On March 20 Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV, pronounced “weave”) hosted an award ceremony at the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum to grant $412,500 to 55 Hispanic business owners from across Santa Barbara County. Eighty-three entrepreneurs recently completed WEV’s “Emprendimiento” program, an eight-week business skills course taught entirely in Spanish. Upon completion of the training, the business owners had the opportunity to submit a business plan in competition for the $7,500 grant to help grow their existing small business.
Among the graduates were 25 childcare business owners through WEV’s partnership with Children’s Resource & Referral of Santa Barbara County. One such participant, Maria Equihua, owner of “Tu Casita” family day center in Santa Maria, shared during her graduation speech, “Every day I work as a chef, cleaning lady, teacher, nurse, choreographer, motivator, administrator, and psychologist — and now, thanks to this program, I can call myself an entrepreneur. This program prepared us to be smart business owners who focus on the growth and operations of our businesses, giving us valuable educational, administrative and financial tools.”
Another graduate, Marisa Aj Tobar, arrived in the United States from Guatemala in 2008 with what she describes as a “suitcase full of dreams and goals.” She started out taking the bus to clean houses and worked her way up to supervisory positions on commercial cleaning sites, which was what gave her the idea to start her own business. Today Marisa runs her own small business, “Marisa’s Housekeeping Services,” which has other employees and a waiting list.
Marisa said that “coming to WEV was about finding guidance, education, the advice to grow, but above all it was about finding the hope and reaffirmation that I could realize my dreams. WEV is the life jacket I needed to jump into the water. My goal is to grow my business so I can employ mothers who would benefit from a flexible schedule that will allow them to have time with their families.”
Emprendimiento is aunique program developed by WEV for low-English proficiency individuals and is funded by the state of California’s Employment Training Panel’s (ETP), Social Entrepreneurs for Economic Development (SEED) initiative. Launched in 2021, WEV’s Emprendimiento program provides training, coaching, and funding for small business owners to grow their businesses in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. To date, more than 400 people have participated in the program and $1.54 million dollars in grants have been awarded. For Emprendimiento Program information, including enrollment for future cohorts, visit www.wevonline.org/classes-resources/emprendimiento/ .
About Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV), www.wevonline.org
Women’s Economic Ventures is dedicated to the economic empowerment of women. WEV is a business resource network for anyone looking to start a business, grow a local business, or improve their business skills. WEV provides a full range of small business support – including classes, consulting, and funding – as well as financial literacy programs in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. While WEV’s focus is on women, it welcomes people of all gender identities into the WEV community. Business courses, programs and loans are provided in both English and Spanish.
Since 1991, WEV has provided business training and small business advisory services to more than 28,000 people throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. WEV has made more than $6.9 million in small business loans and helped nearly 5,300 local businesses start or expand, generating an estimated $873 million in annual sales and creating over 12,400 local jobs. WEV is a U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Center and Microlender, as well as a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).
To support WEV’s work, please visit www.wevonline.org/support.