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KELOWNA – Women in more British Columbia communities wanting to start their own business will benefit from an additional $95,000 grant to the Women’s Enterprise Centre for its Taking the Leap to Entrepreneurship program, Community Services Minister Ida Chong announced today.
“As British Columbia’s economy continues to prosper, more and more women may be thinking of launching their own business,” said Chong. “From university enrolment to owning their own businesses, women in B.C. are increasingly at the forefront. In fact, women make up 35 per cent of all business owners in the province.”
The grant is to implement Phase 4 of the Taking the Leap program, Mentoring for Women Transitioning into Self Employment, which includes the creation of peer mentoring groups in five locations across the province – Terrace, Kamloops, Whistler/Squamish, Kelowna and Cranbrook; one-on-one mentoring partnerships around B.C.; and three mentoring advisory forums for participants across the province. The first three phases identified the need for mentoring, designed the program and recruited both mentors and mentees. The Province has already provided $145,000 to the Women’s Enterprise Centre for the project.
“Taking the Leap taps into the power of woman-to-woman mentoring to help answer questions and ease the anxiety during the transition from employment to self-employment,” said Laurel Douglas, CEO of the Women’s Enterprise Centre. “This last piece of funding will give us the resources we need to help more women make the final move to entrepreneurship.”
The Women’s Enterprise Centre’s mission is to empower women to their business success. To date, Women’s Enterprise Centre has helped over 30,000 B.C. women to start, grow and succeed in business.
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Ministry of Community Services 250 356-6334 |
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