In addition to October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, it also celebrates women-owned businesses.
The Streetsboro University Hospitals partnered with the Streetsboro Area Chamber of Commerce to rebrand the annual health expo into the “She Means Business” expo, celebrating women-owned businesses in the Tri-County area on Oct. 18.
“October celebrates female entrepreneurs in a nutshell,” Deb Covert, the Streetsboro Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Director told The Weekly Villager. “That’s what this month is all about. This is the first year it has been themed. It was themed around female entrepreneurs because it is October.”
For several years, UH and the Streetsboro Chamber of Commerce hosted an annual health expo revolving around breast cancer awareness and also offered free health screenings.
This year, the two organizations decided it was time to give the expo an actual theme, and host an expo celebrating women-owned businesses, went hand in hand with recognizing breast cancer awareness.
“University Hospital always does screenings so it was us thinking hey, let’s make this a women’s business expo and University Hospital thinking let’s focus on women’s health because that’s what October is all about,” Covert added.
The “She Means Business” Expo invited many different women-owned businesses, both small and large, to the event and the turnout resulted in businesses from beyond Portage County attending to promote themselves to the community, including those from Summit County and Cuyahoga County.
On the second floor of University Hospital, several local and non-profit businesses were given a table to set up shop and offer information to visitors explaining their business.
Some local businesses that attended the event were Town Hall II, the Portage County Mental Health & Recovery Board, the Portage Park District and the Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
“It is super important that they are doing that and it is awesome that they are helping us to be a part of this event to help empower women and are here to help,” said Rebecca Roberts, a prevention specialist from Town Hall II.
For Erin Bradford Davis, the owner of The Lapé Experience, a new start-up Creole cuisine-themed food business based out of Cleveland, it was the perfect opportunity to connect with other female-owned businesses.
It is very inspirational,” she said. “I am a start-up business and to be with other businesses that have been around and to see how they have been able to flourish is inspirational and motivational for me.”
According to Stephanie Bemus, the co-owner of Hoops ‘n’ Loops, an embroidery business from Tallmadge, the newly themed expo was a great way to shine a spotlight on women-owned businesses.
“It is making us shine,” she said. “In the world nowadays I think it is important that women are the driving force behind your everyday life so it is important to celebrate us and recognize that there are a lot of women entrepreneurs.”
According to Covert, it was not just about promoting women-owned businesses but also celebrating the small businesses that help communities thrive.
“Smaller businesses really make up for the communities,” she said. “It is huge not just having the Mental Health & Recovery Board and organizations but stuff which support small business which is what the Chamber is about.”
Covert said that the Streetsboro Chamber of Commerce was pleased with the turnout and hopes to build the momentum from this year’s expo and make the “She Means Business” theme a permanent theme for the next several years.
She added the women-owned businesses are on the rise, with many new and innovative ideas being brought to the table.
She also credited University Hospitals for its assistance in helping transform the expo into a new event.
“University Hospital is an excellent partner,” she said. “They are very collaboratve and very accommodating. They are a very community-minded organization as well, so they provided help and helped promote it and got various folks to do screenings.”
