Great Lakes Women’s Business Council Announces Charmaine (Char) Brown as Peer Growth Lead for Trusted Connector Peer Growth Circles
The Women’s Business Center WBC is hosted by the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council in Livonia, Michigan. Since 1994, the center has served as a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) resource center, dedicated to supporting business owners and entrepreneurs. We have built a strong reputation as experts in the community, providing programming focused on business growth and sustainability.
WBC offers a strategic set of programs designed to help entrepreneurs and business owners elevate their businesses. These programs cover key areas such as financing, business development, management, strategy, leadership, networking, and market opportunities. The Women’s Business Center’s WBC core services include individual and group counseling, mentoring, and live and web-based training through its customized workshops, execWE® event, and the Michigan Women’s Marketplace.
Commitment to Equal Access and Opportunity
The Women’s Business Center’s WBC services are open to everyone, and we strive to ensure access to resources and opportunities for all business owners and entrepreneurs.
The Women’s Business Center WBC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Services for Individuals with Disabilities and Language Barriers
Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities and language barriers will be made on a case-by-case basis. Requests must be submitted in advance and directed to the Director of Business Education at sdixon@greatlakeswbc.org.
Women’s Business Center Funding Disclosure
In accordance with Section 632 of Public Law 117-328:
Federal Share 50% – $150,000
Non-Federal Share 50% – $150,000
Total Program Cost: $300,000
The Great Lakes Women’s Business Center received the 2026 U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) National Women’s Business Center of Excellence award and is certified as a National WBC of Excellence by the Association of Women’s Business Centers since 2024.
Free training. Real tools. Business growth.
The Center of Excellence connects business owners to expert-led education, on-demand learning, and curated resources that support every stage of business. Learn on your schedule and gain access to the tools and partners you need to succeed completely complimentary.
Get started today. Registration is required
execWE offers established business owners an immersive, full-day executive-level training event designed for second-stage growth. The event empowers business leaders to transition from daily operations to strategic oversight shifting focus from working in the business to working on the business. While execWE is the signature event of the Women’s Business Center WBC, all business owners are welcome to participate.
Launch U is the newest initiative of the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council’s Women’s Business Center (WBC). Leveraging the renowned FastTrac® curriculum, Launch U offers early-stage entrepreneurs a structured, innovative, and principle-driven framework for starting and growing their businesses. The program is also designed for established businesses looking to revisit and refine their business models.
Providing high-quality entrepreneurship training in an economical way is essential. By becoming a Kauffman FastTrac® affiliate, the WBC’s can offer the FastTrac® curriculum at no cost. This affiliation ensures that the comprehensive, practical learning materials delivered through online platforms and teaching partners remain accessible, empowering more individuals and businesses to overcome barriers to entrepreneurship and drive startup activity nationwide.
Trusted Connector brings together local chambers of commerce, business support organizations, and small business owners to build stronger, more resilient local economies. The program provides business owners with practical tools, training, and networks that help them adapt, compete, and expand.
The initiative serves businesses in:
📍 Southfield
📍 Romulus
📍 Inkster
📍 Livonia/Wayne-Westland
With a focus on reaching businesses located in or serving Geographically Disadvantaged Business Areas (GDBAs), Trusted Connector helps ensure that economic growth is inclusive and community-driven.
What Businesses Gain
Great Lakes WBC’s Director of Business Education Shawntay Dixon receives Women’s Business Center WBC of Excellence award from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Tiffany Klingensmith, CEO of Unconventional Solutions recieves the Michigan Small Business Person of the Year at a ceremony held in Washington D.C. to mark National Small Business Week.
Shawntay Dixon and Christina Hale, SBA Assistant Administrator, Head Of Office Of Women’s Business Ownership
Women’s Business Center WBC Hours
Monday-Friday | 8:00 am — 5:00 pm ET
Consultations By Appointment Only
After-hours appointments are available
Call 734-677-1400
sdixon@greatlakeswbc.org
Great Lakes Women’s Business Center (WBC) is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the Great Lakes WBC and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. All SBA programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities will be made when requested.
The Michigan Women’s Marketplace (MWM) is the portal of the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council’s SBA Women’s Business Center WBC, which provides one-to-one counseling, training, and access to business resources.
Great Lakes Women’s Business Council’s Women’s Business Center WBC is honored to be recognized for graduating in the inaugural cohort with the National Women’s Business Center WBC of Excellence program offered by the Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC) and sponsored by Dutch Bros.
Over the series of Five Milestone Assignments, WBCs partnered with a peer in their cohort to identify gaps and opportunities for the WBC to improve in a variety of areas; including strategic goal-setting, service delivery, continuous improvement and/or peer relationships. In order to fulfill these objectives, AWBC recognizes the value of the organization’s volunteers, leadership team and funders which is reflected in the involvement of these stakeholders in the final stages of the designation attainment.
