FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Professor, Senior Project Director of Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative Appointed to Key4Women Advisory Board
Media contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
(574) 284-4579
May 4, 2011 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—KeyBank announced today that it has appointed Saint Mary's College business law and accounting professor Susan Vance, senior project director of the College’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, to the national Key4Women Advisory Board. Key4Women is a Key Bank program for women business owners. Vance joins 22 other new advisory board members to form the 2011 board, comprised of women business owners, leaders and experts from a cross section of industries across Key’s footprint. It includes representatives from the Women Presidents’ Organization, the Center for Women's Business Research, Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), the Saint Mary’s College Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative and ForbesWoman.
Originally formed in 2006, the advisory board works informs the Key4Women program to understand new challenges women business owners face in today’s economy. It also offers these women an opportunity to share experiences and offer advice to one another. The insights garnered from advisory board members help drive Key4Women’s strategy and program enhancements.
According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, 10 million firms are majority-owned by women. As of 2008, these firms accounted for 40 percent of all privately held companies, employing more than 13 million people and generating $1.9 trillion in sales.
“The Key4Women program encourages women business owners to share ideas and business experiences,” said Randy Foster, president of KeyBank in Northern Indiana. “Listening to our board’s candid feedback and implementing those actionable insights is critical to our business and enables us to provide the best service and insight to our clients. Susan Vance is an excellent addition to our board, helping us to accomplish this goal.”
In 2009, Susan was named the Senior Project Director of the Saint Mary's College Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI). WEI provides assistance to local women who want to start or grow their small business and internally provides entrepreneurship opportunities for the College’s students.
The current group of board members will serve on the board for one year.
As one of the nation’s largest financial services companies and top small business lenders, Key provides financial services to thousands of women-owned businesses in 14 states.
About the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI): In 2009, the College received a $245,000 Small Business Administration grant to support women’s entrepreneurship programming in the South Bend community, which led to the creation of WEI. The initiative was developed through the collaborative efforts of the Department of Business Administration and Economics (BUEC) and the staff of the Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership (CWIL). Through WEI, which got underway in the spring semester, the College is partnering with community businesses, non-profits and organizations to provide a number of financial and business education services to women entrepreneurs. WEI is pronounced "we."
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary’s College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” in the U.S. News & World Report 2011 College Guide. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
About Key4Women: Founded in 2005, Key4Women helps women business owners achieve their goals by providing access to capital, customized service, networking events, and educational opportunities. Key4Women has lent $3 billion to qualified women business owners since 2005 and committed to lending another $3 billion by 2012.
About KeyBank’s Northern Indiana District: Key has 30 branches and 42 ATMs in eight counties in northern Indiana and southern Michigan, offering a broad array of retail, commercial and investment banking products and services for individuals and businesses.