Workforce WindsorEssex Releases Report on Female Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to Support and Highlight Successes

51% of female entrepreneurs believe Windsor-Essex is moving in a positive direction to improve support for female entrepreneurs

For Immediate Release
March 7, 2022

Windsor, ON – Today, Workforce WindsorEssex released a new report on female entrepreneurs as part of their annual RISE Needs Assessment.

To inform the annual report, female entrepreneurs shared their experiences with local programming for business owners, what government supports they use or need, and how service providers could better support female founders in Windsor-Essex.

As part of Women’s Entrepreneurship Strategy’s efforts, Workforce WindsorEssex highlights the good work that is being done in the Windsor-Essex community and shares success stories of organizations and initiatives that are lifting up local female entrepreneurs.

With a focus on female entrepreneurs in Windsor-Essex, Workforce WindsorEssex continues to develop the RISE Windsor-Essex Needs Assessment Report. Based on community consultations, the reports provide an overview of the challenges facing women in their careers as entrepreneurs, and the successes of community organizations, entrepreneurs, and education institutions.

The main challenges local entrepreneurs identified facing include a lack of specific services for diverse women, limited programming for later stage businesses, and a need for more local business advisors. The celebrated successes for our community include organizational expertise growth, increased interest in STEM, supported growth from vender to storefront, and more one-on-one learning opportunities. The RISE Needs Assessment’s recommendations for the community are to develop targeted supports for Indigenous and immigrant entrepreneurs, increase collaboration between service providers, and increase entrepreneurship supports in the county.

RISE is a network of organizations that empower women in entrepreneurship and women in STEM in Windsor-Essex. Founded by Invest WindsorEssex, through partnerships with the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre, the University of Windsor’s EPICentre, Workforce WindsorEssex, WEtech Alliance, Build-A-Dream, and Windsor Essex Capital Angel Network (WECAN). The purpose of RISE is to create a suite of services available to women in the Windsor-Essex region by amalgamating and supporting resources with the goal of increasing the number of women in these fields.

 

Quotes:

“Hearing from diverse female entrepreneurs at all stages of business allows us to develop evidence-based initiatives with those at the forefront of proposed solutions. Incorporating best practices from other regions will ensure that Windsor-Essex is developing a strong entrepreneur-led ecosystem of supports.”

  • Tashlyn Teskey, Manager of Projects and Research, Workforce WindsorEssex

“Enhancing the participation of women in the economy is the goal of the funding provided to Windsor-Essex under the Federal governments Women Entrepreneurship Strategy. During the first three years of the program there have been over 3,300 engagements with women through participation in workshops, events, and one-on-one mentorship. Programing that has empowered women entrepreneurs to start, grow, and expand their business.”

  • Lee McGrath, Program Director- Women’s Entrepreneurship Strategy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Centre

 

Quick Links:

 

Media Contact:
Lindsey Rivait
Executive Assistant & Researcher
Workforce WindsorEssex
lrivait@workforcewindsoressex.com

 

About Workforce WindsorEssex

Workforce WindsorEssex is a workforce and community development board whose mission is to lead regional employment and community planning for the development of a strong and sustainable workforce.

Workforce WindsorEssex is an experienced leader in the development of regional labour market tools, research, guides, and events that create positive change in the local labour market while saving others time and effort. These resources, created in close coordination with employment, education, and industry partners, are designed to help jobseekers, employers, students, and educators, as well as the community, make more informed labour market decisions using locally-responsive, data-rich, and unbiased resources. To learn more about Workforce WindsorEssex and view our tools and resources, visit www.workforcewindsoressex.com.

 

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Language Identifier: EN Workforce WindsorEssex Releases Report on Female Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to Support and Highlight Successes