The Women’s Business Center (WBC) of Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma, Inc. (REI) was invited by the U.S. Small Business Administration and Association of Women’s Business Centers to participate in the recent WBC training conference in Washington, D.C. Participants were Dr. Barbara Rackley, Coordinator, Lori Smith, WBC Assistant, Shannon Mulkey, Human Resources Manager, Durant and Jennifer Edwards, Oklahoma City WBC Coordinator.
The annual training is hosted by SBA’s Office of Women Business Ownership and mandated by Congress. The goal of the conference is to train all SBA-funded women’s business center directors on program requirements. According to the SBA, there are 75,053 women-owned firms in Oklahoma generating $9.3 billion in revenue and women represented 36.3 percent of the self-employed persons in the state.
REI’s WBC, the only one in the state, just celebrated 10 years of service to women-entrepreneurs. Established in 2001 with an award from SBA, the demand for services necessitated the opening of a second office in Oklahoma City. Since inception, the WBC has assisted over 15,700 women and other entrepreneurs through training workshops, networking events and one on one counseling.
Workshop topics range from business taxes, marketing, business plan development, e-commerce, social networking, website design, IPad essentials and many more. The WBC has acquired a mobile computer laboratory to take its QuickBooks class on the road, accommodating women entrepreneurs who do not have the time or resources to obtain this training away from home.
In 2008, the success of the WBC was highlighted when President George W. Bush visited with WBC staff and Oklahoma women entrepreneurs.
“There is an old Proverb that says ‘from small beginnings come great things,’ and that is a perfect description of the WBC,” Sherry Harlin, Business Development Director said. “This program has grown so extensively that we are in the process of expanding our services again and we have some exciting announcements coming soon. Thanks to a great staff and our statewide partners, Oklahoma’s women-owned businesses are receiving the assistance they need to grow their businesses and create needed jobs.