Athena PowerLink Program Accepting Applications

Jacksonville’s ATHENAPowerLink® program, one of only 27 in the nation, “links” a woman-owned
business with a panel of unpaid advisors who agree to work with her for one year to meet her business
goals and objectives. The business owner builds infrastructure, implements best practices, and gains
business connections from her volunteer advisors. Businesses are selected from a field of applicants; once specific needs are determined, JWBC recruits local professionals to provide the necessary guidance. The business owner is then linked with a six to eight member volunteer advisory panel tailored to fit the company’s needs.

Applications are due May 31, 2013 — apply today. Click here for the Athena PowerLink program overview

Program Requirements:

• Business must be at least 51% owned and actively managed by a woman
• Minimum of two years in operation
• Minimum of two full-time employees (including the owner)
• Annual revenues of at least $250,000 for retail or manufacturing businesses
• Annual revenues of at least $100,000 for service businesses
• Clearly defined company objectives and goals

Questions?

Contact Pat Blanchard at the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center: (904) 366-6640

Apply Now!  Click here for the Athena PowerLink application.

ChallengeHER: Creating Procurement Access and Opportunity for Women-Owned Small Businesses

From Marie Johns, Deputy Administrator, Small Business Administration 

Federal contracting with small businesses is a win-win. Every year, the U.S. government awards nearly $100 billion in federal contracts to small businesses, allowing these businesses to grow their revenues and create jobs right here at home. Meanwhile, the federal government gets the chance to work with some of the most responsive, innovative and nimble companies in the United States.

The ChallengeHER Campaign is an exciting new initiative that leverages the resources of SBA, WIPP (Women in Public Policy), and American Express OPEN to promote the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program and bring more women-owned firms into the federal government’s supply chain.

In the coming months, we’ll be hosting ChallengeHER events across the country to help women business owners better understand the procurement opportunities available from the federal government, including events in:
• Phoenix, AZ;
• Seattle, WA;
• New Orleans, LA;
• Denver, CO;
• Atlanta, GA;
• San Francisco, CA; and,
• New York, NY.

At these events, we’ll also be playing “matchmaker”—connecting women-owned small businesses with the decision-makers and contract opportunities housed by our federal partners, both at the national level and in their local communities. And by increasing our family of women-owned small businesses, government contracting officers will have a broader base to consider when making their purchasing decisions.

We’ll also be training women-owned small businesses on how to register in our System for Award Management, which serves as our government contracting portal for all small business owners that want to do business with the federal government, and learn about eligibility requirements for the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program, which allows contract set asides for women-owned small businesses in certain industries.

A robust supply chain of innovative small businesses makes our country more globally competitive, encourages more corporations to bring production back to the U.S., and helps create jobs here at home. Our goal, and the goal of the ChallengeHER Campaign, is to ensure that women-owned small businesses across the country have the access and opportunity they need to succeed.

Keep up with SBA initiatives for women-owned businesses here.

Onsite Environmental Consulting earns DBE Designation

JWBC Client applies know-how to expand market reach

Janet Herrick, CEO and president of Onsite Environmental Consulting, LLC, announced this week her company has earned the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) designation through the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.

According to Janet, the designation “is a real game changer” for her company. In her announcement, Janet explained: “To be clear about how incredible this is… this [designation means] we are certified to work with much larger engineering firms that build roads, bridges, and airports and are eligible to team with them to bid on environmental work!”

The Jacksonville Women’s Business Center (JWBC) has played an integral role in Janet’s professional development. She has been a JWBC client since 2006 and participated in nearly every program offered, including two of our signature mentoring programs, Financial Matter$™ and Marketing Matters™. He enthusiasm for what she learned is evidence by her willingness to share her story and network with subsequent program participants on several occasions.

She has also taken advantage of JWBC’s peer-to-peer mentoring program as a member of the Growth Mentoring Roundtable (formerly known as Business Advisory Councils). Additionally, she has attended numerous training, technical assistance and procurement events and participated in the JWBC’s 5th Anniversary Client Showcase.

Through the JAX Chamber’s Entrepreneurial Growth division, she has attended several Business Growth Series workshops and was an inaugural participant in the Get Smart! program. She is an active member of the JAX Chamber’s West Council, where she was nominated for the Small Business Leader of the Year, which she won in 2011. She currently serves on the JWBC’s Advisory Board and is Vice President of Women Business Owners of North Florida.

Congratulations, Janet!  You are a great client, friend and advocate of the JWBC and we’re excited to be a part of your business success story. 

To find out how you or your organization can contribute to the success of other women business owners like Janet, read more about Partnering with us.

Click here to learn about JWBC mentoring programs.

Click here to visit Onsite Environmental Consulting.

JWBC Client Wins One Spark Competition

Photo courtesy Rethreaded

Kristin Keen is a client of the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center and a woman with a big idea. Rethreaded is a faith-based nonprofit whose purpose is to help “sew a new story” for people affected by the local and international sex trade. Kristin Keen lived and worked for five years in Kolkata, India. After encountering the life-stealing effects of the area’s sex trade, Kristin help to co-found a business with Sarah Lance that could offer these women a safe haven. Today, Sari Bari is a thriving business that employs more than 75 people in Kolkata.  When Kristin returned from India three years ago to Jacksonville, she still felt called to fight the sex trade, and Rethreaded was born.

(One Spark story courtesy First Coast News – read the entire story and see video here)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A local organization in the One Spark Festival sewed its way into the heart of Jacksonville when it won the most votes this week.

Sewing a new story is the motto for Rethreaded, an organization that aims to take women out of the sex trade and offer them a different life, where they can sew a new beginning. Kristin Keen is the director of Rethreaded and first starting working with women involved in the trade in India.

“When I went out there my heart was always for women to know their worth and their value,” said Keen.

For five years Keen said she helped the women start a successful sewing business.

“I was able to see the power of business and its effect on women and how it gave them a way out, it empowered them, it gave them a place of healing, a place of community. So when I moved back from India I knew that I still wanted to bring freedom to women who were in the cycle of the sex trade,” said Keen.

On the First Coast she started working with rehabilitation centers to find women who wanted a new start. Rethreaded currently has one employee who left the trade to create. Now with the help of One Spark, Rethreaded aims to hire four more employees in June.

Exhibit Celebrates 100 Years of Entrepreneurial Women

Honoring Women in Business

Thanks to our partners at the Small Business Administration for bring attention to women in the community (many of them our clients) who are creating jobs in Northeast Florida.

March is Women’s History Month! Here are some women small business owners that have grown their companies, and created jobs throughout North Florida and beyond.

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Hester Clark, The Hester Group

Hester Taylor Clark, President of the Hester Group started the company in 1998 from her home. Today the company has over 25 employees throughout Florida, Mississippi and Virginia. Founded as a public relations and community outreach agency, its core services include public involvement, advertising and public relations. In 2009, the company began working in the government sector and is currently under contract to provide program management support to the United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States Navy.  Read More

Pegine Echevarria, Team Pegine

Pegine Echevarria, Owner and President of Team Pegine, Inc., a SBA-certified 8(a) company, was inducted into the Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame. Pegine is one of a handful of women and the only Latina woman to be honored with this distinction; this honor reflects her hard-work and personal style. Pegine goes by her first name only, and describes herself and her company as “feisty, fearless, focused, and fun”. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, only 3 percent of all women-owned firms have revenues of $1 million or more, and Team Pegine, Inc. is one of them. Read More

Margarita Howard, HX5

Margarita Howard is the Founder and President/CEO of HX5, LLC, a U.S. Small Business Administration 8(a) and HUBzone certified company. HX5 provides professional research and development, engineering, and information technology services to U.S. Defense agencies.  Read More

Ann Sabbag, Health Designs

Ann Sabbag created Health Designs, Inc. in 1995 with the hope of delivering health and wellness programs to corporations. At the time, Ms. Sabbag worked as a Wellness Coordinator for Bellsouth and saw first-hand how the wellness program benefitted employees.  Ms. Sabbag was passionate about health and wellness and decided that she could have more impact on the field if she started her own business. Health Designs, Inc. now provides employee health assessments, biometric screenings, and face-to-face health coaching to hundreds of companies in 22 States throughout the Southeast and Midwest. Read More

Are you an Encore Entrepreneur?

Attend this event to find out.

Are you nearing retirement and exploring new opportunities? A growing number of individuals over the age of 50, “encore entrepreneurs,” are turning to small business ownership.

The SBA and AARP are co-hosting  National Encore Entrepreneur Mentor Month in April. Events are scheduled all over the country, including an exploratory workshop right here in Jacksonville. If you are a business owner or want to be, plan to attend this event.

Encore Entrepreneur Mentor Month Workshop

Friday, April 26, 2013
12:45 – 3:00 p.m.

Beaches Branch Library
600 3^rd Street
Neptune Beach, FL 32266
Map it

Hear from local business owner Bonnie Arnold, Owner, Bonnie’s Floral Designs, who started her business after 50.

Learn About

Life and Work Re-imagined
Nancy Stanton, AARB Associate State Director, Advocacy

SBA Loan Programs
Veronica Wallace, SBA North Florida Lead Lender Relations

Reserve your Space

The workshop is free, but reservations are required.

Contact Donna Padgug
904.443.1971
donna.padgug@sba.gov

Leaving a message? Please include “April 26 Encore Entrepreneur Workshop.”

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Jacksonville Women’s Business Center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact Donna Padgug at SBA on (904) 443-1971. The JWBC’s and SBA’s cooperation in this event does not constitute or imply their endorsement of any opinions, products or services. All SBA programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.