COLUMBIA, SC – April 25, 2006 – The South Carolina Women’s Business Center (SCWBC) and the Five Rivers Community Development Corporation have been selected as two of the 12 enterprise development organizations to participate in MicroMentor, a national program of The Aspen Institute. MicroMentor is an entrepreneurial development program connecting volunteer business professionals with emerging entrepreneurs in mentoring relationships. MicroMentor’s mission is to help emerging entrepreneurs access the business assistance they need to navigate the opportunities and challenges of growing a business and is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Citigroup Foundation.

“We are excited about this opportunity to work with the prestigious Aspen Institute and connect our clients as protégés with mentors throughout the nation,” said Haidee Stith, SCWBC executive director. “MicroMentor has developed a convenient and effective method through which protégés and mentors are matched, and the program is structured to ensure the maximum benefit is derived from the mentoring relationship.”

“Five Rivers CDC offers entrepreneurs an array of technical assistance. The opportunity to access MicroMentor will serve to broaden the knowledge base and strengthen their chances to succeed,” said Beulah White, executive director of Five Rivers CDC, located in Georgetown.

MicroMentor works by signing up protégé entrepreneurs and mentors through the www.MicroMentor.org site. Protégés must be clients of the S.C. Women’s Business Center or the Five Rivers CDC. Once a protégé registers, he or she is able to search for a mentor by industry, expertise, or other criteria and request a connection with the mentor who best fits business needs. The mentoring relationship is expected to involve a commitment of at least three hours per month for three months with protégés dedicating an additional three hours per month to prepare for meetings and implement the mentor’s suggestions.

“This program works because it is user-defined and goal-oriented,” said David Rand, director of MicroMentor. “We are delighted to be working with two successful organizations like the Women’s Business Center and Five Rivers CDC. MicroMentor enables entrepreneurs to connect, network and grow their businesses.”

The Aspen Institute’s FIELD program (Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination) developed MicroMentor in 2001 and was awarded a grant from the PRIME Initiative program of the U.S. Small Business Administration and Citigroup Foundation to involve 12 different enterprise development organizations in a national initiative to increase the capacity of microenterprise and economic development programs across the U.S. The SC Women’s Business Center and Five Rivers CDC were awarded places in the program through a competitive grant process.

For more information, prospective protégés and mentors can call the S.C. Women’s Business Center at 803-461-8900 or Five Rivers CDC at 843-527-4596.

Important Web Sites:
S.C. Women’s Business Center www.scwbc.org
Five Rivers Community Development Corp. www.ruralisc.org/frcdc.htm
The Aspen Institute www.aspeninst.org