Women’s Business Development Center Celebrates 25th Anniversary Entrepreneurial Business Conference

By Iya Bakare

Over 2,000 participants gathered to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the Women’s Business Development Center and Entrepreneurial Woman’s Conference on Wednesday, September 14 at McCormick Place-West in Chicago. Founders S. Carol Dougal and Hedy M. Rather established the Women’s Business Development Center in 1986 to create business opportunities and promote entrepreneurship for women. Dougal and Ratner also created the Entrepreneurial Woman’s Conference that same year to form a medium where women can both network and celebrate the business successes and accomplishments of one another. 

This year’s Entrepreneurial Woman’s Conference featured workshops, roundtable discussions, a business and buyer’s mart and other networking opportunities. In addition, the conference featured the Women’s Forum Breakfast, moderated by the Chicago Sun Times financial expert Terry Savage and the 25^th Anniversary Hall of Fame Awards Luncheon, emceed by NBC Chicago’s Alison Rosati. Panelists on the breakfast forum included Leylani Cardoso of Bolzano Handbags, Maxine Clark of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Cathy Hughes of Radio One and Lynn Tilton of Patriarch Partners. Mayor Rahm Emanuel delivered the keynote address at this year’s Hall of Fame luncheon. Honorees were Teresa Ging of Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique, Inc., Marilyn Jones of Consolidated Printing Company, Sharon Hoffman Avent of Smead Manufacturing Company, Bank of America and U.S. Small Business Administration. 

For more information on WBDC, visit www.WBDC.org.