GENERAL PROGRAMS
Information Sessions
Discover WBDC’s resources for business, personal finance and professional development. Attend a free session and learn how WBDC's programs and services can provide you with the tools to prepare for your future through self-employment, self-sufficiency and professional development. | |
Walk-in Days
No appointment needed and no charge to meet with a WBDC counselor. Learn how WBDC programs and services can help with your individual business, personal finance and professional development needs. Just walk in! | |
One-on-One Internet Training
If your computer and Internet experience is not quite what you would like it to be, here is your chance to upgrade your skills and optimize your potential for success in today’s marketplace! Register for a free, one-on-one session with a WBDC counselor. Learn how to obtain a free email account, send and receive email messages, set up an address book, and send attachments. Discover the benefits of using search engines, perform simple searches, and learn how to navigate to the web pages of valuable business sites. | |
ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT
Exploring Entrepreneurship
Starting your own business requires more than just a good idea. The WBDC’s free “Exploring Entrepreneurship” seminar will provide aspiring business owners with insight into what they need to get started. Participants will take a thoughtful view of their ideas/visions, and investigate the feasibility of turning them into reality. | |
FastTrac® New Venture™ Business Planning Class for Start Ups WBDC is a leader in entrepreneurial training, so we know what’s involved in launching and growing a small business. In the past 14 years, WBDC has helped clients launch hundreds of businesses. Participants work on their own business ideas or ventures throughout the program, moving their venture to reality or new levels of growth with help from instructors and guest speakers/counselors.
Designed for the aspiring business owner, FastTrac® New Venture™ focuses on matching participants’ business development needs to the business plan they develop to make their vision a reality.
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Join WBDC and our panel of commercial bankers and non-bank lenders to learn about opportunities to secure capital for your business. Gain an understanding between traditional and non-traditional lenders, sources for alternative loans and the requirements needed to qualify. If you are ready to open or expand your business and want to understand the sources of capital available to you, don’t miss this informative seminar. | |
| It’s essential for every small business owner to be conversant in financial statements and understand what they can tell you about your business; yet many are too intimidated to even attempt to decode them. This five-session series is designed for all level of entrepreneurs. It will show the small business owner what information financial statements provide and why it’s critical to understand them. Join WBDC’s financial expert Chris Schoen, who will provide guidance in reviewing these statements in a clear, easy-to-understand manner. Conquer your fear by attending this program! | |
Social Media Saturday This three-session interactive program will not only allow you to meet with social media experts but also provide the opportunity for you to network with other entrepreneurs all in half a day. Classes will be presented simultaneously during all three sessions making it possible to take one, two, or all three if you so choose.
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Business Counseling Facing a specific business challenge? Meet with a WBDC business counselor for a one-on-one counseling session in marketing, legal issues, finance and other concentrations, including but not limited to, insurance, human resources, and taxes. | |
Business Sustainability/Access to Capital Assistance
Do you need help developing your business, or funding it to expand and grow? WBDC's “Business Sustainability and Access to Capital” counselors can individually assist and guide clients in key areas to grow their businesses. WBDC counselors will work with you one-on-one to ensure that you have a clear plan for moving your businesses forward. | |
PERSONAL FINANCIAL EDUCATION
In today’s economy many people seek clarity as they struggle with financial stress: can they pay their bills, plan for their children’s education and/or their retirement, learn to prioritize personal and professional finances? It’s critical that individuals gain an understanding of their current financial picture as well as set future financial goals. This program assists with providing clarity on what is important in your life and your personal finances. WBDC’s Personal Financial Education offers Advanced Financial Coaching to assist clients. Advanced Financial Coaching – an extended coaching program where clients who are experiencing financial crisis, (i.e. large debt, bankruptcy, foreclosure, etc.) work with a financial coach for a minimum of 6-months. Call 203-353-1750 with your questions about WBDC's personal financial education programs and services | |
| Things Your Parents Never Taught You: Building Personal Credit
What does it mean to have good credit? How do you obtain good credit with a poor credit history? All consumers have a vested interest in understanding, establishing and preserving their credit worthiness and credit standing in order to access financing, obtain employment and merit lower interest rates. Learn from WBDC’s financial expert how to read your credit report, understand your credit/FICO score, as well as how to improve your credit worthiness. Understanding how credit works is key to saving money and establishing a successful personal financial future.
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Budget Coaching WBDC's Personal Financial Education offers a four-month Budget Coaching program to assist clients in acquiring these skills. We facilitate and empower you to build a budget and a plan that supports your needs and goals for today and your future. Through this program you will uncover more choices in managing how you think, feel, and act around money.
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| PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | |
Whether entering or re-entering the workforce or re-inventing one’s career, WBDC offers workshops and one on one career coaching and counseling which provides guidance to those who want to excel in their current career, are unemployed or who are exploring other professional avenues in order to reach their goals.
Focus Coaching involves meeting with a professional career coach to helps discover ones true potential, define goals and creates a practical action plan. Career and Entrepreneurial Coaching can help produce extraordinary results – coaching accelerates progress by providing greater focus and awareness of ones choices, encourages self-discovery and offers an outside perspective and objective feedback. Focus Coaching is affordable, rewarding and realistic. Career and Professional Development Counseling provides guidance and insight on resume updating, interviewing and networking techniques and the use of technology throughout the job search process. For those who wish to improve their internet skills to be more competitive in the workplace, WBDC offers internet training. Work one on one with a WBDC counselor to learn how establish a free email account; send and receive email messages; set up an address book, send attachments and basic online etiquette. Call 203-353-1750 with your questions about WBDC’s professional and career development services. | |
WBDC SCHOLARSHIP FUND | The WBDC Scholarship Fund assures enrollment to eligible applicants regardless of ability to pay by providing fee reductions or full scholarships to low-income clients. Fees for programs and services are determined by a sliding scale based on yearly income. Speak to your WBDC Business/Career Specialist for a confidential application. |  Funded in part through a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Small Business Administration. |
NO REFUNDS. WBDC reserves the right to cancel any program
WBDC is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO) & The Office of Financial Assistance. The OWBO is established to help women become full partners in economic development through small business ownership. SBA’s cooperation does not constitute or imply its endorsement of any opinions, products and/or services. Reasonable arrangements for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. All SBA programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. |