THE CNMI Women’s Association and the CNMI Small Business Development Center Network are resuming their efforts to empower women through the Women Entrepreneurs Project.
With the first cohort trainings in the books, a second cohort has begun receiving similar trainings that aim to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs.
“What we do is we collaborate, and we host a series of trainings,” CNMI SBDCN Network Director Nadine Deleon Guerrero said. “We’ve already completed a cohort in, I believe it was June…. In terms of women entrepreneurship, we actually have that as one of our initiatives, where we are trying to gather all those women that are interested in starting a business, and maybe don’t know how to, as far as technical assistance is concerned. They have great ideas, but they don’t know where to go, how to get started, or even don’t know how to write a business plan. That’s where we come in,” Deleon Guerrero added.
“What we’re trying to do is empower them to start thinking about the technical aspects that are involved in actually running a business. It’s a lot more than product development. There are also marketing strategies, personnel, and financial management. That’s where we come in. We train them on that part of their business.”
She added, “We’re trying to set up a robust training regime so that they can essentially better equip themselves first. Hopefully, that’ll give them more confidence to start expanding or start hiring.”
Deleon Guerrero said this would also help boost the local workforce and job retention market.
“Because that’s where we’re hurting. We have a pandemic. A lot of people are losing their jobs. Thankfully, we have [the American Rescue Plan Act]…and the government sector has been assisted, but what about the private sector? So, that’s what we’re trying to focus on: how we can build up the private sector. And we truly feel it’s with entrepreneurship, trying to start your own job, essentially, by providing a skill or a product that is unique to you, harnessing that, so that they can improve, expand, and become successful,” Deleon Guerrero said.
“Sometimes as women, we feel more comfortable with other women, versus a room full of men who are established and have their own thing going. Sometimes it gets intimidating. So that’s what we’re trying to do: just focus on women, and have them build that confidence, so that they can improve whatever it is that they need,” Deleon Guerrero said.
With the pandemic, she added, more women are staying home and being more creative in putting their skills to work, whether it’s through baking, party planning, or developing some other business through social media.
“There’s a strong focus on women right now, especially with the pandemic. Now, more women are staying home and doing their own thing…. All these things that women essentially do best, they’re now focusing on that, trying to develop it to become their own thing, their own business, their own bread and butter. That’s what we want to help promote and help become successful in their own right,” Deleon Guerrero said.
Training sessions for the second cohort of the Women Entrepreneurs Project are held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Wednesday from Aug. 24 to Sept. 21.
For more information, contact the CNMI Women’s Association at (670) 233-8978/9411.
Nadine Deleon Guerrero
