CNMI businesses participate in women entrepreneurship project

The CNMI Small Business Development Center Network at the Northern Marianas College and the Commonwealth Women’s Association recently hosted the fourth cohort of its Women Entrepreneurship Project.

 

Thirty business owners participated in four sessions featuring two-hour trainings on topics such as credit and financial management, improving credit scores, the business loan application process, commercial loan offerings, and how to improve your chances of approval success.

Fatima Celis, Vice President of locally-owned Rice to Meat You, a catering business that prepares and delivers pre-packaged platters and food plates, said in a press release,  “For small businesses looking to expand, it was very helpful for us to find this type of training where we could come to one place to hear from banks on what small businesses need to know about the loan process and what we also need to do if we want to improve our financials to receive that approval.”

“I most especially appreciated the presentation by Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian Bank. Understanding the importance of having good credit before starting a business was something I never thought about,” said Polly DLG. Masga, Co-Owner of Access 670 Consulting. She added, “Learning from industry experts has become more valuable than ever. These professionals offer insights that come from years of hands-on experience, giving us a clearer understanding of realistic challenges and opportunities for businesses to grow.”

“We are excited to work with this year’s program graduates in establishing their footprint in our economy, however big or small, as we find innovative solutions to assist in finding success in connecting them with our resource partners with whom make all of this possible for our clients and our programs,” said Nadine C. Deleon Guerrero, Network Director of the CNMI SBDC.