>> Funding for "NJ Business Beat with Raven Santana" provided by NJMEP, a partner to New Jersey's manufacturing industry, focused on productivity, performance, and strategic development.

More on NJMEP.org.

And by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

Announcing its business summits and Expo March 26 and March 27 in Atlantic City.

Event details online.

♪ This is "NJ Business Beat with Raven Santana."

Raven: Hello, I am Raven Santana.

Thank you for joining me on "NJ Business Beat."

March is women's history month.

We are taking the pulse of the women's owned business community which is among the fastest growing business sectors in the country.

According to a recent report, there are more than 14 million women businesses in the country.

40% of all businesses in the U.S. Women accounted for 50% of all new businesses for the third year in a route and they made $2.7 trillion in annual review.

The rate of growth is higher for black women-owned businesses.

14.8% of businesses are owned by black women.

The employee close to 530,000 workers.

In New Jersey, there are more than 320,000 women-owned businesses, about 40% of companies in the state.

Women make up almost half of employees in the Garden State.

The challenges that remain, I spoke with the Executive Director of the women's Center for entrepreneurship.

What is the women's Center for entrepreneurship and what does it mean to be a resource partner for the small business administration?

>> The WCEC is a resource partner.

We are one of 150 women's business centers across the country.

We all receive the same grant from Congress that goes through the SBA.

I like to think of us as the SBA's field officers.

We are in the community, connecting with clients, entrepreneurs.

We prioritize women.

However, anyone is welcome to come and use our resources.

We provide business training, counseling, webinars, anything you can think of with any topic regards to business.

We have subject matter experts and the staff, all of us can assist to help them grow their business.

Raven: What are the types of programs and resources -- you named a few but let's elaborate more -- that the WCEC offers aspiring entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs with existing businesses?

Rana: If you are at the concept level and you would like to launch your business or register your business, you are not sure what legal entity you would like to register it as, we can help you, connect you with legal experts at no cost or low-cost.

We are trying to help the entire community.

We do not put barriers based on any type of price.

Anyone can come and we can assist them.

We can help you with any type of financial literacy.

The biggest thing we get requests for is access to capital and marketing.

Most of our clients have a business or they are struggling to start a business.

They want to grow and improve the concept.

They want to market.

Right now that is very complicated.

In the past it was simple.

There were only a few vehicles where you could advertise but now it is so complicated and people need a lot of assistance.

What type of esales within like to do, which platform is the best match?

How did they manage it, how do we get content published?

What do they target their marketing?

We help them with everything.

Raven: We talk about diversity, talk about including everyone and giving them resources and opportunities.

The WCEC also believes in empowering women leaving the prison system through entrepreneurial education.

Tell us more about that.

I think it is worth touching on that, as well.

Rana: We are so excited about the grant we received and we applied for from the Department of Corrections to help women who are in prison and will be released from prison soon.

We started this past month, we have a nine-week program where we go in and we have a curriculum to start and grow a business.

We hope to continue with the ladies when they get released.

We are excited about this particular grant because, normally, we teach and then we continue to coach and assist while the client executes everything on their own and implements everything on their own.

With this grant, we have extra resources to hire people for them.

Let's say you want to start a business and part of that requires you to launch a website.

That is where you get all the esales.

We would teach you how to do that and normally the client would do it on their own and they might struggle.

In this case, in addition to teaching them, we will say, hey, if you would like to hire a freelancer, we have a small budget to help you hire that freelancer.

It will be a lot of extra support to get them through and help them build up through the e-commerce phase.

Raven: I really do love that.

Rana, why certified as a woman-owned business and what is the process for certification?

Rana: Certification is a great tool you are trying to land government contracts.

There are also corporations that will set aside specific contracts just are people who are certified.

Once certification is for women-owned certifications.

Let's say they have contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars going out to vendors and they will set aside for that 5% that must go specifically for women who have been certified.

Those certifications can be complicated.

Sometimes, clients need technical support to get those certifications.

We help walk them through that to a certain phase and we also hand them over to a lot of our collaborating nonprofit entities.

There are centers supported by the government that receive some funding and helps them.

They have full-time employees.

Also nonprofit.

Very low cost or no cost.

They stick with them through the end and help them compile the paperwork and submit and get the certifications.

Raven: I am wondering, what are businesses where women are finding the most success?

Rana: That is a very good question.

We have such a huge variety of different businesses that we support.

On one end, you have a lot of women working on their own inside their homes, where they are creating products.

Let's say beauty products.

Now that we have -- a lot of people in New Jersey are breaking from their homes.

In the past, they had to cook in commercial kitchens.

We also have tech businesses and offshore wind businesses we are starting to support.

We have people who are in the service industry.

You have professionals who are accountants and lawyers and everything in between.

We have a very large spectrum.

I think we have helped over 1000 women per year.

Raven: It is just a reminder why it is always a good ideaR to invest ina women.

Na, thank you so much for joining me.

Rana: My pleasure.

Raven: We wanted to hear about the hard work needed as a woman business owner from someone who is living the life right now.

She is the founder and CEO of Hudson Titian, an organization that helps -- her business has created 58 jobs and has generated $9 million in revenue.

I spoke to Johnson-Jones about why she created Hudson Kitchen.

What I love most about your story is all of this was not the original vision.

You actually lost your job.

This came about.

Talk about the journey to how we got here.

>> I wanted to start a completely different business.

I wanted to help people figure out where to work out.

I got a personal trainer certification.

My friend says what do I eat?

A chef started creating recipes.

That started the journey.

Raven: Tell me a little bit about what it takes to open up a business like Hudson Kitchen.

We think about loans and grants, what does that look like?

Djenaba: I did a competitive analysis.

What?

Is out there?

There were six kitchens open 24/7.

After the competitive analysis, I actually started looking for a location, thinking it would be so easy.

I was so nalïve.

I looked at somebody different places.

What I ended up doing was network events around the concept of Hudson Kitchen and what I would do which is the best thing I could have ever done.

When it was time for me to get financing, I got interest.

It was fantastic.

Raven: That networking, putting yourself out there is what really helped.

Can you elaborate on what the grant process looks like?

It does not seem easy.

Djenaba: The first thing I took was a business Academy program that walks you through creating a business plan.

I had already created my plan but to sit with other entrepreneurs for a couple of weeks to hone the plan was important.

I took another course with economic development.

They did a course focusing on what it looked like to grow the business.

From there, I developed a relationship with them in conjunction with Hudson.

They took my business plan to the banks for me.

We put some of our own money in.

I received an SBA loan.

They have been an amazing partner.

In addition to that, I also applied for grants.

There is a lot of free money, for lack of a better term, out there for businesses.

Raven: Do you think that is part of the issue?

People, women, do not know there is all this money out there that is available?

Djenaba: There are so many resources in New Jersey.

Raven: Let's talk about Hudson Kitchen.

What is it?

It is so many things and you are helping somebody people.

Describe what it is and what people do.

Djenaba: When I started the business, I did networking events but I also launched a business mood cap to teach people what to do.

I asked how I started a food business.

I took everything I learned and wrote this business Boot Camp.

It was really great.

Raven: I understand you started in 2019.

Djenaba: This kitchen opened in 2019 but the business started in 2015.

It took about nine months of construction.

We are on this beautiful campus.

An amazing group of people to work with.

This is my first construction project ever.

We have an 8000 square-foot facility.

Raven: It is beautiful.

Djenaba: Thank you.

It is designed by me.

[LAUGHTER] Raven: You keep wowing me.

It is one thing after another.

I feel like this space is intentional.

People will be able to see it as we give them a preview of this but is also the location is important and the people utilizing it.

Tell me who is here and how you are actually helping them to expand and grow.

Djenaba: We are a collaborative space.

As you can see, it is one large kitchen or multiple businesses work together.

We work with catering companies, meal prep companies and we have food trucks parked outside.

Raven: I saw one parked outside.

Are there any familiar names?

Who starts here?

Those who are just starting up their business?

Those who need a space?

Djenaba: We have some people who are day 1 starting their business but the majority have demonstrated sales so they have some traction in the business.

Raven: Why is this beneficial to them?

Djenaba: You give them the benefit of community.

For example, we have some people who have part-time jobs here.

They also get to share resources.

Packaging and everything, ingredients.

They can share the information together.

Help each other grow.

Raven: What do they have to bring?

There is a lot of stuff here.

I see a lot of cooking equipment.

There are people in the background cooking right now.

Djenaba: [LAUGHTER] GS-- Raven: How does someone use this space?

Djenaba: We provide the basics.

There are things in ovens and tables.

All of our members bring their own equipment.

Pots and pans and spoons come from the members themselves.

We feel like we are a home for their business.

There is plenty of storage.

You do not have to take anything back and forth.

You can bake your food here and deliver it out the door.

Raven: You speak about community.

That is personal to you and important to you.

Talk about what that has done for your business.

Djenaba: It is the foundation of my business.

I would not have this business if it was not for the community.

I was selling people my dream.

And bringing them together.

It is the wildest ride and the best ride.

Raven: For people who are watching who may have dreams or aspirations, they might be stuck or scared to pivot.

This might seem galaxies away.

What would you tell them?

Djenaba: To just get started.

Put one foot in front of the other.

It is nerve-racking and challenging.

There are some days you do not want to move forward and you have to go ahead and make that phone call, send that email, talk to the person and move your idea forward.

Raven: This growth speaks to the sky is the limit, especially for women.

Djenaba: It is true.

Raven: Thank you so much for joining me.

Djenaba: Raven: Raven: Thank you.

Many women can trace some of their success back to the skills they learned in the people they met when participating in Girl Scouts.

Natasha Hemmings is a CEO of Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey in the first black woman to hold the role.

I sat down with her to discuss her historic position and how the Girl Scouts prepare young girls for promising careers.

When I was a Girl Scout growing up, it was such an incredible experience and it is so nice to see my daughter now be a first year Daisy.

Most people, and think about entrepreneurship, we tend to forget it starts at a young age.

Let's start with that.

Natasha: Let's start with that.

So many of our serial entrepreneurs, CEOs, women who have taken over boardrooms and are leading companies have experienced their first entrepreneurial learnings as Girl Scouts.

They were selling Girl Scout cookies and a credit it to their own success.

The Girl Scout cookie program is the largest entrepreneurial program for girls not just in America but around the world.

It is an incredible experience.

I am sure you know because your daughter, your Girl Scout is teaching you about that.

Raven: I currently have 15 boxes at home I am trying to sort out.

That in person delivery.

I want to talk about not just the selling aspect, there are lifelong entrepreneurial skills being taught, as well.

Can we elaborate on those skills and opportunities being offered to the Girl Scouts?

Natasha: Girls earned and learned through the Girl Scout cookie program.

It helps fund their activities and while they are learning the basic skills, it will help them in business and in their life.

Everything the Girl Scouts does is designed to help them grow and deliver on a mission, building girls of courage, confidence and character that make the world a better place.

They are an important ingredient in the leadership experience.

Everything from goalsetting, decision-making, money management, people skills and even business ethics are all a part of the Girl Scout cookie program.

I am sure your daughter has talk to you about the goals she sat with her troop mates and been Girl Scouts set goals, and they work with their team, their troop, their leaders, they create a plan and most of them reach them.

It matters to girls, goalsetting does, because they need to know how to set goals and reach goals -- in school, on-the-job the job and in life.

Raven: When we think about the Girl Scouts, I want to focus on diversity.

You are the first African-American female chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey.

We know if you see it, then you can be it and it really is a safe space for girls to really foster somebody different skills.

Talk about, when we think about diversity and those types of skills and confidence that is also being taught within the Girl Scouts.

Natasha: Absolutely.

Girl Scouts gives girls access to life-changing experiences and that excess inspires them to do big things.

I was not a Girl Scout growing up as a child.

I am from Plainfield, New Jersey.

Girl Scouts did not find me and I did not find them.

Finding myself as the CEO was unbelievable and out of the realm of possibilities until I was meant toward by Michelle, the first African-American CEO in Girl Scouts here in the state of New Jersey.

Seeing her rise to CEO and then teach me all of the lessons I needed to learn to be prepared for this seat that I stepped into in 2018 was huge.

Having a mentor, a role model to do something that I did not know I wanted to do other time but I spent 18 years talking about girls doubting, sharing -- girl scouting, how they are changing the world and how their ideas were improving their communities.

Those girls came from all cultural backgrounds.

It is an incredible opportunity that I hope girls from different cultures, ethnicities, communities get the chance to try for themselves.

Raven: The Girl Scouts took on Trenton last year on international day of the girl where they met with First Lady Tammy Murphy and state leaders, earning a democracy badge.

Tell me more about that.

That is another example of what you are teaching girls.

Natasha: Teaching girls about civic engagement and governance and then being the voice for their communities is all a part of Girl Scouting.

We went down to Trenton, we took 45 girls on a bus from northern New Jersey to Trenton.

We met with First Lady Tammy Murphy and other women in government and leadership and the other agencies and they told us about how to make a law, how a Bill becomes a law, how a community effort cantered into lawmaking in the state of New Jersey.

It was an incredible opportunity.

Girls talked about how there ideas p get -- get passed in the state.

Raven: We might have future lawmakers in that group.

Natasha: Absolutely.

We found out that many of the women speaking on the panel to our Girl Scouts were Girl Scouts themselves from other part of the state and other parts of the country.

Girls seeing themselves in these women was an incredible opportunity.

Raven: Thank you for inspiring and teaching so many girls, including my own, to leave the place better than you found it.

Natasha: Absolutely.

Raven: It is truly the Girl Scout way.

Natasha: It definitely is.

It is a wonderful opportunity.

I hope that girls around the state take advantage of the Girl Scout leadership experience and get involved.

We need more volunteers.

Raven: Thank you so much for joining me on "NJ Business Beat ."

Natasha: Thank you.

Raven: Here is a look at the top business headlines of the week.

New Jersey's public accountants are giving failing grades to the governor's budget proposal.

In a survey released this week nearly 80% of those surveyed think the budget would make the state's economy significantly worse or marginally worse over the long term.

When it comes to the controversial corporate transit fee, many opposed it saying it would drive business out of the state and prevent new ones from opening up.

This week a state appointed monitor released and fiscal accountability plan for NJCU but said the school made great strides to end its crisis.

The report states NJCU's struggles stem from bad retail investments and financial mismanagement.

The report credits the interim President with turning things around through high school recruitment, community college agreements and more.

One of the more controversial recommendations was to merge programs with other schools, something current faculties that would be a detriment to students.

>> Students past, present and to come, to explore the opportunities that may combine is sufficient synergy.

>> Thinking about a merger would be the kiss of death in terms of the identity of this institution.

The average family salary -- income for students that attend NJC is like $32,000 a year, impoverished.

The school has been a beacon of help.

Raven: That does it for us.

Subscribe to our NJ Spotlight YouTube channel.

I am Raven Santana.

Next week we take an early look at the economic impact of the 2026 World Cup and how the state's business community is preparing to host the international event.

Thank you for watching and we will see you next weekend.

-- next week.

>> Funding for "NJ Business Beat with Raven Santana" provided by NJMEP, a partner to New Jersey's manufacturing industry, focused on productivity, performance, and strategic development.

More on NJMEP.org.

And by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

Announcing its business Summit and Expo March 26 and March 27 in Atlantic City.

Event details online.

♪