Women’s Business Center celebrates grand opening of facility

Zoom created many possibilities for connection, but some lessons are better taught in-person, said Norma Dunn, director of the Kern Women’s Business Center, during the grand opening of the building Thursday.

Women and minority business owners can take classes about social media marketing, sales, tax preparation and more offered at the WBC, located at 10800 Stockdale Highway. Kern’s rural corners will get these lessons through online courses, Dunn added.

“The resources available (are) very limited … in the Central Valley,” Dunn said. “We wanted to bring it to all of Kern County … and make sure that the people have the help that they need to start their businesses or scale their businesses up.”

The U.S. Small Business Administration created a WBC in San Luis Obispo which then created a satellite office locally in March 2019. Dunn said she applied for a grant from the SBA that allowed the Bakersfield office to open its own WBC.

Many classes were taught virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Thursday marked a return to in-person lessons at the local WBC. Mission Community Services Corp., dedicated to aiding entrepreneurs, operates the WBC.

Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Nick Ortiz said the center’s opening complements the efforts of Kern County’s B3K Prosperity Initiative, a coalition of community leaders strategizing to create good jobs.

The WBC directly provides the services needed to create a “more inclusive and more equitable” economy for entrepreneurs, Ortiz said.

Ortiz added how the pandemic altered our entire world, while the WBC represented “boots on the ground” to navigate the federal and state relief programs, which kept businesses afloat during an unprecedented time.

“I cannot overstate the impact of the Women’s Business Center on small businesses and entrepreneurs in Bakersfield and Kern County,” Ortiz said, while noting that its work is not over.

Some of the biggest industries in Kern County include oil and agriculture and health care — however, small businesses secure generational wealth and prosperity, he added.

Glenda Woolfolk, founder, CEO and president of the nonprofit No Sister Left Behind, turned to the local WBC to develop her

organization. She said she had the passion, but needed guidance to direct those intangible feelings into a solid vision. Dunn introduced her to connections, which turned her nonprofit into a success.

“If I fail, it won’t be because of (the) Kern Women’s Business (Center),” Woolfolk said. “It’d be because of me not doing what they told me to do.”