Happy, healthy, successful New Year! Here at the WBDC we're excited for all that 2011 will bring, including our 25th Anniversary.

 

When we founded the WBDC in 1986, women numbered less than 10% of all business owners, but we believed that women could be economically empowered through business ownership. We wanted to change the face of business and the way business was conducted - with flexibility, respect for diversity and with recognition of employee value and dignity. Through the hard work of many in the women's business community, enormous progress has been made in the past 25 years. Women-owned businesses now account for 40% of all privately-held firms, and the WBDC has helped more than 65,000 women start and expand their businesses in the Chicago metropolitan area. In addition, we've helped establish 14 additional women's business assistance centers in six states in the U.S., and continue to develop and advocate for programs and policies that impact women's economic development across the nation and globally.

 

In 2011 we'll celebrate our achievements as the first women's business assistance center in the U.S. and also the successes of tens of thousands of fabulous women with whom we've been privileged to work. In March, the WBDC will hold a special event in conjunction with Women's History Month, and in September, we'll present our 25th Anniversary Entrepreneurial Woman's Conference and gala celebration at Chicago's McCormick Place-West.  We hope you will join us for these events and more as we celebrate this national milestone for women's economic development. Now it's time to dream big dreams for the future of women's business development. Stay tuned to the WBDC website for more information!