Internship Academy of Michigan receives $500 Womensnet Amber Grant

Ellen Tilly and Deborah Schneider of Auburn Hills, Michigan, founders of Internship Academy (www.internshipacademy.com), were awarded a $500 Amber Grant from WomensNet.net on September 30th. WomensNet.net awards quarterly Amber Grants of $500 to women in the process of starting or expanding their own businesses. Grant funds may be used to cover start-up expenses, such as buying or upgrading equipment, hiring consultants and advisors, joining professional organizations, or paying for advertising and marketing efforts.

Tilly and Schneider’s inspiration and desire to start a new business were spawned by experience. As parents of college students, they saw firsthand their children's frustration in choosing a meaningful major and consequent career path. Tilly stated, “As we were discussing ways to reach out to the young college group, our community was overrun with layoffs and adults needing to rethink their career paths.” After reading an article in the "Wall Street Journal" about a company that did all the legwork for student job searches, Tilly and Schneider felt “there is a greater benefit to learning how to go about a job search and then pursuing an internship to clarify a career direction.”

WomensNet.net was impressed with the Internship Academies focus on teaching students how to write a resume, write a cover letter, prepare for an interview, and search for prospective employers. Along with their focus on college students, Internship Academies is also committed to assist "career changers" by identifying job skills, and how those skills can be desirable in another industry.

Tilly and Schneider gave WomensNet.net an example of a student who recently benefited from Internship Academy: “This past summer we had two young men go through our program at about the same time. The first was a soon to graduate college senior. This young man was getting his degree in Human Resource Development and had no relevant experience. We placed him in an internship with a staffing and recruiting firm. Not only did he find the on the job experience beneficial but he told us the job search classes really helped him find his focus. Our other student was a first year college student that had already changed his major three times. While not unusual for a student at this level, this young man had an idea of what he would like to do as a career he just wasn't sure what training that job required. After spending time with our career counselor he was better able to identify what his career choice would look like and we were able to place him in an internship with a waste management company. This proved to be the course he had in mind and he returned to his campus knowing that he really wanted to major in environmental engineering.”

With the $500 grant, Internship Academy plans to promote their program to more college and career changer applicants through promotional materials, their website www.internshipacademy.com.

Amber Grant Third Quarter Deadline

Just a reminder! We will be accepting applications till September 30th for the third quarter Amber Grant. Recipient will be announced on October 15th.

Have a great day!

New Handbook Helps Women Business Owners

Uncover Hidden Funding Opportunities

FAIRPORT, N.Y., September 4, 2009—Need financing to launch your business or expand the one you have? A new handbook helps women business owners identify little-known sources of valuable funding.

Beyond Grants: 8 Super Ideas to Get Money for Your Business (and Other Financing Tips for Women Entrepreneurs), a 43-page guide from an award-winning business author, provides priceless tips and tactics for tapping into money that’s available for businesses now.

“Access to capital has been a huge issue for women business owners for decades,” says the handbook’s author, Marcia Layton Turner, author of The Unofficial Guide to Starting Your Own Business and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting a Small Business and a small business expert at BusinessWeek.com. “Ironically, while women struggle to find, qualify for, and access funding, they are the primary drivers of small business growth.”

According to the SBA, the percentage of women-owned businesses increased nearly 20 percent between 1997 and 2002, the most recent figures available. Women owned 28 percent of non-farm businesses in the U.S. in 2002, increasing employment by 70,000 jobs. And yet, the National Women’s Business Council reports that women have more difficulty securing the funding needed to start and expand their firms than male-owned companies; a 2003 survey by the organization identified access to capital as the biggest challenge women business owners reported facing.
The $27 instantly downloadable handbook features specific, here’s-how-to-do-it information in eight sections. Each section features clickable links to specific contacts and resources online. To learn more or to purchase Beyond Grants: 8 Super Ideas to Get Money for Your Business (and Other Financing Tips for Women Entrepreneurs), go to www.womensnet.net

Womensnet.net Marketplace Showcase

When you get a chance, check out our Womensnet.net Market Place page. Here is the link: http://womensnet.net/Marketplace/. From time to time we will feature a business that is in the WNN Community.

If you are interested in having your business featured, please fill out the application.

The first business to be featured in the coming week will be:
Your Own Beauty's
http://www.makeupmonthly.com/
Keisha Roland Owner & CEO
P: 866-431-1850F: 253-390-0173
P.O. Box 27072Federal Way, WA 98023

Amber Grant Award Dates

Every now and then we get an email asking when the next Womensnet.net Amber Grant is awarded. Lately I have received a good number of inquiries. So here is a quick note for all!

$500 Grant is awarded quarterly:
Deadline: September 2009 Awarded October 15, 2009
Deadline: December 2009 Awarded January 15, 2010
Deadline: March 2010 Awarded April 15, 2010
Deadline: June 2010 Awarded July 15, 2010

Click here to see our selections for the last few grants:
Amber Grant Awards

Hope everyone is enjoying a successful July!
Christina @ Womensnet

Urban Escapes Receives $500 WomensNet.net Grant

Maia Josebachvili of New York City will use her $500 grant to pursue publicity

FAIRPORT, N.Y., July 17—Maia Josebachvili of New York, New York, founder and president of Urban Escapes (http://www.urbanescapesnyc.com/) was awarded a $500 Amber grant from WomensNet.net on June 30th. WomensNet.net awards quarterly Amber grants of $500 to women in the process of starting or expanding their own businesses. Grant funds may be used to cover start-up expenses, such as buying or upgrading equipment, hiring consultants and advisors, joining professional organizations, or paying for advertising and marketing efforts.
Maia Josebachvili founded Urban Escapes in 2008 to offer New Yorkers the opportunity to escape the concrete jungle and explore actual jungles, among other places. Soon after start-up, she added jaunts to places well beyond the island of Manhattan, including exotic trips to Mexico, Costa Rica and New Zealand. The company’s revenues have been doubling each quarter since inception.
However, Josebachvili aims for even more growth. With her $500 grant, Josebachvili will hire a publicist to help create a media kit and spread the word about Urban Escapes’ affordable travel opportunities.
“We loved Maia’s concept and track record,” says Christina Lambert, chief operating officer of WomensNet.net. “Urban Escapes has grown exponentially in its first year of business and we’d like to help her reach her goal of tripling her revenue this coming year.”
About WomensNet.net
Since its launch in 1998, WomensNet.net has served as an online business community for women interested in starting and growing their own businesses. Each quarter, a $500 grant is awarded to a deserving woman in the process of starting a business. The Amber grant is named in memory of the founder’s sister. Women interested in applying for an Amber grant may do so at www.womensnet.net/amber-grants/apply.php. The only requirement is that they be a member of the WomensNet.net community, which is free. To register, go to http://www.womensnet.net/.

Amber Grant Announcement

Thanks for being patient! We will have the announcement out sometime this weekend. I wanted to make sure our writer had her interview with the recipient complete. I really have enjoyed learning more about who won this quarter.

I think everyone will be intrigued.

Be sure to resubmit your application for September's Amber Grant!