WEB’s Year in Review 2011
APPLICATIONS RECEIVED=Over 200
CLIENT COUNSELING HOURS=1000+
PARTICIPANTS TRAINED=Over 1100
OUTREACH EVENTS included:
CCBC’s Women’s Expo- Money Power Day at PolyWestern
- City of Baltimore Procurement Fair
- Career Day—Jessup
- Goodwill Industries Breakfast
- V-WISE Conference
- United Way Kick-off
- National OWBO Conference
WORKSHOPS included:
- WPEO/WBENC
- Women’s Procurement Training
- Wake Up with WEB Seminars:
- Waking Up Your Business and Getting Unstuck
- Improving Your Bottom Line
- Marketing and Social Media
- Customer Relations and Sales Strategies
OFFSITE TRAININGS included:
- Women’s Correctional Facility in Jessup
- CCBC –Essex and Catonsville
- Maryland Office of Economic Development (MOED)
- Maryland Department of Human Resources
- Baltimore County Public Library –Arbutus Branch
HP LIFE LAB
WEB was one of only ten organizations in the United States to be awarded the 2011 HP Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs (LIFE) Technology grant, which includes a newly-installed computer lab and training on the HP LIFE Curriculum. This award recognizes the valuable training and entrepreneurial development WEB accomplishes with its clients. The Lab was installed and launched in December, and trainings begin in 2012.
PROGRAMS
Right Start
To make the program more available to a broader audience, Right Start was offered onsite and off-site in both a four-week and Saturday intensive format. Both formats will be offered in 2012.
Ready to Write/CORE
WEB’s Ready to Write business planning course has been re-named RAMP UP and will be incorporating the HP Life entrepreneurial technology into the training curriculum in 2012.
COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS FELLOWSHIP
WEB was selected to receive an IREX Community Solutions fellow, Ms. Walaa Aqrabawi, a young professional from Jordan. From August through December, she met with staff to learn about WEB’s initiatives; attended events, and performed research on outcomes. As part of her fellowship, Ms. Aqrabawi will be continuing her project work related to women and entrepreneurism after her return to Jordan.
Women-owned businesses = Job creation
According to current Census data, Maryland has 186,000 women-owned businesses and the highest percentage of women-owned businesses in the U.S. As of 2007, nearly a third of all Maryland businesses were owned by women. In Baltimore, almost 37% of businesses were owned by women as of that time. The national average was about 29%.
(Source: Baltimore Business Journal, August 2011, and Kauffman Foundation data.)
