The 17th annual Women Entrepreneurs Conference will have local business owners thinking outside the box.

About 270 people have registered to attend the event, put on by the Tyler Small Business Development Center, Kay Bookout, staff coordinator for the organization, said.

The event will include two workshops, vendors, a luncheon and the Emerging Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award. It will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Green Acres Baptist Church CrossWalk Conference Center.

The theme, “Rethink Your Business Out of the Box,” is about helping women come up with new and innovative ideas to increase their businesses and compete in a fast-paced market, Ms. Bookout said. 

 This year, they have added a second workshop to the lineup. Starting at 8:30 a.m., the first workshop is for women just considering starting their own business. “So You Think You Want to Start a Business” will be presented by Donna Spann of Capstone College and Career Advising. She will tell how she came up with the idea for her business and what steps she took to “think” her idea from dream to reality. 

The second workshop is for women already in business. “You Fought Hard for Your Business …So Now What?” will be presented by Ramona Butler, certified public accountant. She will not only give women good tax tips, but also things they can do to make their businesses run more efficiently to increase profits, Ms. Bookout said.

From 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., nearly 50 vendor booths will make up an exhibitor showcase.  There will be drawings for prizes and “Pitch Your Business” presentations, she said. 

During the luncheon, hosted by Barbara Bass, there will be a short video called “Think Out of the Box — Expand Your Comfort Zone,” which will give women advice on things they can do physically and mentally to help them be more creative. There will also be a fashion show by Clothes Mentor.

Dawn Franks, owner of Your Philanthropy, will be the keynote speaker during the luncheon. She will talk about her work experience and how she started her business.

 For the second year, the Emerging Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award will be given to a woman who has been in business for five years or less. The 10 nominations were evaluated by an independent panel of judges not employed by Tyler Small Business Development Center, and the top three nominees will be featured in a video before the winner is announced. 

Ashley Randall and Melissa Bennett, owners of Sister2Sister Cookies received the first ever award last year.

“We’re honored to be the first recipient,” of the award, Ms. Bennett said at the time.

Sister2Sister Cookies had grown from one employee in a 242-square-foot drive-thru kiosk at 322 ESE Loop 323 to six employees, a second facility where cookies are baked and shipped across the country. The sisters spent years perfecting an old family recipe before opening the business in 2011 to sell cookies.

Don Proudfoot, director of the Small Business Development Center, started the conference 17 years ago to help support women-owned businesses, which he has said make up 40 percent of their clients.

Joyce Crawford, owner of Rose City Expos, is the event manager and is in charge of the exhibitor showcase and fashion show. For more, visit www.tylersbdc.com.

 

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