WISE Women’s Business Center hosts ‘pitch party’ for area women entrepreneurs as part of national business growth initiative

Tuesday, June 12, 2012, By Lindsay Wickham

The WISE Women’s Business Center has teamed up with Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence (CMI), the leading national not-for-profit provider of resources, business education and community support for women entrepreneurs, to identify promising local women-owned businesses to participate in the Make Mine a Million Pitch Competition and Conference to be held in New York City July 30-31. As part of this local search, the WISE Women’s Business Center will hold a free “pitch party” on June 13 where women entrepreneurs will receive expert feedback on their two-minute elevator pitch from CMI experts and learn more about the competition in July. Business owners can RSVP at 315-443‑3550 or lwickham@syr.edu.

This event is part of CMI’s 2012 Make Mine a Million $ Business program, sponsored by American Express OPEN. Through the program, free pitch parties are held around the country in June and July to allow women business owners to prepare for the Pitch Competition in July, where a panel of small business experts will select up to 75 women entrepreneurs based on how well they demonstrate their ability to grow their businesses to $1 million in annual revenues quickly and sustainably. These women will be invited to apply for CMI’s Business Accelerator Program, a six-month business coaching and education intensive designed to help these businesses reach the $1 million mark within 18-24 months.  The initiative goal is to help strengthen the capacity of women-owned businesses to contribute to economic growth and job creation in their communities.

“We are so pleased to bring this exciting opportunity to women business owners in the Central New York region,” says Joanne Lenweaver, director of the WISE Women’s Business Center. “Less than 3 percent of U.S. women-owned businesses grow to $1 million in revenues, which is a great loss in economic potential. We need to provide local women entrepreneurs with the tools and confidence needed to grow, create jobs and foster economic stability for their families and the local economy.”

Women at every stage of growth are invited to attend the WISE-hosted pitch party on June 13, where they can benefit from tips and feedback on how to make their business pitch work for them in securing new business, loans and investors, maximizing media opportunities and more. All women entrepreneurs are also encouraged to attend the Make Mine a Million event in New York City July 30-31, which will also feature timely education sessions with experts in finance, technology, marketing and more. To participate in the Pitch Competition, businesses must have a minimum of $150,000 in annual revenues. For complete details, visit www.countmein.org/m3ny20212.

Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence is the leading national not-for-profit provider of resources, business education and community support for women entrepreneurs seeking to grow their businesses to million dollar enterprises. Count Me In launched the Make Mine a Million $ Business Competition to inspire one million women entrepreneurs scale their businesses to a million dollars in business revenues in the next decade by providing tools, skills and the support of a nationwide community of peers.