 19 Knowing the Target Audience: Understanding the Local Audience 
Successful Practices: Programming for Women at Different Business Stages 

Jacksonville Women’s Business Center: 

“Supporting Women Entrepreneurs at Every Step” 

The Jacksonville Women’s Business Center (JWBC) opened in November 2004. Through JWBC 

programming, “both aspiring and existing business owners gain access to education, capital, resources and 

networks to help them become more successful.” JWBC programs are designed to meet the needs of women 

entrepreneurs at different stages of business development. including: 1) Aspiring entrepreneurs–those women 

who have an idea and a commitment to explore it; 2) Emerging entrepreneurs–those engaged in defining a 

market, developing products and services and building a business organization; 3) Growing entrepreneurs– 

those who have experienced dramatic expansion success with evidence of developing professional 

management and systems; and 4) Accomplished entrepreneurs–those who have created proven processes, 

effective management and continuous profitable growth. For example, JWBC offers an expert panel event for 

aspiring entrepreneurs titled LaunchPadSM which provides them with information regarding the benefits and 

challenges of starting a business from scratch, buying an existing business, buying a franchise, or opening a 

business under a corporate umbrella. In order to provide programming to women at other stages of 

development, JWBC has mentoring programs that strategically match clients to assist them in meeting their 

specific business goals. For growth oriented and accomplished entrepreneurs, JWBC provides access to 

consulting in a number of advanced topics including employee issues and equity financing. 

Center for Women & Enterprise: 

Serving Women “At Every Stage of Business Development” 

The Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) of Massachusetts and Rhode Island offers a full range of services 

for individuals at every stage of business development. The CWE continuum of programming includes 

“Exploring Entrepreneurship,” “Planning for Your Start-up,” “Managing and Growing Your Business,” 

“Consulting for Your Business,” “Certifying Your Business,” and the “Venture Capital Center.” In fact, for new 

clients CWE offers an information session explaining all of their offerings. This program, first and foremost, 

helps nascent entrepreneurs decide whether or not they are ready to begin their businesses. However, by 

giving an overview of all CWE services, the Center provides new and current business owners a perspective 

on many paths for entrepreneurship and business growth. 

Sources: 

Jacksonville Women's Business Center, Sandy Bartow, Executive Director 

http://www.myjaxchamber.com, Retrieved December 2008. 

Center for Women & Enterprise, Carol Malysz, Director, CWE-RI 

http://www.cweonline.org, Retrieved December 2008. 

accommodations and food services; other face obstacles in terms of training and 

services, including child care and pet care; attracting a skilled work force and providing 

and arts, entertainment and recreation.98 quality jobs to women and minorities. 

Economic, social, and regional factors Furthermore, these women express interest in 

contribute to women business owners’ having more access to training and skill 

preferences for these training topics. building to overcome these challenges to 

growth.101

Sixty percent of WBC clients are managing 

start-ups and 67 percent have household Technology training is also important in 

incomes of less than $50,000.99 These entrepreneurial programming for women. 

demographics account for the small number Research shows that opportunities for women 

of WBC clients with interest in employment business owners and their potential for growth 

issues and equity financing. At the same improve with the use of technology.102 In her 

time, research has found that issues of report, Women Entrepreneurs in the Global 

employment exist for women positioned for Economy, Susanne Jalbert supports this 

growth.100 These women indicate that they assertion indicating that: 

20 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Knowing the Target Audience: Understanding the Local Audience
resources such as technology infrastructure The importance of access to contributed to better business performance. information technology cannot be State-level discrepancies in women-owned underestimated. Information business performance could be partially technology can help identify markets, explained by this factor.104 This demonstrates provide important industry information, the importance of determining the local spotlight trends, and highlight potential availability of technological resources and niches.103

client skill-levels for taking advantage of that 

Technology issues vary for different local technology. One WBC that has demonstrated 

audiences. A study undertaken by StratEdge expertise in this area by attending to the 

for the National Women’s Business Council various technology training needs among its 

sought to explain state-level differences in clients is the Microbusiness Advancement 

women-owned business performance. The Center (MAC) of Arizona. 

study authors found that having access to 

Successful Practice: Specific Topics of Interest for a Local Audience 

The Microbusiness Advancement Center Serving Tucson and Southern Arizona: 

“Tech Basics and Tech Tools for Marketing” 

The Microbusiness Advancement Center (MAC) serves all aspiring and current business owners as part of the 

SBA Women’s Business Center program. The mission of MAC includes helping individuals start, fund and 

grow their businesses by providing quality business education and access to capital. Included in their line-up 

of training with “Introduction to Business Ownership,” “Business Planning,” and even the “Business of 

Childcare” are courses for technology use. These include “Tech Basics” and “Tech Tools for Marketing.” 

“Tech Basics” focuses on general computer skills that may be of need to the local audience. In order to 

appropriately serve their audience with the training, they provide a “Computer Skills Assessment” test so that 

potential participants can determine if the training is suitable for their needs. The “Tech Tools for Marketing” 

training is a more advanced and intensive eight-hour workshop that includes an overview of how to generate 

professional marketing materials, use of basic photo-editing tools, email and e-marketing tools, website 

development and more. 

Sources: 

The Microbusiness Advancement Center–Women’s Business Center, Debbie Chandler, Executive Director 

http://mac-sa.org/training/, Retrieved December 2008 

Industry trends are also likely to vary by 

region and may lead to the need for specific A similar successful practice for meeting a 

training for women. In Illinois, for example, an local industry need was implemented by the 

educational program for female owners of Women’s Enterprise Development Center 

construction firms was established in (WEDC) of Westchester, NY which is 

response to a local industry need.105 After the described on the following page. 

state government mandated an increase in 

contracts awarded to women- and minority- Time of Programming and Preference for Class 

Format. For WBCs, the most frequently owned businesses, a number of women and 

minority business owners of construction firms attended sessions are one-hour seminars 

followed by one-day workshops. Additionally, expressed a need for understanding the clients of WBCs typically prefer the morning government contracting and project 

management process in order to facilitate or noontime periods, as opposed to the 

their ability to compete.106 Several afternoons or evenings for programs.108

 state 

However, these may not be the most agencies and organizations collaborated to desirable times for women attending provide this education to women and minority entrepreneurial or business training in other business owners. 107

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 21 Knowing the Target Audience: Understanding the Local Audience
Successful Practice: Specific Industry Training for a Local Audience 

Women’s Enterprise Development Center of Westchester, New York: 

“Child Care Provider Training” 

Among its many initiatives, the Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC) of Westchester, NY 

provides specific training for women business owners in the child care industry. The WEDC was established 

in 1997 and soon began to recognize the specialized needs of the local population. In partnership with the 

Child Care Council of Westcher, the WEDC developed a specialized training program for family day care 

providers to learn sound business practices. The six-session course for women interested in child care 

business covers a variety of industry and general business topics including bookkeeping and accounting, life 

skills, marketing, and financing. Furthermore, WEDC continues to provide new programming to its partners 

and women clients as needs arise.

In 2007, the results of a county-wide study were released showing that families in Westchester, NY were 

opting out of regulated care for financial value and flexibility reasons. The County worked with the Child Care 

Council of Westchester, Inc. to help implement strategies and activities some of which were intended to 

develop greater opportunities and new approaches for the formal child care industry. As part of their efforts, 

the Child Care Council expanded their relationship with their partners, such as the Women’s Enterprise 

Development Center (WEDC), who contribute expertise by offering services including follow-up business 

coaching to new workshop participants. 

Sources: 

Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC), Anne Janiak, Executive Director 

http://www.wedc-westchester.org/childcare.htm, Retrieved December 2008 

Child Care Council of Westchester, Inc. (Fall 2007). Update. Newsletter. 

educational settings. As part of a focus group small group courses with more personalized 

of women business owners, the Dakota instruction.111

County Technical College found that women 

were interested in a range of flexible training In addition to traditional classroom formats, 

schedules that included short “breakfast” the number of colleges incorporating online 

courses from 7 to 9 am as well as night courses and degrees is growing. This can be 

classes.109 It is clear that in order for particularly helpful for reaching aspiring and 

programming to be successful, it is important current women business owners. Many 

to match the level of intensity of programming studies show that women share a 

to the needs and time availability of the local disproportionate amount of child care, elder 

audience. care and household responsibilities, which 

result in time constraints and commuting Similarly, designers should develop programs challenges.112 Online courses solve many of using formats that local audiences prefer. the obstacles colleges face when trying to Seminars and workshops are typical formats reach their local women’s audience. 

for WBCs.110 A number of WBCs provide 

multi-week courses that are similar to typical Some studies show that women express more 

15 to 16 week, semester-long courses offered interest in face-to-face or integrated face-toin community colleges and universities. face and online programming.113 One study 

These programs for new business owners of female students in a college 

often cover new topics weekly, such as entrepreneurship program found that few 

identifying business opportunities, market were interested in completely online course 

research, financial analysis, legal issues, and formats.114 This finding should not discourage 

strategic or business planning. Other studies other institutions from offering online 

have shown that current women business programs, as it is possible that target 

owners expressed interest in customized, audiences for other 

22 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Knowing the Target Audience: Understanding the Local Audience
entrepreneurship programs for women may need for building relationships.115 Experts 

have different preferences. Otherwise, it may suggest that highly interactive “on-demand” 

signal a need to incorporate creative solutions eLearning, peer-learning technologies, and 

for providing the convenience of online Internet forums may prove useful to meeting 

programs along with interactive learning. both needs.116 One community college which 

has embraced the distance learning format 

Other research affirms that while women while creating opportunities for students to 

business owners prefer convenient and easily interact is the Santa Fe Community College of 

accessible programming, they also express a New Mexico. 

Successful Practice: Developing an Online Entrepreneurship Program 

Santa Fe Community College of New Mexico: Entrepreneurship Institute 

In 2006, the Entrepreneurship Institute at Santa Fe Community College launched an entirely online six month 

accelerated certificate program which emphasizes empowering students to create and build successful 

businesses on their own. The Entrepreneurship Institute designed and marketed the program so that students 

could complete the programs “without putting their jobs or families on hold.” The program is offered to anyone 

interested in entrepreneurship and was marketed as being appropriate for anyone from “small business 

owners to seniors looking for a second career, to existing and prospective franchise owners and students 

majoring in other fields.” In addition, while students learn how to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities, 

create a business model, operate in a global setting, and take advantage of e-commerce, the program is 

designed so that students participate in activities with and meet successful entrepreneurs. 

While the program is open to anyone, it provides many elements that are attractive to aspiring and current 

women business owners–it can be completed in a relatively short amount of time; the on-demand online 

format makes it convenient for women with jobs or running their business as well as those with families; and it 

still provides an interactive environment. Since its inception, sixty to seventy percent of the participants have 

been women. 

Sources: 

Entrepreneurship Institute at Santa Fe Community College, Drew Clausen, Designer/Instructor 

http://www.sfccnm.edu/programs/entrepreneur, Retrieved December 2008 

Section Summary: The examples here are planning. There are many definitions for 

not exhaustive of all the possible factors that “needs assessment.” In their book, Planning 

programmers could consider for their local and Conducting Needs Assessments: A 

audiences. Other factors that might be Practical Guide, Witkin and Altschuld define it 

important to include are socio-economic broadly as:

status, disability and accessibility issues, A systematic set of procedures educational attainment levels (important for undertaken for the purpose of setting understanding the level at which a training priorities and making decisions about session can be taught), trends for women program or organizational entering into non-traditional industries, improvement and allocation of leadership skills and self-efficacy, work or resources. The priorities are based on student status, type of profession or job titles, indentified needs.117

and family status or age of children. 

A needs assessment, conducted by a Conducting a Needs Assessment community college, university or other While a program is unlikely to address all educational institution for establishing or possible student characteristics, a needs modifying entrepreneurial education for assessment should help to find the most women, could be exploratory in nature to important and unique local issues for program help narrow the 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 23 Knowing the Target Audience: Conducting a Needs Assessment
Successful Practice: Conducting a Needs Assessment for 

Gender Issues in Entrepreneurship Education 

Dakota County Technical College of Minnesota: Business Entrepreneur Program 

The Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) in Minnesota has offered a Business Entrepreneur program for 

six years and has recently received numerous awards for its programming and instructors. While the program 

is open to both males and females, the college conducted a needs assessment to determine if there was a 

need for customized programming based on the preferences of women. The needs assessment consisted of 

a literature review and analysis of women’s business centers and microenterprise programs in the region; a 

survey of current female and male students; and a focus group of diverse women entrepreneurs from the local 

community. 

The survey and focus group yielded many results. First, the study found that the women in the DCTC 

audience did not indicate the demand for gender-specific curriculum for most general business management 

or entrepreneurship courses. However, the majority of women indicated that a gender-focused environment 

would be more effective for discussing the topic of work-life balance. Experienced entrepreneurs also 

suggested a need for gender-specific training for communication and networking. While the entrepreneurs did 

not feel the need to exclude males from classroom settings, most suggested that the presence of female 

instructors or women entrepreneurs as mentors and supporters would be beneficial. Another interesting 

finding of the needs assessment was that fewer current women students were interested in online education in 

comparison with men despite an assumed desire for flexibility. The study authors concluded that the 

disinterest in online courses was their expressed preference for hands-on training and in-person interaction. 

While the program offers online courses, it also has placed a strong emphasis on creating hands-on learning 

experiences and networking opportunities. 

Sources: 

Dakota County Technical College, MN, Christine Pigsley, Associate Dean 

http://www.dctc.mnscu.edu/ 

Mollenkopf-Pigsley, C and Erickson, R. (2007). Gender and Entrepreneurship Education. Research report. 

Rosemount, MN:Dakota County Technical College. 

target audience or it could help to further An initial survey among currently matriculating 

understand a pre-defined audience.118 students, members, or attendees is a very 

cost effective and efficient way to determine 

Educational institutions that have not yet interest, as it is easier to enlist students 

determined which population needs to be already at the institution than to try to recruit 

served in their area should consider an entirely new crop of students. Needs 

contacting local chambers of commerce, assessments may be undertaken by program 

associations of women business owners, or designers at a single campus or may be 

other similar resources to survey their local undertaken on a system-wide level. In 2000, 

community. This may help to define a target the Virginia Community College System 

audience for their programming and the (VCCS) online journal Inquiry reported the 

needs of that audience. An educational results of surveys that took place in 1999 

institution that has already defined their target regarding entrepreneurship education training 

audience, such as current students in a for the entire VCCS. The study included two 

continuing education program, may survey surveys – one of VCCS presidents and a 

that audience to determine the level of second of current students. The researchers 

interest in entrepreneurial education as well found wide gaps between what 

as to determine the gaps that exist in current entrepreneurship education was being offered 

programming. and the demand from students for such 

learning opportunities.119

24 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Providing Support Services: Networking
 

 

 

The authors concluded that given the gap 

between offerings and demand, individual 

campuses needed to do more local needs 

assessments. Interestingly, since the report, 

several of the colleges in the system have 

reconsidered or expanded entrepreneurial 

programs.120 Additionally, the Northern 

Virginia Community College was recently 

honored along with Virginia’s Community 

Business Partnership as a 2008 Northern 

Virginia Leadership Award recipient for their 

collaboration on a 13-month program which 

matches aspiring entrepreneurs with both 

educational training and real-world 

experiences.121 

Another method for conducting a needs 

assessment is focus group research, which is 

especially useful for determining the interest 

and needs of targeted audiences like current 

female students. In addition, by marketing 

focus groups throughout a community or 

through local business organizations, it is 

possible to get the opinions of women 

business owners who are not current 

students. An excellent example of a school 

which conducted both survey and focus group 

needs assessments with the intention of 

modifying an entrepreneurship program 

appropriately for women is the Dakota County 

Technical College of Minnesota. 

Needs assessments must be continuously 

updated to keep abreast of the current needs 

of your audience. In a study of graduate and 

undergraduate students who had attended 

entrepreneurship courses at Boston 

University School of Management, Brush and 

her colleagues found differences in the 

perceived value of certain teaching 

methodologies between two groups of 

students who graduated in 1988 and 1993. 

The authors suggest that program directors 

and instructors need to update and 

experiment frequently and that course content 

must reflect current environmental trends 

such as strategic alliances, global competition 

and changing technologies. They conclude 

that “As providers of entrepreneurial 

knowledge and skills, students are our 

‘customers’ and we must continually seek out 

their perceptions of how well we are serving 

their needs.”122 

Providing Support Services 

Entrepreneurship and business management 

training is not typical business education and 

should be approached with sensitivity to those 

differences. Although entrepreneurs do not 

need to be an expert in any single skill set, 

they must be sufficiently adept at a wide 

variety of skills to make sure that a business 

does not fail. To that end, there must be a 

pipeline of support that supplies the 

entrepreneur not only with training but also 

with a myriad of other services. Networking, 

mentoring and counseling opportunities are 

among the most important of support services 

centers can provide their clients.123 In any 

career endeavor, women benefit from hearing 

stories from their peers regarding their paths 

to success as well as the ways in which they 

succeed without sacrificing other aspects of 

their lives.124 

The majority (80 percent) of WBCs provide 

networking, mentoring and peer-to-peer 

opportunities.125 WBCs use these support 

services to help women business owners 

build beneficial professional and personal 

networks. These networks provide access to 

opportunities and financial supporters, 

spotlight inspiring role models, and encourage 

professional and personal development. 

Educational institutions with entrepreneurship 

programs for women should establish similar 

support mechanisms. Even if a college 

already has existing mentoring, networking, or 

counseling services in place, efforts should 

ensure that these services provide female 

students with access to female role models 

and mentors.126 

As Mary Riebe describes in the previously 

mentioned paper, A Place of Her Own: The 

Case for University-Based Centers for 

Women Entrepreneurs, another reason 

colleges should include these services is 

because of their unique position to reach 

younger aspiring women entrepreneurs.127 

Research shows that while many young 

women express interest in entrepreneurship, 

typically, it is older women who have the 

access and ability to start businesses. By 

providing young women with encouragement, 

training opportunities, and role models, 

colleges can “shorten the learning curve 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 25 Providing Support Services: Networking 
 

 

 

 

 

 

necessary to launch their own businesses.” 128 

Additionally, centers for women entrepreneurs 

in a college setting have the ability to attract 

women from a wide range of disciplines. 129 

One area that has historically been an 

important factor for the success of women’s 

business ventures, as described in the 

introduction to this report, is women business 

owners’ access to capital. Besides educating 

women about capital options, it is important 

that women have opportunities to build 

relationships with bankers and advisers.130 

Many of the organizations interviewed for this 

report have regular seminars on how to 

access capital or act as intermediary lenders. 

Many chambers of commerce, WBCs, and 

SBDCs are successful at helping women 

business owners overcome obstacles to 

accessing capital, simply through providing 

support services which help women business 

owners identify sources of capital and learn 

how to build relationships with financial 

professionals. While colleges are likely to 

incorporate training sessions on finance and 

capital choices, college entrepreneurship and 

business training programs that include 

support services are more likely to contribute 

to female students’ ability to access capital. 

Women business owners are also likely to 

have greater difficulty accessing markets and 

decision makers in comparison with men. 131 

For instance, the H.R. 4897 Equity in 

Contracting for Women Act of 2000 was 

passed in an effort to help women more 

successfully compete for government work 

and stipulates that 5 percent of all federal 

contract dollars be awarded to women-owned 

business. However, women still face 

challenges making gains in government 

contracting. As of 2006 only 3.4 percent of 

federal contract dollars went to privately-held 

women’s enterprises.132 

Additional research shows that women-owned 

business that serve corporate markets are 

also having difficulty winning prime contracts. 

Prime contracts are generally more lucrative 

than subcontracts, subsequently affecting a 

company’s ability to grow. Often, 

corporations making an effort to increase 

contracts to women and minority suppliers do 

not stipulate the need to award prime 

contracts to these businesses. In fact, one 

study showed that between 2000 and 2003, 

the percentage of corporate prime contracts 

awarded to women enterprises decreased.133 

One key strategy for reversing this trend is to 

increase the networking opportunities 

between women and key corporate and 

federal buyers. One study shows that the 

majority of women business owners who had 

success winning corporate contracts indicated 

that a primary factor of success was their 

relationship with key decision makers, 

especially purchasing and supplier diversity 

personnel. Corporate decision makers who 

were surveyed in the same study also 

indicated that they depended on the 

relationships between their supplier diversity 

departments and women for communicating 

about contract opportunities. Many also 

depended on referrals from their colleagues in 

other corporations.134 

In order to facilitate the critical representation 

of women’s enterprises in both corporate and 

government markets, any entrepreneurship 

program established or modified for women 

must seriously consider incorporating 

supportive networking and mentoring 

activities that promote women’s access to 

markets and key decision makers. By 

fostering these relationships, program 

designers assist women business owners in 

getting business as well as becoming 

advocates to increase awareness about the 

need for expanding contract opportunities for 

women overall. 

Networking 

Many business opportunities are identified 

through information transferred within social 

networks. Women entrepreneurs search for 

new business opportunities differently than 

men because women tend to have and utilize 

more informal or interpersonal networks.135 

Women, especially those with start-up or 

smaller businesses, are more likely to seek 

advice from family members and friends who 

may or may not be business owners.136 They 

are less likely to seek advice of professionals 

such as lawyers, accountants, and bankers. A 

26 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Providing Support Services: Networking 
strong element of the WBCs’ success is their business owners can meet state and 

ability to help women build more formal government vendors and local college and 

business networks through interactions with university representatives, while they network 

peers who are members of women’s business with other women business owners and 

organizations, government representatives, attend informative seminars. One WBC which 

and professional advisors. Many WBCs hold has great success with such an event is the 

annual networking events where women Women’s Business Center of Northern 

Virginia, as described below. 

Successful Practice: Creating an Effective Networking Event 

Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia’s Annual Women Entrepreneurs Expo 

The Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia (WBC NoVA) is a program of Virginia’s Community 

Business Partnership (CBP), a nonprofit formed in response to an identified need for small business technical 

assistance and financing services, particularly to low-moderate income and disadvantaged individuals, 

including minorities, women and the disabled. WBC NoVA hosts an annual Women Entrepreneurs Expo, an 

all-day event which has attracted more than 400 participants. There are several elements that contributed to 

this high level of success. The Expo consists of workshops, an exhibitor trade fair, and a networking luncheon 

often featuring keynote remarks by a successful woman entrepreneur. The exhibitor trade fair includes 

vendors ranging from local small businesses to corporate vendors and government agencies looking to do 

business with women entrepreneurs. In addition, organizers were attentive to the importance of providing 

women with the chance to interact with key decision makers by encouraging local politicians and subject 

matter experts to attend the Expo’s luncheon. The entire event provides women with the opportunity to 

socialize with other successful business women, meet with business advisors, and network with government 

and corporate decision makers. 

Sources: 

Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia, Springfield, VA, Lisa Goodman, Director 

http://www.cbponline.org/, Retrieved December 2008. 

Even when an event is not especially In addition to large annual or one time events, 

designed for women, it can be customized to some WBCs and local women’s and minority 

meet their needs. An example of this is the chapters of chambers of commerce hold a 

Wharton School SBDC, where more than half myriad of networking events tailored for 

of clients are women. This SBDC ensures women and minority business owners. 

that several of their programs feature women Examples of these events include networking 

role models. For example, in 2008, the coffees and breakfasts, mingling events in 

Wharton School SBDC hosted a networking which veteran members sponsor introductions 

event attended by nearly 100 entrepreneurs with new members, and facilitated events with 

which was facilitated by an extremely local corporate or government supplier 

successful local woman entrepreneur. The diversity representatives. Colleges and 

benefit of this type of programming is two-fold: universities with women’s entrepreneurship 

creating opportunities for women to network programs should consider hosting similar 

in an environment with a successful role events or make sure that female students 

model and presenting women and men participate in these types of activities to 

business owners, as well as community increase their entrance into formal networks. 

leaders, with an image associating women WBCs also help their clients establish formal 

entrepreneurs with success. networks by setting-up client directories. In 

this way, they encourage their current and 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 27 Providing Support Services: Networking 
past clients to make purchases from other providing a number of these networking 

women business owners, further contributing activities is the Center for Women & 

to their success and the growth of their formal Enterprise. 

business relationships. One WBC which is a 

model for 

Successful Practice: Providing a Full Spectrum of Networking Activities 

Center for Women & Enterprise’s Networking and Special Events

The Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) of Massachusetts and Rhode Island offers a full range of services 

for its clients. It is a model example for serving women entrepreneurs because CWE designs networking 

events for women at every stage of business development. This provides women entrepreneurs the 

opportunity to network with successful women business owners as well as decision makers and business 

professionals willing to assist them with access to various capital resources and business markets. The 

organization does all of this with an additional focus on its local diversity. CWE provides the following 

networking and special events. 

• An Annual Auction and Gala Dinner–a large social and networking event which brings together 

women entrepreneurs and the business community. 

• The Latina Entrepreneurs Summit–an annual event which gives Latina entrepreneurs an avenue for 

networking with other entrepreneurs and professionals who are interested in growing the success of 

Latina businesses. 

• An equity breakfast series called the “Open House Coffee & Capital” which allows women ready for 

growth to sit down in small round-tables with area angel and venture capital firms for candid 

discussions about raising equity capital. 

• The “Destination Success” annual marketing and educational platform designed to bring women and 

minority business enterprises together with companies that are committed to supplier diversity. 

• An ongoing “Monthly Women's Networking Event” held in several regional locations to bring 

successful businesswomen together with their peers. 

• An online “Business Directory” of past clients who wish to market their businesses on the CWE 

website. 

Sources: 

Center for Women & Enterprise, Carol Malysz, Past Director, CWE-RI 

http://www.cweonline.org, Retrieved December 2008. 

Mentoring 

Mentoring is a critical component of 

successful entrepreneurship training. Among 

entrepreneurs, it is a partnership between two 

people (mentor and mentee) normally working 

in a similar industry. A mentor helps the 

mentee find the right direction and helps them 

to develop solutions to career or business 

challenges with the credentials of having 

already experienced and survived similar 

situations. 

A review of several studies shows that women 

prefer relationship-oriented approaches to 

entrepreneurial learning.137 In addition, a 

woman business owner is more likely to be 

successful at establishing and growing a 

business, if she has had a chance to build a 

long-lasting mentoring relationship with a 

successful entrepreneur with whom she can 

discuss the challenges of her business. 

These mentoring relationships can also 

provide the opportunity to discuss obstacles 

that all entrepreneurs face, as well as those 

women may feel are gender-specific. Two 

WBCs have established unique approaches 

to providing successful mentoring programs. 

28 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Providing Support Services: Mentoring
Successful Practice: Unique Approaches to Mentorship 

The Alliance Women’s Business Center’s: WNET Monthly Mentorship Roundtable 

The Alliance Women’s Business Center is a program of the Minority/Women Business Enterprise Alliance for 

women entrepreneurs in Orlando, FL. While traditional mentoring programs match women for long term 

relationships with the intention of having mentors assisting mentees with challenges as they develop, WNET is 

a monthly roundtable program where the Alliance invites successful business women from different industries 

as guest speakers with the purpose of sharing their experiences, challenges and the way they overcame them. 

This provides some the major components of a mentor relationship, including bringing together women of 

similar industries, sharing experiences and successful strategies to obstacles, and creating face-to-face 

interactions. This can be done without necessarily requiring the time commitment associated with a long term 

mentoring relationship. However, at the same time, the Alliance uses this opportunity for women with new or 

struggling businesses to network with and find successful business women in their industry who can serve as 

mentors. 

Jacksonville Women’s Business Center: Roundtables and Mentor Teams 

The Jacksonville Women’s Business Center (JWBC) strategically matches mentors with clients to encourage 

and guide each business owner through the challenges of meeting their specific business goals. In addition, 

JWBC also provides other mentorship programs. One of these is the Business Advisory Councils (BACs) 

program. The BACs provide peer-to-peer mentoring roundtables that are designed for sharing ideas, taking 

part in creative brainstorming, networking, creating support systems, and increasing confidence in business 

management. Topics addressed include organizational structure, marketing, public relations, cash flow, other 

financial matters, employees, and strategic planning, among other business issues. Another mentoring 

program is the Financial Matters mentoring program designed to link a woman business owner with a twoperson “mentor team” consisting of an accountant and a financial expert. Over a six-month period, the mentor 

team educates the business owner in using financial and accounting information to improve management 

decisions. The mentee receives training in cash flow management, management of accounts payable and 

receivable, inventory management, and linkages between all financial statements. This program is designed to 

support any of their existing relationships with accountants and bankers. A sister program Marketing Matters

operates in a similar fashion. 

Sources: 

The Alliance • Orlando, FL, Carrie Williams, Project Director 

http://www.allianceflorida.com/wbc.html, Retrieved December 2008. 

Jacksonville Women's Business Center, Sandy Bartow, Executive Director 

http://www.myjaxchamber.com, Retrieved December 2008. 

Counseling or Consulting Services environment. Many WBCs use the counseling 

A traditional support service for both WBCs approach, but use the more business-oriented 

and college and university students is terminology of “consulting” when describing 

counseling. Counseling services are usually these services. Counseling services are also 

staffed with professionals and volunteers who more successful when they are easily 

provide advice to clients on an as needed accessible and sensitive to cultural and 

basis. Counseling services can provide gender issues. The Women’s Economic Selfcurrent women business owners and female Sufficiency Team (WESST) based in 

students with opportunities to address specific Albuquerque, NM, as described on the next 

issues or get general advice as they embark page, is a WBC that has successfully 

on new endeavors. This may be especially integrated a business consulting approach 

important for women who do not have a with sensitivity to gender and cultural issues. 

mentor, but still desire a one-on-one, 

confidential discussion in a nurturing 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 29 Providing Support Services: Counseling or Consulting Services 
Successful Practice: Understanding Gender and 

Cultural Sensitivities with Counseling Services 

Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team: One-on-One Business Consulting 

The Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team (WESST) “One-on-One Business Consulting” program was 

designed to provide any woman and minority business owner in New Mexico access to business experts for 

addressing specific questions about starting and running their businesses. There a number of WESST 

counselors throughout New Mexico who address issues such as: 

• Understanding the steps to starting a small business; 

• Understanding business structures, and incorporating a small business; 

• Small business banking, accounting, and financial management; 

• Business planning, including how to create a business plan and a marketing plan; and 

• Business marketing, including branding and public relations 

The staff of WESST has focused on creating a well-established consulting program because the WBC has a 

strong need for a one-on-one counseling model. WESST borders a number of different Native-American 

tribes that make up a majority of their client population. This presents a number of technical challenges, both 

logistically and culturally. Most clients served by WESST’s Gallup, NM regional office live in excess of 1.5 

hours away from any center and there are language and cultural barriers that require the staff to have an 

intimate knowledge of tribal as well as state and federal laws. The one-on-one counseling approach allows 

them to match counselors with their clients based on topics of interest and cultural sensitivities. In addition, 

the counselors can make one-on-one appointments to meet with clients at convenient places and times. 

Sources: 

Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team, Grace Boyne, Regional Manager 

http://www.wesst.org, Retrieved December 2008. 

Creating Collaborations 

Successful collaborations bring two or more 

organizations together to work in synergy, in 

an effort that is "more than the sum of its 

parts." Each organization can serve clients 

and produce benefits while working 

separately, but not as many or as well as if 

they work together. Some researchers predict 

the future success and continued growth of 

WBCs that serve women entrepreneurs to be 

dependent on collaboration.138 In working 

together, organizations can share resources, 

potentially lowering costs and focusing more 

resources on serving clients.139 Most 

importantly, research shows that much of the 

success of the WBCs lies in their ability to 

leverage WBC assets and the assets of other 

organizations to the benefit of their clients.140

In a college and university setting, 

collaborations are useful mechanisms for 

establishing and modifying entrepreneurship 

programs for women. If a college or 

university decides to set up an 

entrepreneurship center or non-credit 

program with an eye to serving women, 

knowing what similar programs are being 

offered by other organizations can help to 

determine the focus of a new or modified 

educational program or center. For instance, 

traditionally, colleges and universities may 

have had a greater focus on long term 

educational courses. Local business 

organizations such as WBCs, SBDCs, or 

others are likely to be using established oneday or other short-term programming that may 

be useful for students who already have other 

long-term course commitments or for those 

who are in continuing education with a 

preference towards short-term commitments 

or non-credit options. Conversely, community 

colleges, many of which have already 

incorporated short-term certificate and online 

programming, may be a useful resource for 

30 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Creating Collaborations
 

 

government or nonprofit business centers and 

organizations that are looking to better serve 

women entrepreneurs. It is also possible that 

two-year and four-year colleges or universities 

with degree programs may be able to work 

through these local business organizations to 

reach previously untapped audiences of 

women who have been unsure of whether the 

environment will be supportive to women. 

Collaborations with other business and 

women’s organizations can pave the way for 

establishing the female-friendly reputation of 

a program. 

There are a number of successful examples 

of colleges that provide entrepreneurship 

education and support services by leveraging 

the resources of several partners. Colleges 

and universities can provide students with a 

more cohesive core of services by 

establishing relationships with local 

organizations, such as chambers of 

commerce, WBCs, SBDCs, women’s 

organizations, and libraries, which already 

have the infrastructure to provide 

entrepreneurship education services. 

When establishing collaborations, program 

developers should consider who the potential 

partners are; what client needs might be best 

served through a collaborative effort; what 

resources might the potential partners bring to 

the program; what resources the 

entrepreneurial education program could offer 

in return; and what needs to be done to 

cultivate partnering relationships with other 

agencies.141 The WBC program presents 

many model examples of how organizations 

across the U.S. are engaging in 

collaborations throughout their communities. 

In the report The Impact and Influence of 

Women’s Business Centers in the United 

States, Mary Godwyn and her colleagues 

explain that well thought-out and active 

collaborative relationships create a bridge to 

the business community, thereby enhancing 

the success of both WBCs and their clients.142 

The report The Values, Views and Visions of 

Women Business Center Leaders showed 

that, among the Women’s Business Center 

leaders surveyed in 2006, almost all (98 

percent) indicated that their centers were 

actively involved in collaborations.143 WBCs 

work with an average of seven different 

organizations in arrangements such as: 

•	 creating cross-referral programs in which 

organizations suggest each others’ 

services to clients; 

•	 holding events or classes at other 

organizations’ facilities; 

•	 developing cross-promotions of events; 

•	 partnering in programming and hosting 

events; 

•	 hosting other organization events or 

classes in WBC offices; and even 

•	 having representatives of other 

organizations serve as members of the 

WBC boards.144 

As of 2005, more than half (53 percent) of 

Women’s Business Centers indicated that 

they were co-located with another 

organization, for example, a university, 

chamber of commerce or other nonprofit.145 

These arrangements have proven profitable. 

A 2002 survey conducted to analyze the 

economic impact of WBCs, found that centers 

which were housed together with other 

organizations as “bundled” services had more 

than two times the average profits of standalone centers.146 Whether centers share 

physical space with other organizations or 

not, they frequently share personnel such as 

trainers and other office services.147 This has 

two major benefits: 

1) it creates a beneficial financial and 

resource relationship between two or 

more organizations, and 

2) it provides clients of entrepreneurial 

education and support programs with the 

advantage of receiving expert assistance 

from multiple sources. 

Whether co-located or not, WBCs have many 

types of collaborative partners. The 

aforementioned survey of WBC leaders 

showed that a majority had partnerships with 

SBDCs; local chambers of commerce or other 

general business organizations; SBA district 

offices; local regional or state economic 

develop agencies, and local women’s 

business associations.148 As mentioned in 

the previous section regarding the need for 

providing support services, counseling 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 31 Creating Collaborations 
services provide individual attention to possible, the ability to request counselors by 

aspiring or existing businesses. Many topic, region, gender, and language.150

different organizations, such as the SCORE 

(formerly the Service Corps of Retired Several of the WBCs, colleges, and other 

Executives), SBDCs, and the Procurement organizations interviewed and researched for 

Technical Assistant Centers (PTAC), provide this report demonstrate successful 

both one-on-one and group counseling collaborative practices in an effort to best 

services to small businesses, often at little to educate local women entrepreneurs and 

no charge. Many WBCs partner with these provide them with supportive networking, 

organizations to broaden their ability to mentoring, and counseling systems. One 

support their clients. In 2006, two-thirds of example is from Jacksonville, Florida, where 

the WBCs indicated that they partner with an extensive network of 20 organizations 

SCORE.149 While SCORE chapters serve works to serve the diverse needs of an 

both women and men, they leverage their audience of aspiring and current 

resources by drawing on the community for entrepreneurs across 18 counties. 

volunteers to assist with training, counseling, 

mentoring, legal counseling and other 

services. By doing so they offer clients, when 

Successful Practice: A Large Collaborative Network 

Multiple Organizations: Jacksonville, FL 

Viewed as the community outreach arm of the Coggin College of Business, the Small Business Development

Center at the University of North Florida (SBDC at UNF) coordinates with a number of organizations providing

assistance to small businesses. This Small Business Assistance Providers group, originally organized through

the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, includes more than 20 organizations. The members meet 

regularly to share information, exchange ideas, coordinate activities, and advocate on behalf of small

business. As a result, the small business community gains access to a variety of resources. 

The Jacksonville Women’s Business Center, which was mentioned earlier for its ability to serve women at

various business stages and for its unique team mentoring services, is just one of twenty organizations in the

alliance. Some of the other partners include the Women Business Owners of North Florida and organizations

serving various ethnic and cultural interests such as the First Coast African American, Asian American,

Hispanic, and INDOUS Chambers of Commerce. In addition, the partnership includes organizations and 

government agencies focusing on specific industries, financial resources, and workforce and business

development. 

Through its collaborative efforts, the SBDC of UNF developed an outstanding reputation for its service to the

diverse needs of business owners in 18 counties. In terms of college outreach, the SBDC at UNF works with

faculty and administrators to expand the availability of entrepreneurship courses. The SBDC is successful

reaching a women’s audience. In 2007, nearly half (48 percent) of all the counseling clients were women and 

more than half (53 percent) of the training clients were women. In addition, the SBDC at UNF co-sponsored a 

number of special events for area entrepreneurs that helped to further the interest and inclusion of women. 

This is done by having programming for both women and men which feature successful women as speakers,

such as their 15th Annual Small Business Week Celebration. In addition, they provide female-focused events

such as their Annual Girls Going Places Teen Entrepreneurship Conference. 

Sources: 

Small Business Development Center–UNF, Jacksonville, FL, Janice Williams Donaldson, Regional Director 

http://www.sbdc.unf.edu/, Retrieved December 2008. 

http://www.sbdc.unf.edu/pdf/2007RegionalImpactReportFinal.pdf, Retrieved January 2009. 

Jacksonville Women's Business Center, Sandy Bartow, Executive Director 

http://www.myjaxchamber.com, Retrieved December 2008. 

32 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Creating Collaborations
Representatives of entrepreneurial programs further advocates for the support of women’s 

which focus on the needs of women can play entrepreneurship. An example of an 

a larger role in state-wide initiatives. This is organization participating in this type of 

worthwhile because it generates awareness collaboration is the REAP Women’s Business 

of the center or institution’s services and Center in Nebraska. 

Successful Practice: Collaborating in Statewide Initiatives 

REAP Women’s Business Center of Nebraska 

The Nebraska SBA-affiliated Women’s Business Center (WBC) located in the Center for Rural Affairs (CRA), 

Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP) participates in many collaborative activities. Being located within 

the CRA means that REAP is able to take advantage of resources from other partner organization and also 

extend expertise working with women clients. In addition, the WBC has participated in a state-wide initiative 

called Nebraska Entrepreneurship Task Force (NET FORCE). NET FORCE is a project within a larger 

programmatic enterprise called FutureForce which was first launched in 2004 as WEWIN (Workforce and 

Education Willing to Invest in Nebraska). Today, FutureForce “partners with schools, employers and 

workforce resources to help the state’s young people and adults in transition understand the many excellent 

opportunities for employment, future growth, and career satisfaction that are available to them in Nebraska.” 

NET Force identifies and leverages educational resources to “educate, engage, and empower” current and 

aspiring entrepreneurs. The partners in NET Force, including a representative from the WBC, meet 

occasionally throughout the year to share their successes and plan collaborative activities that support the 

promotion of entrepreneurship. A key component of this initiative that may be of interest to community 

colleges across the country, is NET Force’s accomplishment of bringing together community college 

representatives throughout the state to develop curriculum offerings and common courses for 

entrepreneurship and certificate programs. 

Sources: 

Rural Enterprise Assistance Project: Women’s Business Center, Monica Braun, Center Director 

http://www2.cfra.org/reap/womens_business_center.htm, Retrieved December 2008. 

http://www.futureforcenebraska.org/Talent_PP/Entrepreneurship/Resources 

Center for Rural Affairs 

http://www.cfra.org/node/1167, Retrieved December 2008. 

As mentioned above, many educational economic development initiatives to increase 

institutions create a strategy to work with opportunities for their women clients and 

outside organizations, such as graduates. 

entrepreneurial development programs like 

WBCs, SBDCs, and chambers of commerce, Two examples of Women’s Business Centers 

utilizing their trainers and curriculum. This that have offered their expertise by providing 

collaboration allows them to implement a instructors to other organizations or by 

curriculum that has already been vetted with creating programming for community 

trainers who are already familiar with the development are described on the following 

coursework. pages. 

Simply having an entrepreneurship program Despite the fact that nearly all of WBC leaders 

for women means that an organization or surveyed indicate that they are involved in 

institution can play a prominent role in collaborative relationships, just two-thirds of 

community development. Colleges which WBC leaders reported that they had 

implement education programs and partnerships with local community colleges 

entrepreneurial support services for women and just over half said they had partnerships 

can take a greater role by partnering with with area universities. There is clearly an 

chambers of commerce as well as local 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 33 Creating Collaborations 
Successful Practice: Collaborations Supporting Entrepreneurial Education 

Programming for Women 

Women’s Enterprise Development Center, Inc.: A Collaboratively Launched Effort 

The Women’s Enterprise Development Center, Inc. (WEDC) of Westchester, NY was established in 1997 as a 

collaborative effort of several organizations including the Westchester County Association, Westchester 

Community College, the Westchester Association of Women Business Owners, and the New York State 

Division for Women. While it was originally designed to specifically work with women transitioning from public 

assistance to business ownership, WEDC has grown significantly in both the scope of the mission and in 

terms of their partnerships. 

As mentioned previously as a best practice for industry focus, WEDC works with the Child Care Council of 

Westchester to do training for child care business owners. WEDC also partners with the Westchester 

Hispanic Coalition to provide training for aspiring Latina entrepreneurs. WEDC is also engaged in a number of 

programs with Westchester Community College of the State University of New York (SUNYWCC) including an 

entrepreneurial training for displaced homemakers and the SUNYWCC’s “Mainstream” program for mature 

adults. Mainstream offers non-credit courses in various fields that are tailored to adults over 50 who are 

considering career change options or business ownership. The entrepreneurial program is based on WEDC’s 

curriculum and WEDC provides instructors. This program, although not geared exclusively to women, is a 

great example of how to utilize local Women’s Business Centers to provide training through an established 

curriculum. In addition, research has shown that many women business owners enter into business later in 

life; thus the collaboration between WEDC and SUNYWWC is an obvious one since WEDC brings an 

expertise in programming for women. 

Furthermore, WEDC has partnered with organizations such as The Westchester Housing Fund to form “The 

Enterprise Fund” which helps provide access to capital to women graduates of the program, further 

contributing to the success of a goal to support and grow businesses owned by women in the local community. 

In 2008, WEDC worked with the Berkeley College of New York where the 10th Annual Networking Roundtable 

for Women Business Owners was hosted. The Westchester WEDC is a good example of how a program, 

which was originally established with the cooperation of key individuals, a local community college, and 

partnering organizations, can develop over time to increase its influence for the women’s audience throughout 

a community with programming, education and support. 

Sources: 

Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC), Anne Janiak, Executive Director 

http://www.wedc-westchester.org, Retrieved December 2008 

Westchester Community College, Shelley Garnet, Director of “Mainstream” Program 

http://www.sunywcc.edu/continuing_ed/mainstream/mainstream.htm 

opportunity for increasing collaborations with 

educational institutions. Therefore, college 

programs considering their options for 

establishing or modifying entrepreneurship 

programs for women should reach out to local 

or regional WBCs. 

When developing an entrepreneurship 

program, collaborations amongst the various 

departments, centers, and students on 

campus are important. Creating a 

collaboration that spans the entire institution 

would help to establish a community that 

fosters the spirit of entrepreneurship. Such 

initiatives would also provide more 

opportunities to specifically include 

programming and support geared towards 

women. In her paper arguing for the 

development of university-based centers for 

women entrepreneurs, Mary Riebe explains 

that having a center is more effective than 

having one academic department focusing on 

the issue alone.151 She concludes that: 

34 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Creating Collaborations
...such centers are able to offer especially important to programming for 

students innovative and women- women as they provide an access point for 

centered educational experiences, increasing their social capital. 

such as conferences and certification 

and mentoring programs, and to Another collaborative mechanism for creating 

connect them with successful female a spirit of entrepreneurship on a college or 

role models, experts, and sponsors university campus is to establish a 

from the business community, with “community of practice.” The term 

faculty from across and beyond the “community of practice” was established by 

institution with expertise in issues Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave the early 

related to women and business, and 1990s. Later, Wenger expanded the 

with governmental and non-profit understanding of this concept and described it 

support programs and networks.152 as “groups of people who share a concern or 

a passion for something they do and learn 

Two examples of resources within a campus how to do it better as they interact 

community that could be beneficial to the regularly.”154 For more than a decade, 

development or modification of researchers and practitioners have 

entrepreneurship programs for women are established or explained a number of 

alumni and career centers.153 Alumni centers methods for creating formal environments of 

and career centers often already collaborate, shared learning based on this concept. Some 

providing resources for alumni and graduating examples that have been extensively used by 

students in career development and educational institutions for enhancing learning 

networking opportunities. Alumni can also in a number of academic disciplines are 

serve as role models to current students “communities of learning, inquiry, and 

considering business ownership and practice” known in some cases as “CLIPs” 

entrepreneurship. These centers can prove and in others as “learning communities.” 

Successful Practice: Collaborations Supporting Entrepreneurial Education 

Programming for Women 

The Microbusiness Advancement Center, Arizona: 

Collaborations for Community Development 

The Tucson-Pima County’s Women’s Business Center–Microbusiness Advancement Center (MAC) has a 

number of relationships with organizations in the community including the Better Business Bureau, the 

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Small Business Association. The Center provides their 

trainers for “Lunch and Learn” workshops to the client base of the various organizations. The workshops 

typically are no longer than an hour and each hosting organization handles marketing and registration. 

MAC also has a strategic alliance with Gadsten Developers to provide training to businesses interested in 

becoming tenants in “The Mercado,” a marketplace in the redevelopment of the downtown Tucson area (Rio 

Nuevo). Gadsten Developers refers all potential tenants to the Center to provide the necessary training for 

eligibility in “The Mercado”. In conjunction with the United Way and Gadsten Developers, MAC created a 

contest in the community for the best business ideas. MAC created a workshop specifically for this contest to 

help people develop business plans. The winner of the contest received free rent in the Mercado for a year, 

$10,000 worth of free advertising through the developer’s PR firm and many other prizes. This is an example 

of how an entrepreneurial education program has created a relationship with other business leaders and 

become an integral part of community economic development. 

Sources: 

The Microbusiness Advancement Center–Women’s Business Center, Debbie Chandler, Executive Director 

http://mac-sa.org/training, Retrieved December 2008 

Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 35 Creating Collaborations 
 

 

Developing CLIPs is a method that has been 

widely used by community colleges in 

particular. CLIPs “provide opportunities for 

community college faculty to collaboratively 

study issues of importance to them about 

student learning and success.”155 They have 

been used for understanding a wide variety of 

teaching practices across many academic 

disciplines. Some major components of a 

CLIP experience for faculty include building 

relationships with colleagues, learning how 

colleagues are supporting student learning 

and success, and generating support for 

making changes to help students. 

CLIPs also allow colleges to experiment with 

new teaching approaches which can then be 

applied throughout the institution.156 Using 

this type of collaborative approach for 

developing or modifying entrepreneurial 

education programs for women could not only 

increase a program’s ability to foster the 

success of women entrepreneurs but also 

further the understanding of women’s learning 

styles and preferences in entrepreneurial 

education. 

A similar concept is that of “learning 

communities.” In their book, Profound 

Improvements: Building Capacity for a 

Learning Community, Coral Mitchell and Larry 

Sackney define a learning community as a 

group of people who take an active reflective, 

collaborative, learning-oriented, and growthpromoting approach toward the mysteries, 

problems, and perplexities of teaching and 

learning.157 This applies to educators and 

students. 

In practice, learning communities have taken 

several forms in college settings. For 

instance, one model is the creation of learning 

clusters or freshman interest groups – in 

which new students take several classes 

together in one topic area. Many schools 

have residential learning communities such 

as theme-based dormitory halls for languages 

or fields of study.158 The concept of a 

learning community can be used to develop 

programs in a range of sizes, from individual 

programs such as learning clusters or 

residential programs mentioned here to a 

complete institution-wide commitment to an 

educational endeavor. 

One college that is well known for 

establishing a campus-wide approach to 

teaching entrepreneurship is Babson College 

located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. For 

many years, Babson has been named by 

several sources as a top school in 

entrepreneurship. For 2009, US News and 

World Report named it number one for 

entrepreneurship in both undergraduate and 

graduate education.159 Babson describes its 

approach for creating an environment of 

learning about and teaching entrepreneurship 

as follows: 

We are forever committed to trying 

innovative things in our integrated, 

experience-based learning 

environment. Our campus is a living 

laboratory, where we experiment, 

improve, and evolve how to teach 

entrepreneurial process and foster 

entrepreneurial mind-sets. We then 

take what we learn from our students' 

and executive clients' experiences to 

accelerate the ever-extending outer 

frontier of the field of entrepreneurship 

education.160 

Babson’s Women’s Leadership Institute 

contributes greatly to the campus-wide 

commitment to entrepreneurial education. 

The institute is actively involved in expanding 

the knowledge of women’s entrepreneurship 

through academic research and outreach.161 

It is apparent from all of the examples 

presented here that colleges and universities 

that engage in collaborations with partners 

within their own campuses as well as across 

the surrounding community are able to 

leverage resources to provide more extensive 

entrepreneurial educational programming and 

services. As mentioned in the introduction to 

this report, women still lag men in terms of 

their access to elements of human and social 

capital that are critical to entrepreneurial 

success. Colleges and universities that 

engage in collaborations when creating 

entrepreneurship centers or non-credit 

training programs for women are more likely 

to be able to increase women’s access to 

these elements of human and social capital– 

namely access to experiential learning and 

formal social networks. 

36 Establishing or Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Creating Collaborations 
 

 

 

 

Marketing and Promoting 

Entrepreneurship Centers and 

Non-Credit Programs to Women 

A lot of effort goes into establishing and 

modifying a college-based entrepreneurship 

center or non-credit training program for 

women. Once a program has the essential 

elements needed for serving women 

entrepreneurs, program designers need to 

ensure that women students take full 

advantage of the program by effectively 

marketing it to current female students as well 

as aspiring and established women 

entrepreneurs in the community. 

Marketing to Women 

College program designers have ample 

experience in creating marketing plans. 

When marketing a program that has been 

developed with women in mind, one concern 

a designer may have is that marketing will 

exclude men when trying to make it attractive 

to women. In the article, The Six Costliest 

Mistakes You Can Make When Marketing to 

Women, Andrea Learned explains that 

marketing campaigns designed with women 

in mind do not alienate men, but instead tend 

to “deliver the best to everyone.”162 It is 

important for colleges and other organizations 

to recognize that it is possible to design 

programs that fit the needs and preferences 

of women and still market them in a way that 

is inclusive of women and men. 

Marketing plans for entrepreneurship centers 

and non-credit training programs should 

include traditional marketing tools such as: 

press releases; advertising in newspapers, 

websites, TV and radio spots; and speaking 

engagements.163 Web site marketing and 

social media tools such as blogs, message 

boards, and podcasts are also important. 

This is especially true for programs that have 

online components.164 When marketing 

programs to women, other creative tools such 

as offering to moderate a local television 

program or write articles for local newspapers 

or magazines about program attendees who 

have established or grown successful 

businesses can be used.165 Another 

consideration when developing the marketing 

plan is to consider using it as an experiential 

learning opportunity for current female 

students while getting their perspective on 

how to attract other female students to 

programs introducing them to 

entrepreneurship. 

The successful practice described on the 

following page demonstrates how the findings 

of a needs assessment conducted to gauge 

the needs of women were used in marketing 

an entrepreneurship program. 

The techniques described earlier in the 

“Knowing Your Audience” section are clearly 

useful for marketing the program to women. 

In addition, it is important for designers of 

women’s entrepreneurship programs to stay 

informed of new trends and research findings 

so that their programs remain pertinent and 

attractive to women business owners. After 

designing a program to include elements to 

address the needs of women entrepreneurs, 

your audience of current and potential female 

students needs to know that those needs 

have been addressed. 

Successful Marketing Practices of WBCs 

Women’s Business Centers have 

incorporated many successful practices in 

recruiting and retaining clients. A crucial 

strategy used is the repetition of key 

messages when marketing programs to a new 

audience. WBCs promote the entrepreneurial 

assistance message frequently through 

traditional marketing mechanisms, since 

research shows that it takes approximately 3 

contacts to produce a client.166 

A number of WBCs hold orientations to attract 

clients. Orientations inform women about 

which programs are best for them. In 

addition, orientations provide an opportunity 

to become acquainted and comfortable with 

program space and staff. These orientations 

should be well-documented and advertised, 

especially online. In addition, they should be 

held regularly in rotating locations, if possible. 

In the case of a college-based 

entrepreneurship center or non-credit training 

program, students from various women’s 

organizations on campus as well as those in 

targeted departments could be invited to 

attend orientations specifically designed for 

that audience. 

Marketing and Promoting Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs to Women 37 Successful Marketing through Collaborations 
Successful Practice: Implementing the Findings of a Needs Assessment into 

Program Design and Marketing 

Dakota County Technical College of Minnesota: Business Entrepreneur Program 

The Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) needs assessment resulted in many conclusions that helped 

program administrators and educators make decisions about the design of their programs for the women’s 

audience. While the DCTC researchers recognized that female-only classes were not needed for most 

business and entrepreneurial education, they did “rethink curriculum and delivery” and consider the question 

“What can we do?” to better program for the audience of women. They concluded that programs needed to be 

both experiential and social in nature, while still remaining convenient. In addition, they decided to incorporate 

work-life balance topics into existing courses, do diversity checks of the instructors and entrepreneurial role 

models, and continue to do research on course timing. 

Interestingly, their findings and program design decisions are also apparent in their marketing and program 

descriptions. In marketing the program, DCTC emphasizes elements that would be attractive to female 

students, using language that mirrored the results of the needs assessment. For instance, the program is 

marketed as having “hands on learning, “business oriented instructors,” “day, evening, weekend, and online 

scheduling,” and “professional development.” While the language used appeals to a female audience, this 

type of outreach does not exclude their male audience. 

Sources: 

Dakota County Technical College, MN, Christine Pigsley, Associate Dean 

http://www.dctc.mnscu.edu/ 

Mollenkopf-Pigsley, C and Erickson, R. (2008). What Women Want: Are the Needs of Women Entrepreneurs 

Different? Presentation to the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship Conference. 

Research has shown that women business to be the most successful method of 

owners who use WBC programs or services increasing traffic to the Center. 

remain clients for an average of more than 2 While WBCs use many successful tactics in years. In addition, the research indicates that marketing their programs to their clients, there both aspiring and current women business is evidence that more must be done to reach owners visit and attend WBC programs on potential clients. For instance, women average 7 to 8 times a year.167 Therefore, business owners who attended town hall WBCs continually create outreach activities to meetings conducted by the NWBC in 2007 their current clients in an effort to provide and 2008 indicated that they were not aware them with ongoing support as they start and of the variety of services provided by grow their businesses. WBCs.168 Similar results were found in the 

An example of a well organized effort to National Association for the Self-Employed 

market to past clients comes from the (NASE) 2009 Membership Survey. Only 18 

Microbusiness Advancement Center (MAC) percent of respondents were aware of the 

WBC. This WBC has a full-time outreach Small Business Development Centers and 

director who does extensive marketing within only 10 percent were aware of the Women’s 

the local community. The marketing director Business Centers.169 Therefore, programs 

produces a quarterly newsletter while designed to assist women business owners 

maintaining a contact list of about 2,000 email may need to expand their outreach and 

addresses, consisting of past participants, marketing programs even further. 

supporters and volunteers. MAC regularly 

contacts this core group of clients and 

supporters through email blasts, which have 

been very successful at branding the center 

and creating name recognition. It has proven 

38 Marketing and Promoting Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs to Women 

Successful Marketing Practices of WBCs
Successful Marketing through Collaborations has a very successful approach to coAnother useful tool for marketing an branding and co-marketing is the Community 

entrepreneurship center or non-credit training Business Partnership in Virginia. 

program for women is to leverage 

collaborations and partnerships for cross- As mentioned above, creating collaborations 

referral, co-branding, and co-marketing with outside organizations and across the 

opportunities. campus community is often necessary for 

designing a complete and successful 

While many of the organizations interviewed entrepreneurship program. WBCs indicate 

and researched for this report indicate that collaborations are an important tool for 

actively engaging in collaborations that co- expanding their outreach to women that they 

market and share clients, one program that otherwise might not reach.170

Successful Practice: Unique Co-Branding and Co-Marketing in 

Entrepreneurial Education Programming 

The Community Business Partnership of Fairfax, Virginia: Five Co-located Programs 

The Community Business Partnership (CBP) in Fairfax County, Virginia was launched in 1995 as a complete 

resource center to provide training and support for those interested in building and growing businesses. The 

CBP is a good example of government and educational institutions working together to provide an 

entrepreneurship program in their region. Six key organizations collaborated to form the CBP, including the 

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, George Mason 

University, the Small Business Commission, Northern Virginia Community College, and the Northern Virginia 

Urban League. During its development, the CBP partners recognized the need for particular assistance for 

minorities, women and the disabled. Since its development, it has received much support from other local, 

state and national business organizations and government entities. 

In order to serve the needs of its audience, the CBP grew into a collaborative between five distinct programs 

housed together, including the Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia, the Business Finance Center, 

the Business Incubator Center, the Financial Education Center for Women Entrepreneurs, and the South 

Fairfax Small Business Development Center. 

The five centers refer clients to each other and have joint counseling sessions while maintaining one cohesive 

identity of CBP. A visit to the CBP website provides a distinct visual confirmation of the organizations’ focus 

on collaboration. Each of the five organizations within the partnership shares a similar visual design for their 

individual logo. The CBP’s joint calendar of events is clearly labeled with the logo of the sponsoring partner. 

While all of their services are open to women and men, aspiring and current women entrepreneurs can easily 

determine which of the programs are sponsored by either the Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia 

or the Financial Education Center for Women Entrepreneurs. 

Sources: 

Community Business Partnership, Kathy Wheeler, President & CEO 

Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia, Springfield, VA, Lisa Goodman, Director 

http://www.cbponline.org/, Retrieved December 2008. 

Northern Virginia Community College’s Entrepreneurship Program, Annandale, VA, Robert P. Rogers, Jr. 

Marketing and Promoting Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs to Women 39 Successful Marketing through Collaborations
 

 

 

Evaluating Entrepreneurship Centers 

and Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Program evaluation has long been a useful 

tool for determining if programs are meeting 

their stated goals.171 The practice of program 

evaluation can include a wide variety of 

methods to assess many aspects of 

organizations and programs.172 Program 

evaluations have often been viewed as a tool 

for documenting the success and impact of a 

program as well as for determining 

accountability. However, the most important 

reason for undertaking an evaluation is to 

identify opportunities to make program 

improvements.173 Program evaluations are 

often mandated by funders, but by taking a 

proactive and positive approach to evaluation, 

program designers can empower all stakeholders and constituents to define program 

success in their own terms.174 

Evaluation Basics 

Evaluation designs are most effective when 

they are planned in conjunction with the 

program design process.175 This approach 

helps to ensure that the program designers 

and stake-holders adequately address the 

program goals and consider how to collect 

meaningful information throughout program 

implementation to determine if those goals 

are being met. As might be expected, indepth descriptions of how to design, perform, 

and analyze an array of program evaluations 

can be found from various books and other 

sources. Colleges and universities are 

familiar with evaluative methods. Program 

designers within these environments who 

wish to incorporate structured and effective 

evaluation plans may want to explore if their 

campuses have staff members, faculty or 

graduate students who study evaluation 

methods or conduct evaluations. Often these 

experts are available to act as advisors. 

These resources are often available to other 

organizations near the college or university. 

In addition to these college-based resources, 

there are also a number of organizations that 

provide evaluation expertise. One source for 

learning more about the field of evaluation 

and for finding resources for conducting 

evaluations is the professional organization 

for evaluators, the American Evaluation 

Association.176 In addition, the nonprofit 

organization Innovation Network shares a 

number of planning and evaluation tools 

online in an effort to help funders and 

nonprofit programs to “deliver stronger 

programs and create lasting change in their 

communities.”177 

Often, programs do not have the financial 

resources or expertise to conduct large 

evaluations. However, small scale 

evaluations that are well conceived can still 

be affective in measuring successful program 

outcomes and providing information to make 

program improvement. It is important to note 

that program personnel do not have to be 

experts to carry out a useful program 

evaluation.178 Even if an entrepreneurship 

center or non-credit training program for 

women in a college setting needs to rely on 

staff members who are not familiar with 

conducting evaluations, there are many 

sources available for building organizational 

evaluation capacity.179 

Measuring the Success of WBCs 

WBCs funded by the SBA are mandated to 

report on the economic impact of their 

programs, including two key outcome 

indicators: 1) the number of start-up 

businesses formed, and 2) the number of jobs 

created.180 A number of methods such as 

keeping attendance logs, collecting client 

surveys, and tracking economic trends in a 

community are used to gather data which 

contribute to measuring progress on these 

intended outcomes. In the past, SBA has 

produced annual reports using a “return-oninvestment” approach which takes into 

consideration data such as the number of 

clients counseled, attendees trained, 

counseling hours, training hours, business 

revenues, and the aforementioned jobs 

created and small businesses started in 

relation to the cost to provide WBC services. 

This provides cost-per-client results for 

evaluating the impact of the WBCs181 

WBCs are actively involved in collecting these 

kinds of data. For instance, the Women’s 

Business Center of Northern Virginia, an 

aforementioned WBC engaged in successful 

practices, sent out 4,900 invitations to past 

40 Evaluating Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 

Evaluation Basics & Measuring the Success of WBCs 
 

 

 

 

 

participants who had attended training 

classes or seminars. Survey responses 

indicated how many businesses were still 

operating (68%), the types of businesses 

clients were creating (54% home-based, 25% 

sole proprietorships, etc.), and other 

important data. 

Many studies report similar data to document 

the success of the WBC program on a 

national scale. For instance, according to a 

study conducted between 2001 and 2003, 

WBC clients generated a total economic 

impact of nearly $500 million in gross receipts 

with profits of $51.4 million and losses of only 

$11.8 million. They also created 12,719 new 

jobs and started 6,660 new firms.182 These 

types of economic data are primarily useful in 

documenting program impact. 

WBCs use several other indicators to 

evaluate and determine program success. A 

typical qualitative method that WBCs use to 

document the impact of their programs is to 

collect “success stories” from their clients. 

Many websites of WBCs have pages devoted 

to promoting clients and their stories. 

Organizations such as the National Women’s 

Business Council have also documented 

successes of WBCs through ongoing studies 

in which WBC leaders and clients are 

surveyed and interviewed to share their 

strategies and accomplishments.183 

While these types of data and evaluation 

methods can be used to document impact, 

they are often used for program improvement. 

Economic impact data may be useful in 

determining which services are most useful or 

in determining if services are adequately 

addressing the needs of clients. For instance, 

if there is an increase in the number of midsized businesses, centers may decide to 

adjust programming to serve women at this 

business stage. On the other hand, if 

businesses remain small over a number of 

years, program designers may recognize a 

need to help women grow their businesses 

through training and access to opportunities 

to build financial and social capital. 

Evaluating College Entrepreneurship Centers 

and Other Non-Credit Training Programs 

for Women 

Similar kinds of data can be collected by 

colleges or other organizations from students 

in their programs, women business owners 

who use their services, and the local business 

community. Research has suggested that a 

fundamental measure of effectiveness of 

entrepreneurial education should be the 

socioeconomic impact produced.184 However, 

in a 2006 case study, scholars advised that 

although highly ranked programs are 

evaluated based upon course offerings, 

faculty publications, community impact, 

alumni exploits, innovations, alumni start-ups 

and outreach to scholars, new and smaller 

programs may simply want to measure more 

basic data, such as student feedback and 

attendance.185 

Whatever the approach, educational 

institutions embracing entrepreneurial 

education programming for women would get 

the most out of evaluations that endeavor 1) 

to learn if and how the program has met 

needs and preferences of women 

entrepreneurs and 2) to determine ways in 

which programs can be improved to 

continually meet the changing needs of 

women entrepreneurs. 

Evaluating Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 41 Evaluating College Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit Programs for Women 
 

 

 

 

Methodology 

The exploratory research for this project 

began in 2007 as an effort of the National 

Women’s Business Council to expand 

entrepreneurial training opportunities for 

women. Specifically, the Council hoped to 

provide a rationale for educational institutions, 

such as entrepreneurship centers or noncredit programs at two- and four-year colleges 

and universities, to incorporate programmatic 

elements targeted to the audience of women. 

In addition, the project aimed to provide 

guidelines and successful practice examples 

for these institutions and organizations for 

establishing or modifying entrepreneurship 

centers and non-credit training programs for 

women. These guidelines have been 

compiled into a separate document II. 

Resource Guide for Establishing or 

Modifying Entrepreneurship Centers & 

Non-Credit Training Programs for Women. 

The guide is intended to be a “living 

document,” designed to be periodically 

updated according to new research or based 

on input from the field and practitioners. 

Research Questions, Methods, & Successful 

Practice Selection 

For this report, I. Report of Findings from an 

Exploratory Literature Review & Interview 

Study, an exploratory review of research was 

conducted along with an examination of 

documents and websites describing Small 

Business Administration (SBA) Women’s 

Business Centers (WBCs), Small Business 

Development Centers (SBDCs), and two- and 

four-year colleges or universities providing 

programming in entrepreneurship for women. 

This process provided a number of the 

findings regarding what are considered to be 

successful practices, in general, regarding the 

delivery of entrepreneurial programming for 

women.iii Several key research questions 

guided the exploratory review of successful 

practices: 

1. What does past research of WBCs show to 

be key program components that make WBCs 

iii For a list of these references and other recommended 

readings see the companion guide to this report. 

successful at meeting the needs of women 

business owners? 

2. What does research show as important 

training opportunities for women business 

owners? 

3. What have some two- and four-year 

colleges and universities done to establish or 

modify 

entrepreneurship programs to meet the needs 

of women? 

In addition, as part of this research, phone 

interviews were conducted over a period of 

two months with representatives from WBCs, 

two- and four-year colleges and universities, 

and SBDCs. These interviews were followed 

by further review of the programs and followup conversations with the organizations to 

ensure programmatic information provided in 

this report would be as current as possible. 

During the interview and review process 

representatives from ten (10) WBCs, three 

(3) SBDCs and business collaboratives, and 

five (5) college programs were interviewed. 

The respondents represent organizations 

and institutions widely distributed throughout 

the United States. 

As WBCs are the primary focus of the 

analysis of this report, it is important to 

understand the characteristics of this 

population. As of 2008, there were 114 

Women’s Business Centers in 48 states and 

territories.186 In 2007 alone, WBCs served 

more than 148,000 clients–an increase of 18 

percent from 2005.187 Women who attended 

WBCs reported $550.2 million in receipts for 

FY 2007 which included a $40.8 million 

increase in profits. That year, WBC clients 

created approximately 3,300 new businesses 

and 8,750 new jobs.188 Currently, minority 

women lead 26 percent of all women-owned 

firms189 and they are nearly half (48 percent) 

of WBC clientele.190 Furthermore, more than 

half (58 percent) of WBC clients are nascent 

entrepreneurs.191 

The selection process of WBCs, SBDCs, and 

colleges was based primarily on suggestions 

from the NWBC staff and Council members, 

and the Office of Women’s Business 

Ownership (OWBO), which collects data and 

administers the WBC program. Because 

there is a need to provide resources not only 

Methodology 42 
 

 

 

to nascent women entrepreneurs, but also to 

women business owners at other stages of 

business growth, NWBC made an effort to 

include some WBCs that featured programs 

for women across the spectrum of business 

development to capture some of the 

practices for those populations. 

In addition, as representatives from WBCs 

were contacted, colleges and universities 

known to have partnerships with the WBCs 

were added to complete the picture of those 

programs. These interviews provided 

examples of successful practices in business 

management and entrepreneurship training 

programs for women. 

All interviews conducted were open-ended 

and differed slightly depending on the 

successful practices of that organization as 

well as the type of organization. Sample 

interview questions included: 

•	 How do people find out about your 

program? 

•	 How many students do you see in a 

year? 

•	 Do you have relationships with other 

organizations in the community, 

chambers of commerce, schools, etc.? 

•	 What is the nature of those relationships? 

•	 Do you have statistics on the past 

participants of your program (annual 

sales, success rate, etc.)? 

•	 What other programs other than the core 

curriculum do you provide? 

•	 Do you have networking events? 

•	 What makes these networking events 

especially suited for women 

entrepreneurs? 

•	 Do you have programs geared toward 

business that aren't start-ups? 

•	 What is your evaluation process? 

The final exploratory literature review and 

interview process led to the inclusion of nine 

(9) WBCs, seven (7) two- and four-year 

college, universities, or college systems, and 

three (3) SBDCs, highlighted as successful 

practices or other featured examples in this 

report. It is important to note that some of 

the featured colleges and universities are 

mentioned in regard to their partnership with 

a WBC. In addition, though not counted as a 

college institution in the final count, all 

SBDCs are either housed within or have a 

partnership with a college or university 

system. 

Limitations of the Research and Implications 

for Interpretation of the Findings 

Practitioners using the information and 

suggestions in this report and the companion 

guide should take into consideration the 

exploratory nature of this research review. 

First, the selection process of successful 

practices in WBCs, SBDCs, and colleges 

was based on opinions by the NWBC, 

OWBO, further WBC suggestions, and from 

exploratory reviews of WBC, SBDC, and 

two- and four-year institutions, rather than a 

comprehensive review and selection process 

based on all WBCs, SBDCs, and two- and 

four-year colleges. The practices described 

here are considered successful practices 

based on the various organizations’ selfassessment of the programming as well as 

author review of the programming to address 

issues that previous research regards as 

challenges for women business owners. As 

such, inclusion was also a matter of 

convenience, in that the authors contacted 

interviewees and invited them to participate. 

An area for future research could be to 

incorporate content from this report into a list 

of successful practices, perhaps in 

conjunction with findings from other similar 

studies, on which to rate WBCs, SBDCs, 2-

year or 4-year college entrepreneurship 

centers, or other organizations’ non-credit 

programs (such as adult education 

programs), to do a systematic review of “best 

practices.” 

A second limitation of this exploratory 

research is the reliance on the WBCs. As 

the primary resource for successful 

practices, practitioners establishing or 

modifying entrepreneurship centers and noncredit training programs for women must 

take into account the characteristics of the 

WBC when interpreting the findings and 

applying them to their settings. As 

mentioned above and in the report, the 

majority of WBC clients are nascent 

entrepreneurs. While the finding may then 

be suitable for a college audience of female 

Methodology 43 
 

 

 

 

students who may not yet be considering 

entrepreneurship, it is also important to note 

that the age and race/ethnicity of the female 

students in a target audience may or may not 

be similar to that of the WBC clientele and 

therefore, some of the characteristics of 

successful programming in WBCs may not 

be applicable. As mentioned in the report, a 

crucial step in establishing or modifying an 

entrepreneurship center or non-credit 

training program for women is to conduct a 

local needs assessment of the current and 

targeted populations before establishing or 

modifying the program. 

Another consideration for the suggestions 

listed here is to conduct a comprehensive 

review of the costs of establishing or 

modifying programs for women 

entrepreneurs. While the review indicates 

that collaborations may help a program 

operate more efficiently by pooling 

programmatic and marketing resources, this 

report does not fully address the financial 

needs of institutions in terms of such things 

as space and staffing. While collaborations 

may assist in this area, there is clearly more 

room for future research and suggestions to 

meet this important need. 

Finally, a key limitation of this research is 

that it does not delve into the important 

arena of curriculum development. This 

report was not an academic review of 

curriculum. So while examples of university 

curriculum may be mentioned, they are 

noted as suggestions for non-credit training 

programs, entrepreneurship centers, support 

services, or experiential learning. 

Many academics in the field of women’s 

entrepreneurship have been researching the 

continued gaps in and the need for more 

focus on the needs of women students in 

curriculum development. For instance the 

study, The Role of Case Studies in 

Presenting Continuing Challenges for 

Women Entrepreneurs, which included a 

selection of Harvard Business school cases 

from 1980 to 2008 showed bias treatment of 

women in business cases.192 

The authors of this report recognize that 

future research by organizations, such as 

NWBC, will need to expand into new areas, 

as partnerships between academic 

institutions and non-credit training providers 

increase, and as researchers further 

advance the study and practice of 

entrepreneurship curriculum to focus on 

support for women’s entrepreneurship. 

Updating the Companion Resource Guide 

Finally, because of the exploratory nature of 

the selection process, the authors of this 

report recognize that there are other twoyear and four-year colleges and universities, 

non-credit training programs, adult-education 

programs, and other organizations applying 

many of the successful practices described 

in the report and the companion guide in 

terms of programming specifically for 

women. In addition, it is recognized that 

there are other practices that have not been 

identified in this exploratory research 

endeavor. This remains an area for further 

research and continued exploration of what 

is being practiced in the field. 

As such, the companion guide, II. Resource 

Guide for Establishing or Modifying 

Entrepreneurship Centers & Non-Credit 

Training Programs for Women, is designed 

to be a practical tool that can be updated 

periodically with new ideas for successful 

practices, examples of organizations 

applying those practices, and new 

references and suggested readings for 

practitioners. 

NWBC welcomes feedback and suggestions 

of other successful examples for establishing 

and modifying entrepreneurship centers or 

non-credit training programs for women. 

Please contact NWBC at 202-205-3850 or 

info@nwbc.gov. 

Methodology 44 
 

 Endnotes 

1

 U.S. Small Business Administration. (2008). 

Office of Entrepreneurial Development: Annual 

Report, Fiscal Year 2007. 

2

 Ibid. 

3

 Center for Women’s Business Research 

(2004), Launching Women-Owned Businesses. 

4

 Center for Women’s Business Research, 

(2008), Key Facts about Women-Owned 

Businesses. 

5

 Minniti, M., Arenius, P. (2003). Women in 

Entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurial Advantage 

of Nations: First Annual Global Entrepreneurship 

Symposium held at United Nations Headquarters. 

6

 Brush, et. al. 2004. 

7

 Riebe. 2009. 

8

 Godwyn, M., Langowitz, N. & Sharpe, N. 

(2005). The Impact and Influence of Women's 

Business Centers in the United States. Babson 

Park, MA: The Center for Women’s Leadership at 

Babson College. 

9

 Center for Women's Business Research. 

(2008). Key Facts about Women-Owned 

Businesses. Washington, DC. 

10 Center for Women’s Business Research, 

(2008), Key Facts about Women-Owned 

Businesses. 

11 Phinisee, I., Allen, I.E., Rogoff, E. Onocie, J, 

and Dean, M. (2008). Global Entrepreneurship 

Monitor National Entrepreneurial Assessment for 

the United States of America: 2006-2007 

Executive Report. Babson College and Baruch 

College. 

12 Brush, C., Carter, N., Gatewood, E., Greene, 

P., & Hart, M. (2004). Women Entrepreneurs, 

Growth, and Implications for the Classroom. 

Coleman Foundation White Paper Series. 

13 Ibid. 

14 Ibid. 

15 Tidball, M. E. (1973). “Perspectives on 

Academic Women and Affirmative Action.” 

Educational Record, 54(2), 130-135. 

16 Ibid. 

17 Ibid. 

18 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

19 Richtermeyer, G., Fife-Samyn, K. of Quality 

Research Associates. (2004). Analyzing the 

Economic Impact of the Women's Business Center 

Program: A Research Study Prepared for the 

National Women’s Business Council. 

20 Godwyn et. al. (2005). The Impact and 

Influence of Women’s Business Centers. 

21 Melzer, B. and Center for Women’s Business 

Research. (2007). Interim Evaluation Report 

Summary for Accelerating the Growth of 

Businesses Owned by Women of Color. 

Unpublished internal report, pg. 4. 

22 Godywn, M. (2008). “‘This Place Makes me 

Proud to be a Woman:’ Theoretical explanations 

for success in entrepreneurship education for lowincome women.” Research in Social Stratification 

and Mobility, 27(1), 50-64. 

23 Godywn, M. (2008). “‘This Place Makes me 

Proud to be a Woman:’ Theoretical explanations 

for success in entrepreneurship education for lowincome women.” Research in Social Stratification 

and Mobility, 27(1), 50-64. 

24 Godywn, M. (2008). “‘This Place Makes me 

Proud to be a Woman:’ Theoretical explanations 

for success in entrepreneurship education for lowincome women.” Research in Social Stratification 

and Mobility, 27(1), 50-64. 

25 Dasgupta, N. and Asgari, S. (September 

2004). “Seeing is Believing: Exposure to Counter 

stereotypic Women Leaders and its Effect on the 

Malleability of Automatic Gender Stereotyping.” 

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 40(5), 

642-658. 

26 Ibid. 

27 Ibid. 

28 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

(2004). Launching Women-Owned Businesses: A 

Longitudinal Study of Women’s Business Center 

Clients. Washington, DC: Center for Women’s 

Business Research. 

29 Association of Women’s Business Centers 

and Womenable. (2006). The Values, Visions, and 

Views of Women's Business Center Leaders in the 

United States. 

30 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

(May 2008). “Research Findings.” Research to 

Roadmap: Accelerating the Growth of Businesses 

Owned by Women of Color. Program for the 

Center for Women’s Business Research 2008 

National Symposium, pg. 32. 

Endnotes 45 
 

 

31 Ibid, pg. 36. 

32 Ibid, pg. 34. 

33 Brush et. al. 2004. 

34 Ibid. 

35 Kepler, E. & Shane, S. (2007). Are Male and 

Female Entrepreneurs Really That Different? The 

Office of Advocacy Small Business Working 

Papers, U.S. Small Business Administration, 

Office of Advocacy. 

36 Guerrero, Veronica. (2009). Women and 

Leadership Examining the Impact of 

Entrepreneurial Education on Leadership SelfEfficacy. USASBE Proceedings. 

37 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

(2005). Access to Capital: Where We’ve Been, 

Where We’re Going. Washington, DC: Center for 

Women’s Business Research. 

38 Ibid. 

39 Ibid. 

40 Brush et. al. 2004. 

41 Ibid. 

42 Ibid. 

43 Ibid. 

44 Ibid. 

45 U.S. Small Business Administration, Women’s 

Business Centers, http://www.sba.gov/idc/ 

groups/public/documents/sba_program_office/sba 

_pr_wbc_ed.pdf, Retrieved January 2009. 

46 U.S. Small Business Administration. (2008). 

Office of Entrepreneurial Development: Annual 

Report, Fiscal Year 2007. 

47 Ibid. 

48 Center for Women's Business Research. 

(2008). Accelerating the Growth of Businesses 

Owned by Women of Color: Key Facts. 

Washington, DC. 

49 Richtermeyer and Fife-Samyn, Analyzing the 

Economic Impact of the Women's Business Center 

Program. 

50 Ibid. 

51 Ibid. 

52 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

53 Ibid. 

54 Ibid. 

55 Association of Women’s Business Centers 

and Womenable. 2006. 

56 Ibid. 

57 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

2004. Launching Women-Owned Businesses. 

58 Ibid. 

59 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

60 Center for Women’s Business Research 

(2004), Launching Women-Owned Businesses. 

61 Kasper, H. "The changing role of community 

college." Occupational Outlook Quarterly. Winter 

2002-2003. 

62 Ibid. 

63 Ibid. 

64 Ibid. 

65 National Association of Community College 

Entrepreneurs. Web site. http://www.nacce.com/, 

Retrieved October 2008. 

66 Riebe, M. (2009). A Place of Her Own: The 

Case for University-Based Centers for Women 

Entrpreneurs. USASBE Proceedings. 

67 Cone, J. and Magelli, P. (September 2006). 

Achieving Entrepreneurial Outcomes: Educator 

Challenges and Opportunities: Where Are We 

Now, Reflections from the U.S. NCGE/UKSEC 

International Entrepreneurship Educators 

Conference. 

68 Project Tsunami. (2004). Entrepreneurial 

Education and Training for Women. Best Practices 

and Recommendations along the Business 

Growth Continuum. Washington, DC: Project 

Tsunami (now Quantum Leaps, Inc.). 

69 Minniti, M., Arenius, P. (2003). Women in 

Entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurial Advantage 

of Nations: First Annual Global Entrepreneurship 

Symposium held at United Nations Headquarters. 

70 Brush, et. al. 2004. 

71 Riebe. 2009. 

72 McNamara, C. (2002). A Basic Guide to 

Program Evaluation. Minneapolis, MN: 

Authenticity Consulting, LLC. 

73 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

74 Ibid. 

75 Dasgupta and Asgari. September 2004. 

76 Brush, et. al. 2004. 

Endnotes 46 
 

77 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

(2008). Research to Roadmap. 

78 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

79 Ibid. 

80 Ibid. 

81 Richtermeyer and Fife-Samyn. 2004. 

82 Grant, C. and Millar, S. (1992). “Research 

and Multicultural Education: Barriers, Needs, and 

Boundaries.” Research & Multicultural Education. 

Grant, C. ed. New York: Routledge, p. 7. 

83 Ibid. 

84 Ibid. 

85 Richtermeyer and Fife-Samyn. 2004. 

86 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

87 Solomon, G.T., S. Duffy, and A. Tarabishy. 

(2002). “The State of Entrepreneurship Education 

in the United States: A Nationwide Survey and 

Analysis.” International Journal of 

Entrepreneurship. 1(1), p, 4. 

88 Mollenkopf-Pigsley, C and Erickson, R. 

(2007). Gender and Entrepreneurship Education. 

Research report. Rosemount, MN: Dakota County 

Technical College. 

89 Greene, P., Hart, M., Gatewood, E, Brush, C, 

and Carter, N. (2003). Women Entrepreneurs: 

Moving Front and Center: An Overview of 

Research and Theory. Whitepaper: The Diana 

Project. 

90 Greene et. al. 2003. 

91 Solomon et. al. 2002. 

92 Project Tsunami. 2004. 

93 Ibid. 

94 Greene et. al. 2003. 

95 Brush, et. al. 2004. 

96 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

97 Ibid. 

98 Ibid. 

99 Ibid. 

100 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

2004. Launching Women-Owned Businesses. 

101 Ibid. 

102 Brush, C. G. (1997). “Women-owned 

businesses: Obstacles and opportunities.” Journal 

of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 2 (1), 1-24. 

103 Bonanno, P (2000). “Women: The Emerging 

Economic Force.” Women Entrepreneurs in the 

Global Economy. Jalbert, S. ed. On-line 

publication: Center for International Private 

Enterprise. http://www.cipe.org/programs/women/ 

pdf/jalbert.pdf, Retrieved October 2008, p. 5). 

104 StratEdge. (2006). Explaining State-Level 

Differences in Women-Owned Business 

Performance. Paper prepared for the National 

Women’s Business Council. 

105 Ibid. 

106 Ibid. 

107 Ibid. 

108 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

109 Mollenkopf-Pigsley and Erickson. 2007/ 

110 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

111 Solomon et. al. 2002. 

112 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

113 Mollenkopf-Pigsley and Erickson. 2007/ 

114 Ibid. 

115 Project Tsunami. 2004. 

116 Ibid. 

117 Witkin, B.R. and Altschuld, J. (1995). 

Planning and Conducting Needs Assessments: A 

Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 

Publications, Inc. 

118 Beadle de Palomo, F. and Elisa L. (October 

1999). “The Needs Assessment: Tools for LongTerm Planning.” Annie E. Casey Foundation 

Conference—Neighborhood Health Partnerships: 

Building a Strong Future, Washington, DC. 

119 Drury, R. and Mallory, W. (Spring 2000). 

“Entrepreneurship Education in the Virginia 

Community College System.” Inquiry. 5(1), 45-57. 

120 Ibid. 

121 Community Business Partnership of 

Springfield, VA. Website. www.cbponline.org, 

Retrieved, December 2008. 

122 Brush C, Griffin J & Smith C. (1995). 

Perceived Value of Entrepreneurship Course 

Content and Pedagogy. ICSB Conference 

Proceedings. 

Endnotes 47 
 

123 Riebe, M. 2009. 

124 Blake-Beard, S 2003, ‘Critical trends and 

shifts in the mentoring experiences of professional 

women’, CGO Insights, no. 15, Center for Gender 

in Organizations, Simmons School 

of Management. 

125 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

126 Ibid. 

127 Riebe, M.. 2009. 

128 Ibid. 

129 Ibid. 

130 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

(2008) Financing Business Growth: Proven 

Strategies for Women Business Owners for 

Women Business Owners. Underwritten by 

KeyBank. 

131 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

(2003). Access to Markets: Perspectives from 

Large Corporations and Women’s Business 

Enterprises. Underwritten by PepsiCo Foundation. 

132 U.S. Small Business Administration. 

(December 2007). The Small Business Economy 

for Data Year 2006: Report to the President. 133 Ibid. 

134 Ibid. 

135 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

(2004). The Leading Edge: Women-owned Million 

Dollar Firms. Underwritten by AT&T and KeyBank. 

136 Ibid. 

137 Kent, C. (1982). Entrepreneurship Education 

for Women: A Research Review and Agenda. 

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the 

Joint Council on Economic Education. 

138 Womenable. (2006) The Performance, 

Progress and Promise of Women’s Business 

Centers in the United States: A summary of Three 

Research Studies. 

139 McNamara, C. (1997-2007). 

140 Association of Women’s Business Centers 

and Womenable. 2006. 

141 McNamara, C. (1997-2007) 

142 Godwyn et al. 2005. 

143 Association of Women’s Business Centers 

and Womenable. 2006. 

144 Ibid. 

145 Rictermeyer, G. and Fife-Saymn, K.. 2004. 

146 Ibid. 

147 Association of Women’s Business Centers 

and Womenable. 2006. 

148 Ibid. 

149 Ibid. 

150 SCORE – Counselors to America’s Small 

Business. Website. www.score.org/index.html, 

Retrieved January 2009. 

151 Riebe, M. 2009 

152 Ibid. 

153 Ibid. 

154 Wenger, Etienne. – Communities of Practice 

– Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge 

University Press, 1999. And Etienne Wenger.-

“What are communities of practice?” 

http://www.ewenger.com/theory/, Retrieved 

January 2008. 

155 Parson, B. and Wyckoff, K. “Communities of 

Learning, Inquiry, and Practice.” InSites. 

http://www.insites.org/CLIP_v1_site/overview.html, 

Retrieved December 2008. 

156 Ibid. 

157 Mitchell, C. and Sakney, L. (2000). Profound 

Improvement: Building Capacity for a Learning 

Community. London: Taylor and Francis Group. 

158 Gabelnick, F., MacGregor, J., Matthews, R., 

& Smith, B. L. (1990). Learning communities: 

Creating connections among disciplines, students 

and faculty. New Directions in Teaching and 

Learning, No. 41. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

159 US News and World Report: Best Colleges 

2009, http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews. 

.com/college, Retrieved January 2009. 

160 Babson College. “Living Entrepreneurship.” 

http://www3.babson.edu/eship/, Retrieved January 

2009. 

161 Babson College. “Center for Women’s 

Leadership: Babson College, Mission.” 

http://www3.babson.edu/CWL/whoweare/Mission. 

cfm. Retrieved January 2009. 

162 Learned, Andrea. (2003) “The Six Costliest 

Mistake You Can Make in Marketing to Women.” 

Inc.com. 

www.inc.com/articles/2003/01/25019.html, 

Retrieved October 2008. 

Endnotes 48 
 

 

 

163 California Department of Ed. (2005). 

Marketing and Promoting Your Programs: 

Recruiting Special Populations for Career 

Technical Education. 

164 Gillin, P (2007). The New Influencers: A 

Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media. 

Fresno, CA:Quill Driver Books. 

165 Ibid. 

166 Richtermeyer, G. and Fife-Samyn, K. 2004. 

167 Center for Women’s Business Research. 

2004. Launching Women-Owned Businesses. 

168 NWBC. Education and Workforce 

Development. Newsletter. 2008. 

169 National Association for the Self-Employed 

(2009). Member Surveys. 

170 Association of Women’s Business Centers 

and Womenable. 2006. 

171 Beswick, R. (1990) Evaluating Educational 

Programs. ERIC Digest Series Number EA 54. 

172 McNamara, C. (1997-2007). 

173 Wholey, J., Hatry, H., Newcomer, K. eds. 

(1994). Handbook of Practical Program 

Evaluation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

174 Innovation Network, Inc.. (2008). Evaluation 

Plan Workbook. Washington, DC: Innovation 

Network, Inc. 

175 Wholey et. al. 1994. 

176 American Evaluation Association. Web site. 

www.eval.org, Retrieved January 2009. 

177 Innovation Network, Inc. Web site. 

http://www.innonet.org. Retrieved January 2009. 

178 McNamara, C., (1997-2007) 

179 Preskill, Hallie and Russ-Eft, Darlene 

(2005).Building Evaluation Capacity: 72 Activities 

for Teaching and Training. London: Sage 

Publications. 

180 Small Business Administration. 2006. 

181 Ibid. 

182 Richtermeyer, G. and Fife-Samyn, K. 2004. 

183 Womenable. 2006. 

184 Solomon et al. 2002. 

185 Heriot, K. and Simpson, L. 2006 

186 U.S. Small Business Administration, 

Women’s Business Centers, 

http://www.sba.gov/idc/ 

groups/public/documents/sba_program_office/sba 

_pr_wbc_ed.pdf, Retrieved January 2009. 

187 U.S. Small Business Administration. (2008). 

Office of Entrepreneurial Development: Annual 

Report, Fiscal Year 2007. 

188 Ibid. 

189 Center for Women's Business Research. 

(2008). Accelerating the Growth of Businesses 

Owned by Women of Color: Key Facts. 

Washington, DC. 

190 Richtermeyer and Fife-Samyn, Analyzing the 

Economic Impact of the Women's Business Center 

Program. 

191 Ibid. 

192 Mattis, M. and Levin, L. (2008). The Role of 

Case Studies in Encouraging or Discouraging 

Women’s Entrepreneurship. Presented at the 

Academy of Management Annual Meeting. 

Endnotes 49