Independent Banker - November 2019 - 62

also connect them with the Economic Development
Council of Maine and individual municipalities, as well as
the Maine Technology Institute. "
One of the most important resources Donnelly connects
entrepreneurs with is Coastal Enterprises, Inc., which has
a women's business center. " This center schedules monthly
peer facilitation group meetings, as well as access to
specialists, " she says. Other resources include free business
plan development and a wide array of workshops.
Another community bank that connects women
entrepreneurs with outside mentoring resources is
$1.5 billion-asset Investors Community Bank in Manitowoc,
Wis. About two years ago, the bank began investing in the
Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation, a
support organization for women entrepreneurs.
" This allows us to partner with an organization that
provides quality business and financial education, " says
Dave Coggins, the bank's executive vice president and chief
banking officer. " We realized that it made more sense to
do this than to try to build these kinds of resources within
our own bank. We are happy with the partnership, and it is
working well for us. "
William Atkinson is a writer in Illinois.
What can community banks do to
support women entrepreneurs?
Susan Duffy
The Center for Women's
Entrepreneurial Leadership at
Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.,
offers many programs supporting
women leaders. For example,
the center's Women Innovating
Now (WIN) Lab supports women
entrepreneurs looking to scale their
startups via an intensive five-month
program covering everything from
early stage customer acquisition to
identifying sources of capital.
" We have come to realize that
a lot of experiences for women
business founders are similar to
" Banks can become the center
points of larger cohesive
systems in the community
that are in place to support
women in business. "
-Susan Duffy, Women Innovating
Now Lab
those for men, and many
of them are different,
so we created an
accelerator process to
help women deal with
all of these issues, " says
Susan Duffy, executive
director of the Center for
Women's Entrepreneurial
Leadership and cofounder
of WIN Lab. " We use
a self-efficacy model,
which helps to create a
community to support
women and help them
understand that it really
can open doors and close deals. "
On the topic of access to capital,
for example, the program discusses
the environment in general: not only
that capital is much less likely to go
to women founders, whether debt
or equity, but also how to create
successful pitches. " Research
has shown that, if [women] utilize
traditional presentations, they are
less likely to get funded, " Duffy says.
" However, if they can change the
conversation in their presentations,
they are just as likely to receive
62 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q November 2019
funding as men are. "
What can community banks do
to help? Besides lending money,
Duffy believes they can play a
huge role in helping to connect
women entrepreneurs with relevant
resources in their communities that
can provide training, education,
coaching and mentoring. " In other
words, banks can become the
center points of larger cohesive
systems in the community that
are in place to support women in
business, " she says.
Photo: Dan Vaillancourt
Independent Banker - November 2019

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