“We have helped more than 400 entrepreneurs this year throughout South Carolina start new businesses and expand current ones,” says Haidee Stith, executive director of the S.C. Women’s Business Center headquartered in Columbia. “With a demand for our services in the Upstate, we are making this initial commitment to serve entrepreneurs in this part of the state. We believe having a counselor available in Greenville will encourage more women entrepreneurs to seek our services and enable us to better serve our existing clients in the Upstate. We will expand our presence as necessary over the next year.”

The Center provides a wide range of resources, including business start-up assistance, marketing plan development, business plan writing, training courses, and loan packaging assistance. It will also be offering workshops on business topics and will sponsor an Upstate Business-to-Business Expo September 28 at the Palmetto Expo Center.

Entrepreneurs who wish to meet with a business counselor can call (864) 288-5687 ext. 212 to schedule an appointment at no charge.

SCWBC is funded with a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration and has partnerships with state technical colleges, research universities and its affiliate – the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP). SCWBC was formed by SCMEP (www.scmep.org) to assist the more than 128,000 existing women-owned businesses in South Carolina, as well as new female-owned ventures. SCMEP, headquartered in Columbia, SC, is a not-for-profit organization that helps manufacturers throughout the state solve business and supply chain process problems.