The Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp. next month will host a national conference in Milwaukee to highlight women’s business ownership and leadership.
The Strengthening Our Impact Leadership Conference will be held from Sept. 12 to 15 at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee, 333 W. Kilbourn Ave. in downtown Milwaukee.
WWBIC, which is based in Milwaukee, helps women, people of color and low-income individuals obtain business loans, education and technical assistance. It is hosting the conference in conjunction with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership and The Association of Women’s Business Centers.
Maria Contreras-Sweet, U.S. SBA administrator, will give the opening plenary address on Sept. 13. WWBIC will also host a welcome reception at its headquarters. Programming will include both individual and collective sessions for Women’s Business Centers.
There are Women’s Business Centers in most states, which work in cooperation with SBA district offices to offer resources and assistance to women entrepreneurs. The U.S. has more than 9.1 million women-owned firms that employ almost 7.9 million people and generate more than $1.4 trillion in annual sales.
WWBIC is one of the largest Women’s Business Centers in the country.
Among the Milwaukee women business leaders who will be speaking at the conference are Tammy Garrison of MillerCoors, Cecelia Gore of the Brewers Community Foundation, Margaret Henningsen of the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee, Beth Wnuk of Mount Mary University and Karin Gale of Schenck SC.
“It really is the national gathering for the industry for those that run and lead and work at women’s business centers,” said Wendy Baumann, executive director of WWBIC. “There has been an SBA conference for many years, but the Association of Women’s Business Centers, this is the second year they are leading this conference.”
Baumann, who is one of the founders of the AWBC, encouraged other professionals who are interested in women’s business to attend. More information is available here. There are currently about 275 attendees registered to attend the conference, she said.
