Your TL;DR: EBHC is proud to continue our longstanding support of NAWBO Buffalo Niagara as a Gold Partner for the upcoming programming year. We believe strong entrepreneurial communities require businesses willing to invest in the organizations creating connections, education, advocacy, and opportunities for women business owners. This year, that commitment is especially personal, as Christine Howard is also serving as Chair of the chapter’s Partnerships Committee and welcomes conversations with organizations interested in becoming chapter partners.
We believe in women-owned businesses. We believe in strong entrepreneurial ecosystems. We also believe that organizations doing the work of bringing business owners together need businesses willing to invest in the programming, relationships, and opportunities that make a professional community valuable.
That is why EBHC is proud to return as a Gold Partner of NAWBO Buffalo Niagara for the upcoming programming year.
Our relationship with NAWBO Buffalo Niagara has continued across multiple years, leadership roles, events, partnerships, and plenty of conversations with women building businesses across Western New York. This is an organization we participate in and continue to believe is worth supporting.
If your business is considering where its community investment or partnership dollars can create meaningful local visibility, it may be worth looking at the organizations already bringing your customers, collaborators, and community leaders into the same room.
Strong Programming Requires Businesses Willing to Invest in It
NAWBO Buffalo Niagara has been serving women entrepreneurs in Western New York since 1994. The chapter creates opportunities for women business owners to connect with one another, access educational programming and business resources, strengthen professional relationships, and participate in advocacy around issues affecting women-owned businesses.
Creating those opportunities requires resources.
Events need venues and infrastructure. Educational programming requires planning and coordination. Member communications, outreach, technology, special programming, and the administrative work behind a functioning professional organization all require investment. When businesses become chapter partners, their support contributes to the chapter’s ability to continue offering meaningful programming and opportunities to its members.
That is an important part of why EBHC continues to participate as a partner. We value the visibility and benefits that come with partnership, while also recognizing what those partnership dollars allow the chapter to do.
For us, those two things belong in the same conversation.
A Partnership Should Make Sense for the Business, Too
Supporting NAWBO Buffalo Niagara does not have to be viewed simply as giving money to a worthwhile organization. A chapter partnership is also a business relationship, with opportunities for visibility, recognition, event participation, and engagement depending on the partnership selected.
That distinction matters when businesses are deciding where to allocate marketing, advertising, sponsorship, and community engagement budgets.
A company may want greater recognition among women business owners in Western New York. Another may want to demonstrate a meaningful commitment to women’s entrepreneurship. Some businesses are looking for opportunities to develop relationships with prospective clients, referral partners, vendors, or community leaders. Others recognize that investing in the organizations supporting local businesses contributes to a stronger regional economy.
There should be a reason behind the investment. The most productive partnership conversations start with what a business wants to accomplish and whether the chapter provides a meaningful way to accomplish it.
As someone who owns a business that is itself investing as a chapter partner, I understand the questions prospective partners ask: What are we supporting? Who will we reach? What opportunities come with our investment? Does this make sense for our business?
Those are exactly the questions businesses should be asking.
This Year, My Involvement Is Even More Personal
My involvement with NAWBO Buffalo Niagara extends beyond EBHC’s Gold Partnership this year. I am also serving as Chair of the Partnerships Committee.
Part of that role involves talking with businesses about the opportunities available to support the chapter and determining whether a partnership makes sense for their organization.
I am particularly interested in having those conversations with businesses already investing in advertising, sponsorships, community engagement, business development, or local visibility. If those dollars are already part of your budget, NAWBO Buffalo Niagara may deserve consideration as one of the places you put them to work.
You do not need to know which partnership level you want before reaching out. In fact, that does not need to be the starting point at all. We can talk about what your organization is trying to accomplish, who you want to reach, how you would like to participate, and whether one of the chapter’s partnership opportunities aligns with those goals.
We Are Making the Same Investment We Are Asking Others to Consider
There is something important to me about chairing the Partnerships Committee while EBHC is also financially supporting the chapter.
We are not asking other businesses to make an investment that we are unwilling to make ourselves.
EBHC is a Gold Partner because we see value in supporting this community.
Over the years, we have seen what can happen when women business owners have meaningful opportunities to connect. Relationships turn into referrals and collaborations. Business owners exchange information, share resources, compare experiences, and make introductions. Someone meets the person who knows the person they needed to know. Anyone who has spent enough time building a business knows how consequential those connections can become.
A strong business network develops through continued participation. It depends on people showing up, organizations creating worthwhile reasons for them to do so, and businesses investing enough resources to make that programming possible.
NAWBO Buffalo Niagara has been doing that work in Western New York for decades. EBHC is pleased to put our name and financial support behind it again for another programming year.
Interested in Becoming a NAWBO Buffalo Niagara Partner?
If your organization wants greater visibility among women business owners while supporting the entrepreneurial community here in Western New York, I would be glad to talk with you about what a partnership with NAWBO Buffalo Niagara could look like.
You can review the current NAWBO Buffalo Niagara partnership opportunities to see the available options. If you have questions, want to understand the benefits, or are trying to determine whether a partnership makes sense for your organization, reach out to me directly.
I am happy to have that conversation as Partnerships Committee Chair, and I am having it as someone whose own business has already made the decision to invest.
EBHC will be there this programming year as a Gold Partner. We would love to see more Western New York businesses joining us.