'Women in Business Empowerment Expo' to make stop in Owensboro

Freddie Bourne, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·3 min read

Jun. 20—The Women's Business Center of Kentucky will make a stop in Owensboro on Thursday as part of its business workshop series "Women in Business Empowerment Expo" from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Party Space Place, 5010 Wildcat Way.

Founded in 2011 in Lexington, the WBC of KY was created to "help women entrepreneurs, especially those economically or socially disadvantaged, start and grow businesses in Kentucky," according to a press release.

It is partly funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and hosted by the private, nonprofit community development organization Community Ventures Corporation.

Devanny King, executive director of the WBC of KY, said the expo was hosted prior to the coronavirus pandemic in Lexington and Louisville once a year before deciding to shift gears.

"This year, instead of just focusing on one of those cities, we wanted to take this expo series across the state," King said.

The expo will make its first stop in Bowling Green on June 21 at the Western Kentucky University's Center for Research and Development before arriving in Owensboro the following day.

"The reason we developed (the expo) is because we want to connect with women-owned businesses (and) ... aspiring entrepreneurs with the right resources, tools, business resource providers in the area to help equip them to either start or scale their business," King said.

The event will start with its "Strong Women, Strong Coffee Networking Hour" before diving into workshops.

Topics for the workshops include borrowing for small businesses, steps on starting a small business in Kentucky, business finance basics and a presentation on the accounting software QuickBooks in the morning, followed by a panel discussion regarding business funding and financing after lunch.

Door prizes will also be available towards the conclusion of the event.

Jamie Johnson, the center director for the Kentucky Small Business Development Center in Owensboro, will take part in the event by presenting the workshop on ten steps to starting a business in the Owensboro-Daviess County area.

She feels this event will serve a need in the community.

"It's really exciting because I work with so many entrepreneurs and so many small businesses that really need a lot of guidance," Johnson said. "Everybody always needs resources when it comes to staying organized, especially with our finances and getting things up and started.

"Being able to reach out to these people all at one time and having Devanny there, and having lenders there and having great presenters there — ... I think it's a really great opportunity for entrepreneurs and small businesses in our area."

King and Johnson said the event is open to both men and women and to those at any stage of their "entrepreneurial journey" looking to gain knowledge and insight.

"Sometimes you don't know what you don't know, right?" King said. "This event is created to help connect them with resource providers in the area ... and opportunities that they might not be aware of ...."

"I hope (attendees) go away from the event feeling motivated to really move forward and either start what they're planning on doing, or start researching, ... or maybe inspired to get more organized or make some changes," Johnson said. "There's always little tweaks that we can make with how we run our businesses that can make big changes, so hopefully they'll be able to learn some tricks of the trade as well."

The expo is sponsored by Truist Bank, South Central Bank and First Bank.

For registration and more information, visit wbckentucky.org/events.