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April 19, 04 Reader Services |
From left: Anne M. Janiak, executive director of the Women's Enterprise Development Center Inc. (WEDC); Josˆ© R. Sifontes, New York district director for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA); U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Harrison); County Executive Andrew J. Spano; and Cecile D. Singer, president of WEDC's board of directors, in front of the new SBA-funded women's business center within WEDC's offices in White Plains. A helping hand for businesswomen Center opened for new entrepreneurs and existing ones Monica Jones says her White Plains photography and graphic communication business came to a crossroads a few years back: Should she pursue the consumer market or specialize in commercial assignments? Jones chose to narrow down her 7-year-old business, 3D Studios, on the commercial side, with help from the Women's Enterprise Development Center Inc. (WEDC). The White Plains nonprofit group teaches women entrepreneurs, and those who want to be, the basics of business. "The program helped me focus my company after years in which it had become disjointed. It helped me develop a tunnellike vision of what I truly wanted to do," says Jones. WEDC says it will now be better able to assist graduates like Jones as well as other women who own their own businesses following its opening earlier this month of a women's business center. The new center houses computers and other resources for women interested in developing their business skills. The center also allows WEDC to expand its own pool of potential clients beyond the more than 400 women who have completed its courses since it was established in 1997. Funding for the new center comes from a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) grant of $750,000. To collect that money, the center must match the $150,000 it will receive from SBA each of the next five years. The new center is one of 90 women's business centers nationwide that are funded through SBA. Those centers are expected to expand beyond the current 40 percent the share of American businesses owned by women. Last year the nation's women-owned businesses generated $3 trillion in revenues and employed 24 million people, about one in every five American workers, said Josˆ© R. Sifontes, director of SBA's New York district office. 'WE'RE WELL ON OUR WAY' "We're well on our way to being the premier center for women entrepreneurs in our region," said Anne M. Janiak, executive director of the Women's Enterprise Development Center. The center is based at 707 Westchester Ave., Suite 213. Said Cecile D. Singer, the president of WEDC's board: "We are teaching skills to become productive members of our own society and to change the lives of their families." Singer and Janiak joined several graduates, elected officials and others in an April 5 ceremony celebrating the opening of the new center. "This center shows that if you give women education and skills, they can change their lives and go out and start small businesses and become a critical part of the work force," said U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Harrison). Among WEDC graduates in attendance were Faiza Brown, who dreams of licensing to publishing companies and others her Purple Alex collection of hats for little girls. Brown now sells on the Web and at craft shows the hats she designs from her Pleasantville home, then produces with help from a seamstress. "I needed a business plan, so I called a New York City organization and they referred me to the WEDC" back in March 2003, Brown recalled. "I'm really fortunate and grateful to be part of the WEDC family. Hopefully someday, I'll be in a position to present them with a check to help them help others pursue the American dream."
FOR ANNAN, THE ANSWER IS BLOWIN' IN THE WIND As U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan has a lot on his proverbial plate - from addressing the scandal of profiteering from the Iraqi oil-for-food program, to negotiating a settlement of the Cyprus dispute, to promoting environmental awareness. On that last matter, it turns Annan has something to show for his effort. White Plains-based Con Edison Solutions says the secretary general recently signed a two-year extension of an earlier contract allowing the company to sell 100 percent wind energy to his New York City residence. That contract took effect last April and ran for a year. To win the extension, Con Edison Solutions had to prevail in an auction run by the U.S. General Services Administration. The wind power comes from Community Energy Inc., which made local headlines last year when it sold renewable power to Croton-on-Hudson and New Castle.
ON THE FLY: + WINNING LINEUP: The sports collectibles store American Legends in Scarsdale will welcome five baseball greats as they sign autographs this weekend. Hall of Famers Yogi Berra and Duke Snider and slugger Jose Canseco will appear April 24. A day later, ex-Met Mookie Wilson and ex-Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner, the goat of the 1986 World Series after Wilson hit a slow ground ball that got past Buckner's legs. American Legends (formerly One if by Cards, Two if by Comics) teams up with MAB Celebrity Services to host the weekend event. + AS SEEN ON TV: Greg Werlinich, president of Werlinich Asset Management L.L.C. in Valhalla, appeared earlier this month on Fox News Channel, not once but twice - April 9 on "Your World With Neil Cavuto," and the following day during the "Makers and Breakers" segment of "Forbes on Fox." |
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Copyright 2004, Westfair Communications Inc. |