| News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Kathryn Cariglino
251-660-2725
wbac@ceebic.org
Mobile, AL, May 21, 2007 – The Women’s Business Center, Inc. is pleased to announce that project director, Sylvia Browder was chosen as the recipient of the national Maria Padilla-Orasel (MPO) Scholarship. Sponsored by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), the national leadership organization for microenterprise development, the scholarship fosters leadership opportunities for minority women working in the microenterprise development field and provided an opportunity for Ms. Browder to attend the national AEO 2007 Annual Conference in Kansas City, MO May 15-18th.
Microenterprise development means big changes through small investments. It is the concept of providing small loans – usually less than $35,000 – as well as business training and technical assistance to would-be entrepreneurs and those who want to expand existing businesses. It is the link to business ownership for the underserved, among others, and a way for communities to create jobs. With five or fewer employees, microenterprises are the smallest of small businesses, yet they have a huge impact on the local and national economy. Nearly nine out of 10 businesses in the U.S. are microenterprises, and one out of six employees in the private sector works for a microenterprise.
More than 500 practitioners who create and operate microenterprise development programs in communities throughout the country attended the AEO Conference for training, networking, and sharing of best practices. These programs offered by AEO members including the Women’s Business Center, Inc. based in Mobile, help men and women achieve their dreams of business ownership, and illustrate how and why microenterprise works!
The MPO Scholarship was launched by AEO in 2001 in honor and memory of Maria Padilla-Orasel, an AEO Board member and a leader in the field of microenterprise development. She was passionate about creating leadership opportunities for minority women and this scholarship continues her legacy by providing an opportunity to attend the AEO Annual Conference.
The Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) is the national leadership organization for microenterprise development. As the voice for the U.S. microenterprise movement, AEO’s members include hundreds of organizations that assist thousands of entrepreneurs each year in realizing their dreams of small business ownership. By providing core services such as cutting edge training, information sharing, public policy and communications, we enable our members to be effective providers of services to their program participants. AEO is based in Arlington, VA.
The Women’s Business Center, Inc. is the only Microenterprise development organizations focused on women in the entire southern half of the state of Alabama. Established in 1993 and funded since that time under the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Center Program, we currently provide small business counseling and training services to seven counties in southwestern Alabama including: Mobile; Baldwin; Washington; Escambia; Conecuh and Clarke counties.
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