Home >  Business

Sunday, December 29, 2002

By Donald I. Hammonds, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Getting a handle on how to run your small business and make it grow can be a tough order for anyone.

	Deborah Moses, executive director of PowerLink Inc., says there's no shortage of local experts willing to volunteer to assist women-owned businesses. (Lake Fong, Post-Gazette)

But for 11 years, Mount Washington-based PowerLink Inc. has helped women with promising businesses make the most of them. The nonprofit helps women through a mentoring program of volunteer advisory panels to counsel them on a wide range of business issues.

Thus far, PowerLink has assisted 66 woman-owned businesses and, according to a study conducted for it last year, has helped many grow significantly. Of 45 companies surveyed by Pittsburgh-based Direct Response Marketing after they completed a year of counseling, revenues increased from an average $666,800 prior to working with PowerLink to an average of $1,256,818, while their average work force grew from 8 full-time persons to 11. Profits also expanded, from an average of $104,375 to $143,590.

As a result of PowerLink's success, the Vera I. Heinz Foundation recently awarded the agency a $75,000 grant to help support the agency's general operations.

The recognition highlights the importance of the agency to the region, said PowerLink Executive Director Deborah A. Moses.

"We're working right at the intersection of three major issues in this region -- diversity, economic development and entrepreneurship."

Not surprisingly, the corporate and small business communities have been enthusiastically volunteering to serve on advisory panels that include business people experienced in a variety of fields, including accounting, banking, law and small business.

For one year, each panel will advise one woman, meeting with her quarterly at her facility and providing her with guidance, counseling and direction on how to "get to the next level."

By that, Moses means that women may want to "move from say, $200,000 in sales to $500,000 in annual sales. Or perhaps they want to go from $500,000 to $1 million. Or maybe they want to build up their staff, increase their infrastructure or do long-range planning."

Those who sit on the advisory panels say that it's a rewarding experience.

"It's beneficial both for the person who benefits from it and for the board members," said Alan Siger, president and chief executive officer of Consumers Produce Co. in the Strip District. "You learn how other people do things and look at things. ... No matter how much you think you know, there are always things you can learn from others."

To qualify for assistance from PowerLink, applicants must have the equivalent of two full-time employees, have been operating for two years and have revenue of at least $200,000 annually.

"The last thing that our board of directors does is determine from an interview whether the potential client is advisable -- in other words, will she take advice? Will she be open during this process? Will she listen to what the advisers share with her?" Moses said.

There's a fee of between $250 to $750 to cover administrative costs. The fee that each company will pay depends upon the company's revenues, Moses said.

In 1997 the firm sold the rights to its process for national distribution to the Athena Foundation, a national foundation devoted to women as leaders.