Are you a woman interested in creating a new business or taking an existing business to the next level? The 11th Annual Women’s Business Conference is meant to inspire entrepreneurial women like you in the Chippewa Valley. The 11th annual event will be 7:30am to 4:30pm Thursday, April 10, at The Plaza Hotel and Suites in Eau Claire.

Karman Briggs, director of jobs and business development at Western Dairyland Community Action Agency, said the conference is the biggest event produced by Western Dairyland’s Women’s Business Center. “We exist to help women in starting and improving small businesses,” Briggs said of the center.

The conference will include 20 breakout sessions throughout the day. Sessions are designed for people who are at any stage of business and cover topics ranging from creating a business plan to financing, leadership, recordkeeping, and goal-setting. Sarah Stokes, owner of Queen of the Castle magazine, will offer a welcome address at 8:15am, while a keynote address will be delivered by Dagmar Beckel-Machyckova, who formerly worked in economic development for the city of Eau Claire and the state of Wisconsin and is now owner and general manager of Golden Calf Co.

“I think anybody who want to start a small business has obstacles to overcome,” Briggs said. “It’s no easy task. I think within the Midwest we have a really strong work ethic.” She said historically, the Midwest has not had as strong of an entrepreneurship background as other regions, but the tide is changing as information and assistance is made more available to people who are pursing starting their own business or company.

“Women as a population have been historically underserved, so by having an event in a business center that is specifically meant to meet the needs of women, we are reaching out to a population of people who maybe have not had access to information, to resources and to financing as their male counterparts have,” Briggs said.

Today, women are starting businesses at a faster rate than men, but they still lag behind as a percentage of business owners, she said. The types of businesses women start are typically smaller in size and reach than businesses founded by men.

Interested in the conference? Registration is $59 per person, and information and a registration form can be found at www.womensbusinessconference.com.

“There really isn’t anything quite like it in the state,” Briggs said. “It’s grown every year, it’s pretty exciting.”