In the United States, women own 10.6 million businesses that produce approximately $2.5 trillion in sales every year. These women-owned companies employ 19.1 million workers, or one in every seven employees. Even though women own approximately 30 percent of small businesses, women-owned companies make up just 16 percent of bank loans and 17 percent of SBA loans. You can find more statistics about women entrepreneurs in this great fact sheet.
This week, the new minimum wage ordinance in Oakland went into effect. For more about the new laws and some tips about how to navigate the implementation process, check our our past blogs. Businesses across town are still working on all the systems and processes needed to comply with the law. Here are some resources to support you in that process:
Oakland, February 24, 2015 – OBDC Small Business Finance announced today that Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) and the Citi Foundation have selected Jen Leybovich, Vice President – Strategy & Development, OBDC Small Business Finance, as one of 48 community development financial institution (CDFI) professionals who will participate in the second annual Citi Leadership Program for Opportunity Finance.
OBDC is excited to celebrate the businesses we support. This month, we’ve profiled Karen Roberts of HauteButch, a clothing company offering their customers a line of masculine and gender-neutral clothing and footwear designed for women’s bodies.
Katie Taylor, OBDC’s Marketing & Development Associate interviews Noah Harris, Assistant Vice President – Veterans Program. Noah reflects the passion of OBDC in supporting veterans and their businesses.
Finding work has been a challenge for many Americans in the past few years, and United States military veterans haven’t been immune to difficult job searches. In particular, male veterans under 25 returning home face an unemployment rate of over 24%.
Katie Taylor, OBDC’s Marketing & Development Associate interviews Scott Lewis, Senior Vice President – Lending. Scott joined OBDC four years ago with over 35 years of lending and business development experience, including five years of venture capital experience as a managing partner in a Bay Area venture capital firm. Scott’s expertise includes extensive experience…
Jacob’s profile showed his long career of working with, for, and as an entrepreneur, and why OBDC’s focus on serving the people behind the businesses is such a critical component of our work.
Some OBDC staff members just returned the annual Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) conference in Denver, Colorado. OFN is a national membership organization that supports community development financial institutions like OBDC. This was an exciting year for the conference because it marked OFN’s 30th anniversary.
We want to use this week’s blog post to share some of our borrower stories. One of the most exciting features of our new website is our “client spotlight.” This is where we share the stories of some of the incredible businesses we’ve worked with.
