Idaho's first Women’s Business Center opens in Boise

GET INVOLVED

• 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 1, at D.L. Evans Bank, 213 N. 9th St., Boise. Clients of the Women’s Business Center will showcase their products in “Empowering Women and Building Community” as part of First Thursday. One client featured will be Alicia Izaguirre, owner of Doll House CupCakes and Desserts.

• 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at the Women’s Business Center, 1607 W. Jefferson St., Boise. Celebrate International Women’s Day and the center’s open house.

Contact the Women’s Business Center to volunteer or to become a client at 336-6722.

Women make up about 50 percent of the population in Canyon, Elmore, Gem and Payette counties. However, they own only 22 percent of the businesses, according to Sheila Spangler, manager of the Women’s Business Center that opened in January at 1607 W. Jefferson St., in Boise’s North End.

“Not everyone wants to own a business,” Spangler said. “But some women may not know what to do or where to go.”

Spangler says the new center aims to help women, and men, start and expand their businesses through counseling, education and assistance in business planning, cash flow analysis, marketing, loan packaging, lender referrals and networking. The goal for the first year is to serve at least 80 people. It already has 10 clients, she said.

Clients pay a $35 enrollment fee.

The center is funded in part by a $150,000 annual grant for five years from the U.S. Small Business Administration. It is forming a group of local business leaders to help raise matching funds of $75,000 in cash and in-kind donations.

Center staff also are developing mentoring programs and networking opportunities between seasoned entrepreneurs and new business owners.

The center is one of many programs under META (Micro Enterprise Training and Assistance), a division of Mountain States Group, a Boise-based nonprofit that administers several government programs. META was founded in 2002 to counsel and train entrepreneurs and would-be business owners.

Center clients also may be eligible for loans of $500 to $15,000 through META.

The new center will draw on Spangler’s knowledge and experience.

Spangler is a commercial lending veteran of more than 20 years who was vice president with several large banking institutions including U.S. Bank (formerly West One Bank), Zions Bank, Washington Mutual Bank and First Interstate Bank (now Wells Fargo). In Boise, she helped establish the Zions Bank Womens Financial Group before starting her own business, helping people buy, sell and finance businesses. Spangler was born in Mountain Home and raised in Hammett. She graduated from Boise State University.

“We’re building something here,” Spangler said. “It’s a big challenge, but I love challenges.”

Sandra Forester: 377-6464