There was a nice turnout of 22 Kanab area women business leaders for the first Women’s Business Center of Utah (WBCUT) networking lunch. This gathering was at Adria’s restaurant on Thursday, August 3rd , and was sponsored by the Kanab Area Chamber of Commerce. It was an opportunity for local women business owners to come together to network and learn more about the Women’s Business Center of Utah.

Kanab Area Chamber of Commerce president, Pat Guerrero, welcomed the group and then turned the time over to WBCUT program director, Lisa Jensen. Lisa addressed the attendees on how WBCUT helps women start and grow their own businesses through free training and business advising. She shared more specifics about a couple of their free virtual training courses. One of those is “Minding My Own Business” which helps women solopreneurs focus their time and energy on generating sales, including lead generation, and automated processes for conversation, follow up and customer feedback. Another free course is “Ms. Biz: Finances and Bookkeeping” which includes finding your target audience, marketing, business planning, pricing, and more.
WBCUT also manages a women owned business directory, which is made up of over 2000 businesses across the state, as well as a Facebook group for interactions and to promote businesses and events. And WBCUT will be hosting the “Exploring Possibilities” conference in Cedar City on September 12th.
Lunch attendee Claudia Balata Thomas, owner of Kanab Create art studio, said “I got involved with the Women’s Business Center of Utah during COVID, when I attended many of their business trainings via Zoom. That led me to one of their conferences in Cedar City. I’m glad that the women business leaders in Kanab are learning more about Women’s Business Center and also that we had this lunch opportunity to network and learn more about each other.”
Women’s Business of Center of Utah was established in 1997 as a partnership between the Salt Lake Chamber and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Their team is employed by the Salt Lake Chamber but focused on a separate and complimentary mission, to assist women business owners statewide. WBCUT is federally funded, so your tax dollars are coming back around to help you, your sister, friend and daughter. Learn more about the Women’s Business Center of Utah at wbcutah.org.