2008 Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship

Join the glorious revolution. Entrepreneurship is the key to revitalizing Central New York --- and women are leading the charge. Here and across the nation, women are starting for-profit and non-profit ventures, developing innovative new products and services, winning patents, and creating new markets. Today, more than 50% of all businesses are owned by women (nearly 10.4 million firms generating $1.9 trillion in sales) and for the past two decades, the women-owned firms have grown at nearly two times the rate of all firms.

Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (WISE) is a celebration of these achievements. Launched in 2003, the WISE Symposium has brought together an amazing network of women entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. Over the past five years, WISE has inspired thousands of women to pursue their passions, think big, and turn their dreams into reality.

And the revolution continues to grow! WISE has successfully evolved into a year-round initiative through the launch last year of the WISE Center (www.WISEcenter.org). Supported by Small Business Administration funding, the WISE Center now provides training, support and mentoring for women entrepreneurs and the challenges they face.

WISE 2008 is a day-long symposium that explores the unique obstacles, demands and challenges women face when creating and growing their own ventures. Issues at all stages of entrepreneurship are explored. The day will feature keynote addresses by leading women entrepreneurs from across the nation and from Central New York. Hands-on breakout sessions will examine a range of practical issues to enable women to act on their dreams. The breakouts will include two tracks: start-up and growth. The start-up track will focus on creating your own venture, while the growth track emphasizes ways to grow your venture once it is up and running. This year, WISE will also feature sessions on arts entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship---- inspiration for creating profits from a personal talent or passion, and lessons on “doing well and doing good”. WISE 2008 promises to be an exciting opportunity for inspiration, networking and for tapping your entrepreneurial potential

Women Changing the World, One Venture at a Time.

WISE 2008

"Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival,
but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking."
- Dame Anita Roddick