North Carolina has been ranked as one of the best states in the country for women to start a small business, according to a report by the National Women's Business Council.
The report ranked North Carolina as second in the nation for providing women business owners with access to the resources, tax incentives, mentorship, capital, networking, and training opportunities they need to succeed as entrepreneurs.
“This is part of a broader trend across the Carolinas, where women-led businesses are driving economic development and transforming local communities,” said Anni Mollett, TD Bank’s Head of Centralized Commercial Credit Management. “We are committed to supporting the success of these trailblazers with the guidance our dedicated relationship management team members, who work hard to first understand their customers’ needs before recommending tailored financial solutions.”
Fueling the entrepreneurial spirit
TD Bank hosted two networking events in the fall to bring women business owners together Charlotte stores in celebrating National Women’s Small Business Month. The first also celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month.
“For both occasions, we wanted to bring women entrepreneurs together in a way that could showcase their businesses while helping them foster connections in their markets,” Anni said.
Jay Johnson, TD Bank’s Senior Vice President, Midlands/Charlotte Retail Market Manager, helped to organize the events.
“As metro Charlotte’s population with Hispanic backgrounds continues to outpace our region’s overall increase in population, we see this reflected in our expanding customer base,” he said. “Similarly, recent years have seen us welcoming more and more women-led businesses into our TD Bank customer family.”
Bringing the community together
Both events welcomed women business owners and leaders representing a wide range of industries. Jay provided opening remarks, welcoming them and sharing insights into why TD Bank values the community and economic contributions of local businesses owned by women and people with Hispanic roots.
“At TD Bank, we aim to provide options and solutions to help both consumers and business owners thrive,” he said. “This builds trust in our communities, allowing us to assist them in realizing their fullest potential.”
TD Bank Small Business and Commercial Lending representatives also explained how business owners can take advantage of various credit and loan programs available to them. These include Federal programs, such as those offered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), for which TD Bank is a preferred lender.
“This means we can simplify and expedite the paperwork involved in obtaining an SBA loan as well as advising them on how to best qualify for the loans,” Jay said.
After the presentations, guests had plenty of networking opportunities to get to know each other, what they do, and how they positively impact the Charlotte community. Some discussed partnership opportunities.
“The events were so successful that many of the guests asked us to host more of them in the coming months where we focus on other issues in the community, especially around financial education,” Jay said. “That was great to hear because financial education is one of TD Bank’s pillars. After all, the more our customers know about the many options available to them, the better they can take advantage of them to gain more operational flexibility and expand their businesses.”
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