Women's Initiative e-Newsletter

October 12, 2006

Have you signed up for the Leadership Luncheon yet? There are just 2 days left to take advantage of the discount.

Or attend for the whole day! Hear from high energy speakers who will inspire you and help you approach business success from many angles. Get face-to-face time with influential business women. View the conference agenda or call (415) 641-3469 with any questions.
HOT TOPICS
New Report Shows that Self-Employment is the Best Way Out of Poverty for Low-Income Women
Findings shared at a symposium at City Hall

The resource fair and expo featured guided self-assessments and practical business tips. Thanks to our graduate ambassadors who shared their stories and helped affect policy in San Francisco.
“Nearly eighty percent of all new job growth in California between 1999 and 2003 came from microbusinesses. By supporting these storefronts, restaurants, and home-based business owners, we help ensure a more stable foundation for California’s economy," said Speaker Pro Tem Yee.

On September 29, Women's Initiative and its graduates affected policy in San Francisco. The City’s budget has earmarked $500K for microenterprise development for women and thanks to a core group of supporters it seems that more of this money will go for what women need most in order to jump start their business -- training. Speaker pro Tem Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D. and Supervisors Sophie Maxwell and Chris Daly shared their vision for investing in women microentrepreneurs as a key element of San Francisco’s economic development strategy. Supervisor Daly said that Women's Initiative's strategy needs to be incorporated in San Francisco's development strategy along side plans for biotech and other bigger industries. He promised to find the money to make it happen. This event was put on by Assemblymember Leland Yee and Women’s Initiative for Self Employment in recognition of ACR76 2005 which named October as Microenterprise Development Month to raise awareness of microenterprise training programs. “Microenterprises, businesses with fewer than five employees, fuel our local economy, said Yee. “Nearly eighty percent of all new job growth in California between 1999 and 2003 came from microbusinesses. By supporting these storefronts, restaurants, and home-based business owners, we help ensure a more stable foundation for California’s economy.”

A recently released report revealed that the Women’s Initiative training program generates a return of $23 to the local economy for every $1 invested. Additionally:

• Annual household income for participants entering the Women's Initiative program is just $14,000. Two years after Women's Initiative training, their income leaps to over $37,000.

• 205 new jobs were created by Women's Initiative clients this year and another documented 179 jobs were retained from previous years, according to a survey with a sample of graduates.

• The average Women’s Initiative client business pays $14.49 an hour in wages, over double the minimum wage in California. This wage is especially impressive given that many client businesses operate in sectors such as housekeeping and food service that traditionally pay close to minimum wage.

You are part of this success story! Thank you business connectors, donors and others who have giving their time and talent to launch women entrepreneurs to success.


Supervisors Chis Daly and Sophie Maxwell listen to graduates speak about their experience at Women's Initiative


Graduate ambassadors pose with Assemblymember Leland Yee

You can make our space more welcoming!
and meet graduates at the same time
Graduate Antoinette Loupe, owner of In the Loupe Design, is heading up the renovation of our office's welcome areas! She has a fabulous vision that includes a fresh coat of paint, display shelves for showcasing client products/services and a space for a small library of resources. Now we need creative types and others to help make the plan real. There are two beautification days: Nov. 4 in San Francisco and Nov. 11 in Oakland, 9 am - 3 pm. If you are interested in making our welcome area look gorgeous, please contact Justina Cross at (510) 287-3109 or jcross@womensinitiative.org.

In Search of Outstanding Business Consultants to Work with Latina Business Owners
Do you have a match? Please forward this on to any Spanish speaking business consultants.

Women’s Initiative is seeking Spanish business consultants who will propel our clients forward. This is either a volunteer position if you can commit 10 hours a week as a minimum, or a paid contract position. Who do you know who might be a good match? Please forward it to them. We are seeking new team members who can help women who are struggling with issues like competition, market penetration, operations, lease negotiations and more. Are you the expert that can help them build their business or do you know someone who'd be perfect for the job? Do you have networks, knowledge and a drive to show the way to a woman with great potential? Spanish speakers are a priority for us. For more information please contact Thais Rezende at trezende@womensinitiative.org.
 
GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT

Graduate Francesca Valdez Creates Quality Jobs Through Broadway Studios

When Francesca Valdez first started her business with two partners in 1993 it was a night club called Club Arte. Four years later the club was not doing well financially and closed for ten months. During that time Ms. Valdez completed a business management training course with Women’s Initiative and reopened the business, on her own, as Broadway Studios. When she reopened Ms. Valdez had one or two employees doing cleaning and bartending in the nightclub and she was renting the building.

Today, over nine years later, Ms. Valdez is re-opening at Broadway Studios after being closed for retrofit and remodeling. The club will open with a newly refinished floor and restrooms and a focus on renting the venue for special events and multimedia seminars. Ms. Valdez now employs over 20 people in a mix of full-, part-time and contracted positions and has hosted numerous fundraising events for nonprofit agencies such Blue Water Network.

While Ms. Valdez's business is an exciting success story, what makes it truly remarkable is that similar stories can be told about many of the businesses run by women who have completed business management training courses with Women's Initiative.

Between July 2005 and June of this year, Women's Initiative client businesses created more than 205 jobs in the Bay Area. This was in addition to180-plus jobs retained by client businesses over a two year period. Not only are these businesses contributing to the growth of the regional economy, on average employees at client businesses earn $14.49 per hour. That is nearly double the California minimum wage and well above San Francisco's living wage of $10.77 per hour.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, a living wage is the pay rate required for a full-time employee to support a family above the federal poverty line. The hourly wage is usually calculated at between 100% and 130% of poverty level for a family. While minimum wage laws apply to all businesses and organizations with over a certain number of employees, living wage ordinances are usually restricted to companies doing work under a contract for the city or jurisdiction that has passed the law.

Women's Initiative client businesses are largely unaffected by San Francisco's Minimum Compensation Ordinance. However business owners that pay higher wages reap the benefits that backers of living wage laws often list as incentives for the business community to support city-wide living wage laws. These benefits include lower rates of turn over and absenteeism and improved productivity and product quality.

"A lot of the employees have been here 10, seven, five years," reports Ms. Valdez, who started Broadway Studios under the name of Club Arte in 1993. "Some, like the cleaning crew, have worked for me for 14 years. We're like a family."

In the past 12 years more than 60 municipalities across the United States have passed living wage ordinances since 1994. Studies have found that these ordinances not only benefit the individuals earning the higher wages, but can also reduce the level of family poverty in the regions they affect. Thanks to the economic gains experienced by municipalities that have passed living wage ordinances, similar measures are gaining support in a growing number of communities. Those who are reluctant to support living wage ordinances or who oppose them often cite concerns that higher wage requirements will make an area inhospitable to large businesses and ultimately cause job loss.

A study conducted by researchers at UC Berkeley found that the San Francisco economy did not experience job loss or business closure in 2005 after the city enacted its increased minimum wage requirements, which affect a larger number of businesses than the city's living wage ordinance. Other studies have shown that most job creation in the United States happens in small, local businesses like Broadway Studios and the other businesses started by Women's Initiative clients.

More growth is planned for Broadway Studios and the staff there. “My next project,” says Ms. Valdez, “is a health care plan for the full-time staff.”

      - Kyla Calvert

Get Out and Vote!
There is 12 days left to register to vote in the November elections. Make sure your voice is heard. For more information CLICK HERE.

Taking Care of Business

Wednesday, October 25
7 :30am - 5:30pm
Oakland Marriott

By now you should have received your Leadership Luncheon invitation in your mailbox so you can register. If you didn't receive it you can still register online.

CLICK HERE to view conference seminar descriptions.

We need volunteers! Please call Madhuri at (510) 287-3107 if you can spend a few hours in the office in the next week.

 
EVENTS

Building Bridges Networking Event
Women's Initiative and one of our graduates Susan Grant of Baja Nights will be showcased at the upcoming Building Bridges Networking Event. There are still two vendors spots open and plenty of room to be an attendee. Vendor cost: $100.00. Everyone gets a light breakfast & a good lunch. Call Alicia with questions or for more info at (510) 459-6072 or visit the website.

Group Healing Session with graduate Kim Le
Every Sunday starting Oct. 15, Nurturing Salon hosts a time to come together to create positive energy by supporting and nurturing each other.
Sessions held at Nurturing Salon (1929 Lombard St. at Buchanan). Call Kim for more info at (415) 297-4394. $10 suggested donation.

Green Business Forum of Marin
Thursday, Nov. 2, 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm at the Mill Valley Community Center (180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley). Tickets are $25/chamber members and $35/non-members. Purchase tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets.

 
GOT COURAGE?

Julie Castro Abrams, CEO, and Evelyn Dilsaver, Board Chair of Women's Initiative are featured in top selling non-fiction book, The Courage Code. Evelyn Dilsaver and Julie Castro Abrams are two of 44 women throughout the country featured in the recently released book written by Megan Raphael and Jennifer Byron of Traverse City, Michigan. For years, there has been an unspoken language about courage – a Courage Code. It undermines, excludes, dominates – yet, it is rarely talked about. The book – based on interviews with everyday yet accomplished women throughout the country – presents an entirely new way of looking at power and courage. To learn more about the book visit The Courage Code online.
 
IN THE NEWS

Graduate Eva Saavedra and her restaurant El Huarache Azteca was featured in The Chronicle's Bargain Bites section on Sept. 17.

Julie Castro Abrams, CEO was featured in San Francisco Business Times (Sept. 22) in a story about micro-loans.

Women's Initiative team members Heather Haxo Phillips and Karuna Jaggar comment about our SuccessLink program in the Oct. issue of Bay Area BusinessWoman. The article gets to the core about why Business Connectors are important mentors for women starting in business.