By Seth Freedland
A bill passed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday will save 11 women's business centers across the country from financial calamity -- including one in Ukiah.
Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) co-sponsored the legislation authorizing the Small Business Administration to continue funding the centers, all of which are scheduled to close at the end of the fiscal year. One such center is part of the Ukiah-headquartered West Company.
The West Company was a member of the first group to receive grant money under the Women's Business Center Sustainability pilot program authored by Kerry in 1999. But due to a technical provision in the law, West Company -- and the other 10 original centers -- would be ineligible for additional funding after September. This bill allows the groups continued access to sustainability grants for a year.
Pamela Patterson, CEO of the West Company, said she immensely appreciated the continued funds. She said her company is currently under a great deal of stress to provide its services in the current economic climate. West Company once operated with a $500,000 budget, but now is closer to $300,000, Patterson said, with the federal grant money giving $125,000 of that sum.
Since growing into a larger firm, West Company serves an average of 300 businesses a year, of which 70 percent are run by women, according to Patterson. Just from April to June of this year, she said, West Company counseled 76 female clients, the result of which saw nine businesses created and more on the way.
Patterson said her goal centers on working with women of all income levels to allow their businesses to mature until they are self-sustained.
"I think all of the staff at West Company is very dedicated to letting micro-businesses succeed," Patterson said. The majority of micro-businesses -- companies with five or fewer employees and start-up capital of less than $35,000 -- are home-based, a popular model for rural Mendocino County.
One such business is co-owned by Ruth Hunter, a manufacturer of redwood spa accessories. Hunter said without West Company, her business may not have survived.
"A few years ago, I felt that we were having too much stress with the work, and my accountant friend suggested I call West Company about a loan," she said. "I got the small loan, but what was wonderful was they helped us work out a business plan. We had the energy but we didn't know exactly what we were doing. The loans were appreciated, but the advice was a very big deal."
Hunter said she knew of many women who were helped by the West Company and the Women's Business Center, including her seamstress. She noted there are many entrepreneurs in Mendocino County and the money from the Kerry-Snowe legislation will be invaluable to new and future small businesses.
After passing the bill, the Senate sent it to the House of Representatives, where it didn't make it onto the calendar and thus will not be voted on until after Congress' August recess.
Kerry, the top Democrat on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, said in a statement: "This funding is not only important to the centers themselves, but also to their local communities and the thousands of women-owned businesses who depend on them."
Other centers are located in Oakland, Denver, Boston, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
Seth Freedland can be reached at udjsf@pacific.net .
A bill passed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday will save 11 women's business centers across the country from financial calamity -- including one in Ukiah.
Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) co-sponsored the legislation authorizing the Small Business Administration to continue funding the centers, all of which are scheduled to close at the end of the fiscal year. One such center is part of the Ukiah-headquartered West Company.
The West Company was a member of the first group to receive grant money under the Women's Business Center Sustainability pilot program authored by Kerry in 1999. But due to a technical provision in the law, West Company -- and the other 10 original centers -- would be ineligible for additional funding after September. This bill allows the groups continued access to sustainability grants for a year.
Pamela Patterson, CEO of the West Company, said she immensely appreciated the continued funds. She said her company is currently under a great deal of stress to provide its services in the current economic climate. West Company once operated with a $500,000 budget, but now is closer to $300,000, Patterson said, with the federal grant money giving $125,000 of that sum.
Since growing into a larger firm, West Company serves an average of 300 businesses a year, of which 70 percent are run by women, according to Patterson. Just from April to June of this year, she said, West Company counseled 76 female clients, the result of which saw nine businesses created and more on the way.
Patterson said her goal centers on working with women of all income levels to allow their businesses to mature until they are self-sustained.
"I think all of the staff at West Company is very dedicated to letting micro-businesses succeed," Patterson said. The majority of micro-businesses -- companies with five or fewer employees and start-up capital of less than $35,000 -- are home-based, a popular model for rural Mendocino County.
One such business is co-owned by Ruth Hunter, a manufacturer of redwood spa accessories. Hunter said without West Company, her business may not have survived.
"A few years ago, I felt that we were having too much stress with the work, and my accountant friend suggested I call West Company about a loan," she said. "I got the small loan, but what was wonderful was they helped us work out a business plan. We had the energy but we didn't know exactly what we were doing. The loans were appreciated, but the advice was a very big deal."
Hunter said she knew of many women who were helped by the West Company and the Women's Business Center, including her seamstress. She noted there are many entrepreneurs in Mendocino County and the money from the Kerry-Snowe legislation will be invaluable to new and future small businesses.
After passing the bill, the Senate sent it to the House of Representatives, where it didn't make it onto the calendar and thus will not be voted on until after Congress' August recess.
Kerry, the top Democrat on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, said in a statement: "This funding is not only important to the centers themselves, but also to their local communities and the thousands of women-owned businesses who depend on them."
Other centers are located in Oakland, Denver, Boston, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
Seth Freedland can be reached at udjsf@pacific.net .
