Partnering with women-owned businesses

June 16, 2022 - DENTON - The Center for Woman Entrepreneurs (CWE) at Texas Woman’s University was funded by the Texas Legislature to help women entrepreneurs throughout Texas succeed, and that’s exactly what we do. The CWE provides women business owners and students interested in entrepreneurship with the training, funding, business advisement and networking needed to be successful business owners, and affiliation with TWU is not necessary to use our free services.

The CWE makes a dedicated effort to help and support women entrepreneurs when we collaborate on programming. Some of our partnerships include:

Stoke Co-working: The CWE has collaborated with Heather Gregory, director of the woman-owned co-working space, Stoke, for two cohorts of the AccelerateHER incubator program. Stoke provides workspace, office amenities and a supportive, resourceful community for startups, entrepreneurs, remote workers, freelancers, small businesses and tech-enabled companies in the heart of Denton. We also have sponsored several of their events, including the most recent Flint Conference.

The Slate: In 2021, the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership (JNIWL) entered into a five-year agreement with The Slate and the Slater sisters, Shelly and Jodie, to create the TX Woman Owned Incubator Program, facilitated by the CWE. The Slate is not your ordinary co-working space—they have multimedia studios where entrepreneurs can take advantage of video and photo services or record a podcast in their studios.

North Texas Entrepreneur Education & Training Center (NTEEC): Darlisa Diltz, the 2021 Startup Evangelist of the year, is no stranger to the CWE. We will be collaborating for a second year with the NTEEC in a Leadership Development program that provides support, structure and guidance to women embarking on the entrepreneurial journey. The participants will engage in focus-group-styled weekly sessions that will introduce new topics and issues facing women entrepreneurs.

Diltz also recently opened the Center NTX flexible workspace and training facility in Northeast Tarrant County, which provides an inclusive and collaborative space for students, startups, entrepreneurs and community members alike to connect and engage.

EqALL Business Solutions: Resource builder and startup advisor Holly Burrow is working with the CWE as facilitator and advisor for the TX Women Owned Incubator program at The Slate. Burrow is well known in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem as a startup advisory provider who supplies support through milestone driven advising sessions. As a partner, EqALL will build client rapport, track growth metrics and help build a narrative of reportable success.

Creating partnerships with women-owned businesses could help boost your business, offer new insight or offer opportunities the business didn’t have before. Women are able to bring a unique perspective and provide support and creativity to a company. The CWE has been able to reach more women-owned businesses with these partnerships, and we are grateful for these collaborations with strong women and creative business ideas. If your business needs some guidance, you will find any of the women listed glad to help.

Tracy Irby is the director for the Center for Women Entrepreneurs at Texas Woman’s University. She can be reached at tirby@twu.edu. The center is a program of the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership, which is dedicated to preparing more women to take on successful roles in business and public service.

Article first published in the Denton Record-Chronicle.