06-05-2025
Advocates push for increased support at Women-Owned Business Day at State Capitol
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Tuesday was Women-Owned Business Day at the Connecticut State Capitol. While the number of businesses owned by women keeps growing, the organization that helps them is facing some serious challenges this year.
Every year, the Women's Business Development Council holds a Women-Owned Business Day to remind state officials the importance of women in the economy.
'This year, it's even more important, because we learned on Friday night that our federal funds were eliminated from the president's budget,' said Fran Pastore, the CEO of WBDC.
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That funding represented almost 10% of the council's budget. The council helps women entrepreneurs secure capital.
'I have met a great group of women at WBDC,' said Dr. Natasha Louis-Charles who runs Family Eyecare of Orange. 'I've partnered with them and was able to get multiple grants and funding to help my business grow.'
It also helps them market their products, which is Maria Miranda's specialty as a 'brand manager' with her company, Miranda Creative.
'So, social media, website, traditional media,' Miranda explained. 'We manage their brand and their reputation across all of those spaces.'
In addition to the funding challenges, the WBDC is also facing another challenge. The Stamford office building where they have their headquarters had a fire earlier this year.
'But we have had an incredible response from our community of women and men throughout our state, and so we are going to keep forging ahead and we are going to be there for the women in our state who need our support,' Pastore said.
A lack of federal funds would make state support more important than ever in continuing recent momentum.
'Just to give you a quick snapshot, in 2019, we worked with about 800 women entrepreneurs in Connecticut,' said Pastore. 'We closed out 2024 with over 3,500 women.'
That's more than four times as many in just five years. The question now is: Will that increase keep going in the current economic climate?
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