The Women’s Business Development Council, an organization that helps support, fund, and develop women-owned businesses across Connecticut, recently reached a remarkable grant milestone. 

By Bridget Bronsdon 

Camille Hudson, the owner of Warehouse 635, an event space in West Hartford, is just one of the success stories from the Women’s Business Development Council. The space, which was once an empty warehouse, is now the perfect  location to host any event from birthday parties to fundraisers, and more. 

The idea was born just two years ago when Hudson was struggling to find an event space that allowed clients to bring in their own food, beverages, and decorations. Now, two years later, Hudson is the owner of a massively successful business that has received hundreds of bookings – and with the help of the WBDC, her business idea became reality. 

On Monday morning, WBDC staff, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, and JPMorgan partners gathered in Hudson’s event space to celebrate an incredible grant milestone. 

WBDC Chief Operating Officer Brenda Thickett said that the “WBDC has given out $10 million since 2020 in grants to small businesses across the state, so, childcare grants, this Ignite Grant, start-up grants, and municipal grants.” 

Ignite, a WBDC grant program, offers up to $10,000 to women-owned businesses across the state, and since most of the companies the WBDC funds are small, the grant can make all the difference. 

“The average or the median revenue of the businesses we fund with this Ignite Program is $135,000 in revenue, but it would take them a long time to be able to save the $10,000 to make the investment in the business,” said Thickett. 

“It’s so important to help these businesses with a small infusion of capital that otherwise would be very difficult to get because a bank isn’t going to make a loan for $10,000, it’s just too small for them, but for these sized businesses it can really make a big difference. The other thing that’s really important is the grant application is essentially structured like a loan application, people don’t really realize that when they fill it out because we’ve broken it down,” she said. 

“And so by the time people have done the grant application they’re actually ready to apply for a loan, and about 30 of the businesses that we’ve funded through this program have gone on to access another additional $2.8 million in more traditional forms of capital, so we’re also educating businesses through the grant application process in addition to giving them the capital to help them grow,” Thickett explained. 

However, the WBDC’s work doesn’t just focus on the grants, they also provide classes on how to start a business, get a loan, marketing, and various other business-related topics. The organization also has a team of advisors that meets one-on-one with clients to go over opportunities or challenges their business may be facing. 

While not every business receives a grant, the WBDC provides support services so applicants can work with advisors to refine and edit their applications. “We encourage them to reapply if they didn’t get it,’ Thickett said. 

The Ignite Program, which is now a competitive grant for women across the state, was initially born out of the pandemic. 

In 2020, Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz and WBDC founder Fran Pastore noticed a need to help women-owned small businesses after discovering the majority of Connecticut’s PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) grants went to male-owned companies. From there, the program took off and the grant is now bringing support to women-led businesses across the state. 

“The reason that the [governor] and I are so committed to helping women-owned businesses is that we know that if you spend a dollar at a women-owned business, two-thirds of that dollar stays right in the community, and when you uplift women you uplift families, you uplift communities, you uplift our state,” said Bysiewicz. 

She also mentioned the instrumental role that one of the program’s champions, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has played. 

Over the last five years, JPMorgan “has invested almost $600,000 into WBDC programs to help the economic prosperity and growth of some of these women-led businesses,” said Ryan McGrath, head of JPMorgan private bank for Connecticut. 

“These programs provide grants that have immeasurable impacts on these businesses’ growth and profitability,” he said. 

As for the grant’s impact on West Hartford, Hudson’s Warehouse 635 business is proof. “Camille’s story is the story of the Ignite Grant,” said Bysiewicz and West Hartford Economic Development Coordinator Kristen Gorski congratulated Hudson on her recent awards. 

Hudson was awarded the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was ranked the 2023 No. 1 Event Space in “Best of Hartford. “

While the current application cycle is now closed, the next round of Ignite Grants opens on August 12 and will close at the end of September.

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