Count Me In Names 29 Greater New York City Area Women Small Business Owners As Urban Rebound Awardees
New York City, NY (PRWEB) July 23, 2013 -- Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, the leading national not-for-profit provider of resources, business education, and community support for women entrepreneurs, has named 29 women small business owners from the Greater New York City as 2013 Urban Rebound Awardees.
The 29 Awardees were selected from the Urban Rebound Conference and Competition, which took place in Brooklyn July 21-22, 2012. At that event, each woman presented a two-minute pitch before a panel of small business experts, demonstrating her strong willingness and ability to grow her businesses quickly and sustainably. These women will now go on to participate in Count Me In’s Business Accelerator Program, a nine-month professional coaching and business education intensive that provides the resources, support and community needed for them to grow their ventures to $250,000+ in annual revenues within 12-18 months.
Count Me In will present additional Urban Rebound events in nationwide in the upcoming months. The goal of the Urban Rebound small business growth initiative is to help bring 200 women-owned businesses from select challenged regions to $250,000 in annual revenues within 12-18 months of program participation. This goal translates into $50 Million in new economic activity and 400-600 much needed new jobs. Urban Rebound is made possible with support from the Sam’s Club Giving Program.
The 29 Urban Rebound Awardees from the Greater New York City area are:
Carol Barash - Story To College
Denise Bogan - Denton Cleaning LLC
Laura Delzer - Fairy Godmother
Keisha Depaz - Punch Street
Kristen Golden – Fortune Cookie Wisdom
Malla Haridet – Mom and Daughters Inc.
Isela Hernandez – HERNÁN
Susan Jacobs – Thought Bubble Concepts
Jasmin King – Made To Order
Catherine Lajara – Novel Research of NY
Imani Laners – Shinko Media LLC
Celestine Lee – The Celestine Collection
Catherine Mangan Walsh – New York Superfoods
Laurie Marshall – Marshall Law Group/TradeMarks The Spot
Kathleen Moren – Healthy Babies, Happy Moms Inc.
Monifa Mortis – Prizm Beauty Inc.
Natacha Petit – Petit Petion Hair Salon
Luisa Rasiej – Inner Contessa LLC
Valerie Robinson – Eden Organix
Lisa Rosenberg – The Saucy Sauce Co.
Nance Schick – The Law Studio of Nance Schick
Michelle Shemilt – Nudy Patooty Inc.
Cheryl Steplight – The Knitting Loft
Erica Taylor – Tinsel & Twine
Kayisha Thompson – Pink Princess Pastry
Azin Valy – Cityzen By Azin
Winter Walker – Traditional Roots
Greta Wallace – Simply Greta
Natasha Watterson – Vanity Hair Studio NYC
“We are very excited to bring this fantastic program to Brooklyn and look forward to providing local women entrepreneurs with the tools and confidence needed to grow their businesses, create jobs, and foster economic stability for their families and local economies,” said Nell Merlino, Founder and President of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence.
According to 2010 Census statistics, while women-owned businesses represented nearly 50% of privately held companies in the U.S., the majority of these businesses (75%) reach only $50,000 in annual gross revenues or less. At the same time, recent statistics from Wider Opportunities for Women, found that single parents require at least $57,756 in annual income to cover basic expenses for themselves and two children, while dual-income households with children require a minimum of $67,920.
The New York metropolitan area has over 670,100 woman-owned firms, the greatest number in the nation, according to a recent report by AmericanExpress OPEN. The state of New York has second-largest representation of women-owned firms, with most of them based in the New York metro area. However New York City women entrepreneurs, like their counterparts nationwide, still significantly trail in revenues, patents and job creation compared to male-owned businesses.
To compete in Urban Rebound pitch competitions and take part in the CMI Business Accelerator Program, businesses must meet the following criteria:
• Be based in one of the three target regions
• Be in business for at least two years
• Be at least 50% woman-owned
• Have annual gross revenues of no less than $50,000 and no greater than $150,000
• Be a US citizen or legal resident
• Have no bankruptcies or liens within past five years
For more information about Urban Rebound and to register for upcoming events, visit http://www.countmein.org/UrbanRebound.
About Count Me In:
Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence is the leading national not-for-profit provider of resources, business education, and community support for women entrepreneurs seeking to grow their businesses to million dollar enterprises. Count Me In launched the Make Mine a Million $ Business Competition to inspire one million women entrepreneurs scale their businesses to a million dollars in business revenues in the next decade by providing tools, skills, and the support of a nation-wide community of peers.
Ann Noder, Pitch Public Relations, 480.263.1557, [email protected]
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