Professional Services Agreement - St Marys Womens Entrepreneurship Initiative - Spark Womens Business Accelerator Neighborhood Pilot

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• SCORE executive mentors help clients determine whether a business idea is viable and offer suggestions to strengthen business plans, which could help clients attain bank loans. • WEI offers female entrepreneurs personal education, business training, and ongoing professional mentoring. While not an official member of TEAM, WEI also regularly partners with and refers clients to the newly established Westside Small Business Resource Center by sharing their program offerings and by holding some of the SPARK business accelerator classes at their location. Other partners include the City of South Bend's Department of Community Investment and the City Clerk's Office, Notre Dame's IDEA Center, INVANTI, Women Business Owners of Michiana (WBOM), and 101 Co3, a co -working space in Mishawaka with a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem for women. In addition, over 60 community business leaders, including CPAs, bankers, CDFI program officers, experienced small business owners, financial advisors, insurance agents, and attorneys, are involved in WEI's flagship SPARK program. These individuals act as subject area experts for the SPARK sessions mentors who offer guidance to participants on their individual challenges and advocates who open doors and increase participants' social capital. Specific to the neighborhood pilot program, Thrive Michiana has offered residential and office space to SPARK program facilitators at a substantially reduced rate to establish their presence in the neighborhood. The Near Northwest Neighborhood Corporation has also offered one of their meeting rooms for class use twice weekly for a nominal fee. WEI also refers SPARK graduates to a neighborhood development project lead by Kingdom Life Cathedral (Apostles Mike and Tina Patton) and will continue to strengthen that relationship. WEI s SPARK Women's Business Accelerator Neighborhood Pilot Outcomes We expect 45 women to enroll in SPARK in September 2019 (three cohorts of 15 participants - one in the Near Northwest Neighborhood, one at the Latin American Chamber of Commerce, and one on the campus of Saint Mary's College.) We expect 40 women will complete the program and 20 will launch or grow a business. We will achieve these results by helping SPARK participants develop a sound, detailed business plan, in consultation with program staff and mentors; offer graduates a support network in the form of ongoing mentoring by successful professionals and business owners; and, if needed, help graduates secure a small business loan from a local bank that will allow them to launch their business.