WBDC Opens Hartford Office

The Women’s Business Development Council officially moved into Hartford.

Located at 190 Trumbull Street, the office is the fifth office WBDC has opened in the state to support small business owners. 

In addition to its headquarters in Stamford, WBDC has locations in New London, New Haven, and Waterbury. 

While WBDC did not have a physical location in Hartford, the organization has served more than 2,000 clients in the greater Hartford region since 2021 and distributed upwards $2 million in grants to area businesses. 

“The grant helped me, helped my business grow and keep growing following the difficult situation that we faced after COVID,” said Dynamica 1120’s Lenny Rosario. 

“We’re so proud of the work that we’ve been able to do here by making space for clients from every walk of life,” said WBDC founder and CEO Fran Pastore. 

Addressing Needs  

The Hartford office is the fourth WBDC location to be funded, in part, by the SBA.

The SBA awarded the WBDC a $150,000 grant for three years and Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development agreed to match the grant.

Now, Pastore and her team will get to work to make more entrepreneurs’ dreams possible in the greater Hartford region. 

WBDC prides itself on the scope of support staff provide for clients. When a small business owner or entrepreneur calls WBDC, staff immediately work to find out what that person’s specific needs are.  

“It is such an individual, high-touch environment,” said Pastore.

Once the Hartford office is fully staffed, it will have 12 employees. 

Hartford mayor Arunan Arulampalam applauded the work of the WBDC and said the opening comes at an important time for the city of Hartford when more women and people of color are opening small businesses. 

“The ability of an entrepreneur to walk into this center and be connected with the kind of resources, with the kind of knowledge and technical expertise that they can’t find anywhere else, to be able to develop and incubate those ideas into small businesses that will for generations to come build wealth, hopefully for their families, invest in our community and in our economy, invest in the future of our workforce, and build a strong and vibrant capital city,” he said.