Upcoming Event
Begins Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 7:30 AM
The gathering will showcase Charlotte Leavitt. Charlotte will present an overview of her business, CHART Metalworks, and a current business challenge. In a roundtable format…
Cornerstone Sponsor:
Benefactor Sponsor:
2010 Leadership Luncheon
The Maine Women’s Fund will host the first annual Leadership Luncheon, Women’s Leadership: Creating Opportunities in Maine, at the Holiday Inn by the Bay on Thursday, June 10, 2010.
The luncheon is an opportunity for Maine women to explore the themes of leadership, philanthropy and women’s role in creating economic opportunity while supporting the Fund. Through a moderated conversation with three of Maine’s most successful women and facilitated conversation at each table, all participants will be able to offer their voice and ideas to these important topics. Additionally, at the luncheon we will honor Karen Mills, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, with the 2010 TWIN (Tribute to Women in Industry) Award.
This luncheon provides an fantastic venue for organizations and individuals to showcase their support of Maine women and girls. Download information on sponsorship opportunities or contact Lauren Dietlin at 207-774-5513 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
TWIN (Tribute to Women in Industry) Recipient
We are pleased to announce Karen Mills as our 2010 TWIN Award Recipient. Ms. Mills lives in Brunswick and works in Washington, DC as the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Mills has been an active hands-on investor in and successful manager of small businesses for over 25 years. Mills co-founded and was a managing director of Solera Capital LLC, a venture capital firm in New York. She was also president of MMP Group, a Brunswick private-equity firm. Ms. Mills has distinguished herself as a passionate advocate for small business policy that encourages innovation, economic development and job creation.
Prior to taking on the leadership of the SBA, in her role as the chair of Maine’s Council on Competitiveness and the Economy, Mills focused on attracting investment in rural initiatives and regional economic development clusters - concentrations of interconnected businesses that share knowledge and resources to spur innovation, economic growth and higher wage employment. Ms. Mills’ was successful in securing a $15 million grant for a Maine boat building cluster, has become one of the leading examples of the effectiveness of economic development clusters.
Now, Mills is taking her Maine experience nationally. The SBA is working to apply the cluster model on the national scale and focus on growing small businesses, making them the backbone of the economy. In fact, loans backed by the Small Business Administration in Maine increased 301% to just over $36 million for the first quarter of the fiscal year, according to the SBA’s regional office. Under her leadership , the SBA has supported nearly $20 billion in lending to small businesses since last February as part of the agency’s efforts focused on economic recovery.
We are delighted to celebrate Ms. Mills’ accomplishments by presenting her the 2010 TWIN Award. The TWIN Award is given to a woman who is a leader in her field and who has achieved significant accomplishments as a business owner, business executive or nonprofit organizational leader. We will be honoring Karen and hearing her thoughts on how women are creating opportunity in Maine at our June 10th Leadership Luncheon.
