The Kansas City Women’s Business Center and others across the U.S. could soon see more money and support coming into the national female entrepreneurship network.
Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Johnson County resubmitted the Women’s Business Center Improvement Act, which seeks to increase the program’s funding and impact for the first time in 35 years.
What are Women’s Business Centers?
- Across the U.S., there are roughly 150 Women’s Business Centers.
- The national program started in the late 1980s and, according to the Small Business Administration, which oversees the network, the centers “are designed to assist women in starting and growing small businesses.”
- The centers offer counseling, workshops, training and networking opportunities. They can also connect female entrepreneurs with capital contributors, as well.
- “These things all address some of the unique barriers that a woman-owned business might face,” Davids told the Post.
What would the bill do?
- The act, if passed and signed into law, would double the maximum annual grant amount available to Women’s Business Centers, bringing it up to $300,000. That would be the first increase to the grant total amount in the centers’ history.
- Davids’ WBC Improvement Act would also formally reauthorize the program.
- Additionally, it would formalize an accreditation process for the centers. The Association of Women’s Business Centers would administer that, ensuring a more standardized approach to the counseling and workshops offered through the centers.
This bill has come up before
- Davids, a three-term Democrat, first submitted the bill to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019. That year, it passed out of committee and went on the House floor with bipartisan support but did not pass the U.S. Senate.
- The bill returned in 2022, again passing through the House with support from both political parties.
- On Sept. 8, Davids introduced it for a third time.
- “The Women’s Business Centers have proven that they’re a successful program,” Davids said. “In my view, when we know we have a good federal program, we should be making sure that we’re investing in that.”
KC Women’s Business Center supports more than 700 clients
- The Kansas City Women’s Business Center, founded in 2000, is the only established WBC serving Kansas. It also serves parts of western Missouri and the Kansas City metro.
- Each entrepreneur or business owner who comes through the door can access the center’s trainings, workshops and counseling resources, said Brande Stitt, program director for Kansas City Women’s Business Center.
- Kansas City’s center gets about a quarter of its operating budget from a $150,000 federal grant currently available to each center in the network.
- The rest of the money comes from sponsorships, including some support from the Kauffman Foundation and local small businesses, said Executive Director of the Kansas City Women’s Business Center Sherry Turner.
- She sees the WBC Improvement Act as “necessary,” saying the network “needs to be updated” to add more capacity and resources.
- With more money from the Small Business Administration, Turner said the Kansas City Women’s Business Center could set up a satellite office in western Kansas to better serve that side of the state.
One local business owner’s story
Nomin Smith used WBC services offered in Kansas City when she was getting her business, PMI Rate Pro, off the ground about four years ago. Based in Overland Park, her technology company offers new efficiencies in the private mortgage insurance industry, allowing a homebuyer’s lender to quote and shop six private mortgage insurance providers in one place.
She said the Kansas City WBC’s Women’s Capital Connection program really helped her get her concept off the ground, connecting her with potential investors and offering mentorship opportunities.
“I do think generally for women, it’s harder to raise funding,” she said, “you have to prove yourself right away, that you are capable and investable, I think even more so than other entrepreneurs. I don’t even think people know that that bias is kind of built into them.”
In her opinion, any effort to expand the Women’s Business Center network will just make space for more female entrepreneurs and women business owners to get their foot in the door.
“I think there are many, many women out there who would be willing to show up, willing to work hard, willing to lead and create teams and and really stick it through,” she said.
Related news: Here’s a list of Johnson County women-owned businesses to support after International Women’s Day
