Women Veterans in Business: Unique Challenges and Opportunities

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Veterans are in the minority of the American workforce and female veterans are an even smaller subset of the population, however, the impact veterans and women veterans can make to society can be huge. This is a point made by NAWRB Magazine contributor and Army Veteran Erica Courtney as she moderated our panel Women Veterans in Business: Unique Challenges and Opportunities.

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If Men and Women Are More Similar Than Not, Why Do They Feel Differently About Homeownership?

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The unique challenges women have faced in the past and continue to face today make owning a home a tangible sign of success for a woman. A woman’s home is a space to creatively express desires and dreams and to evoke certain feelings. From a practical standpoint, it’s an investment and source of security that remains a constant regardless of her marital status.

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Goodbye Sweet Spade: Remembering the Influential Style of Kate Spade

Today we are saddened to find out that the influential designer Kate Spade was found dead. For someone known for an elegance associated with brightness and a certain smart yet playful style- it’s painful to think of such a voice being extinguished.

Kansas City, Missouri native Spade, who recently legally changed her name to Kate Valentine was an answer to an unspoken sartorial prayer: smart, put-together clothing with a quirky flair. Distinguished while not shying away from femininity, Kate helped women in the 1990s and early 2000s realize that to be taken seriously in the workplace doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have massive shoulder pads, dress like a man, or wear uncomfortable heels.

It really started with a handbag. The quest for an attractive yet practical tote, often a woman’s rolling office, medicine cabinet, and make-up bag, was the driving force behind the start of her eponymous brand.

She grew Kate Spade into what we would call today a fully fledged lifestyle brand: including a home and jewellery line.  In the process she became much more than a designer: she became a woman to admire for her unique blend of tastemaking and business acumen. Not unlike a Diane von Furstenberg, Tory Burch or Donna Karan.

As recently as 2015 she was named amongst Creative People in Business by Fast Company and inducted into the University of Missouri-Kansas City Hall of Entrepreneur Hall of Fame this past year.

She was someone to look up to and will be dearly missed. Our condolences go out to her family and everyone whose lives she touched.

Happy Women’s Entrepreneurship Day

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November 19th is Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED), a global observance celebrating women entrepreneurs and generating solutions to support women’s advancement. This Sunday will mark the fourth anniversary of WED; the first installment was introduced in New York City at the United Nations in 2014 and was recognized by 144 countries.

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Women-Owned Businesses Grew 114 Percent from 1997 to 2017

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According to the 7th Annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, women-owned businesses have increased by 114 percent in the last 20 years and are growing at 2.5 times the national average—women are currently starting an average of 849 new businesses per day. The report, commissioned by American Express OPEN, also found that businesses owned by women of color have grown 467 percent since 1997.

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Google and Amazon the Next Big Small Business Lenders?

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Google and Amazon could shake up the small business lending market and dislocate banks as entrepreneurs’ primary funding resource, according to a discussion led by Karen Mills, Harvard Business School Fellow and former White House administrator for small businesses, at LendIt Europe 2017.

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SBA Releases New Small Business Lending Tool

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The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has launched a new lending tool helping connect small businesses and lenders. The new tool, Lender Match, connects entrepreneurs to over 800 SBA lenders in an effort to increase access to capital. The program is an upgrade to LINC (Leveraging Information and Networks to access Capital), which was introduced as a pilot in 2015.

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NAWRB Women-Owned Small Business Revenue Awards Winners!

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NAWRB is excited to announce the winners of our 2017 Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Revenue Awards! Our awardees are women-owned businesses succeeding past the roadblocks in their fields and effectively commanding their economic growth in diverse housing ecosystem sectors.

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Unlocking the Potential of Hispanic Women Entrepreneurs

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The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) has released a report, Hispanic Women Entrepreneurship: Understanding Diversity Among Hispanic Women Entrepreneurs, addressing the state and potential of Hispanic women entrepreneurs in the U.S. Hispanic women entrepreneurs were the fastest-growing business segment from 2007 to 2016—growing 137 percent, according to the 2016 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report by American Express OPEN and Womenable.

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Case Study: Have You Been A Victim of Stolen Funds?

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There are few worst feelings than suddenly losing something you worked truly hard on, from an essay to an event or even a personal project. Imagine the hidden danger of losing everything you’ve worked for your entire life, your business, your home, even your retirement fund.

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