Page 39 - BusinessWest December 7, 2020

Richard F. Burkhart, CPA and Salvatore J. Pizzanelli, CPA, JD, PFS
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expertise in a full range of accounting and financial services.
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in business,” reflecting that desire to be more than a networking group or one solely focused on generating new business. In fact, the WBOA tends to avoid the word ‘networking,’ and concentrates instead on making connections and sharing information in a vari- ety of ways.
Eliason, who is also the senior business advisor for the Mas- sachusetts Small Business Development Center’s (MSBDC) West- ern Regional Office, said not all alliance members are business owners. Some aspire to own a business, while others — such as managers of banks and insurance companies — aren’t technically owners, but are responsible for a company’s day-to-day operations.
“Some people think it’s a social organization, and I think 40 years ago it was something like that. I have the sense that, when they started, they met over dinner in restaurants to start with and then became more formal,” she noted. “Many networking organizations have cropped up in the meantime that are women-focused, and we see ourselves as complementary to those.”
Members of the alliance meet for an evening roundtable discussion during pre-pandemic times; all meetings since the spring have been remote, but none have been canceled.
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Meaning, the WBOA adds value women professionals may not find elsewhere, and education is at the heart of that value proposition.
For example, the group holds a breakfast meeting every second Thursday at the Scibelli Enterprise Center in Springfield, where the WBOA is based. While the organization has operated remotely since March and the events are virtual for the time being, they have con- tinued without interruption.
Last month, the guest speaker was an electrical engineer at Ray- theon and a Six Sigma lean-manufacturing black belt, who talked
“We’re really about education and upping skills for people looking to be successful in business, much more than we are about getting business from one another. We’re here to help people be better at business, and we’re mutually learning from one another.”
about organization and creating leaner operations. A week later, as is typical following the breakfast events, a longer evening program took a deeper dive into the subject matter, and more specific strate- gies were introduced.
The WBOA also holds quarterly events like social-media boot camps, which, last spring, featured a general session and 14 break- out sessions. Next month, a virtual financial workshop will pres- ent an accountant, an enrolled agent, and a tax preparer, who will speak about tax laws, PPP forgiveness, and a host of other issues. “The goal is to leave with a profit-loss statement and a balance sheet from this year and then set up a blank one for the following year.”
BusinessWest WOMEN IN BUSINESS DECEMBER 7, 2020 39
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