Celebrating Female Entrepreneurs on National Women in Business Day

BARRINGTON, Ill., Sept. 20, 2018  /PRNewswire/ -- September 22 is designated as National American Women in Business Day, when we honor and reflect upon the contributions and accomplishments of the millions of U.S. women in the workforce and especially women business owners. In addition, this special day of celebrating women in business allows us to recognize the impact that women in business have on mentoring and supporting other women, especially young female students.

One such positive example of women helping women occurred this past year in a high school INCubatoredu program in Loudoun County, Virginia. The INCubatoredu program provides students with a rigorous, experiential learning program that tasks the students to identify a problem they encounter in their everyday life, create a product or service to solve that problem, test market the product or service and potentially launch the business.

In this case, a team of four young women from the Academy of Engineering and Technology in Loudoun County, Virginia shared a passion for environmental causes, and chose to develop an alternative to the plastic pots that flowers and other planting materials are contained within for sale. The INCubatoredu classroom teacher, Ms. Laura Boyd Smidt, supported this concept and connected them with a mentor, Ms. Lori Stone.  Ms. Lori Stone is an environmental engineer and an industry-recognized specialist in biosolids. The team worked with Ms. Stone, who assisted them with research and testing, to create biodegradable plant pots that are made entirely of biosolid materials. The pots are composed of leaf-based compost, water, cornstarch, and locally sourced water pellets that act as a natural fertilizer. The team named their new business Grow Greenly LLC and received $10,000 in funding from investors at a National INCubatoredu pitch competition in Chicago. The future for this enterprise is very bright.

Women helping women sends a strong message of opportunity and promise, especially to this next generation of young female students. Together, women of all ages can accomplish great things by inspiring female entrepreneurs and supporting their creative and innovative business ideas. Congratulations to the women-owned Grow Greenly LLC team and their female mentors who assisted the team and encouraged their entrepreneurial spirit on National American Women in Business Day.

SOURCE INCubatoredu