Communities Have a Role to Play in Supporting Entrepreneurs
In addition to growing economic success, women-owned businesses contribute greatly to the community: more than 60 percent of women businesses owners identified in the Main Street survey were actively involved in the community. Given this community involvement, it makes sense that women-owned businesses tend to be successful at crowdfunding efforts: 70 percent of Kickstarter projects launched by women were funded, compared to 61 percent of male projects. The Kiva Zip program, new to Wisconsin in 2016, matches entrepreneurs with community funders to provide zero-percent loans of up to $5,000 to small businesses. Read More