History

Women's Economic Ventures began as the Santa Barbara Women's Community Building Project (WCB) which was incorporated in 1981. It's goals were to address the diverse needs of women which were not being met in the community and to house women's services, businesses, economic development programs and events in one central location.

In 1987, the WCB began providing programming for women in the areas of employment, economic literacy, and personal finance. Three years of research and development resulted in the establishment of our self-employment training and peer lending program in 1991. At the same time, the organization's name was changed to Women's Economic Ventures to reflect our focus on economic development for women.

WEV's microenterprise program began as a four-week business orientation and peer lending program which provided loans of up to $1,500 to low-income women. In 1991, WEV had a staff consisting of one full-time and one half-time employee with an annual budget of $68,000.

Today, WEV offers a comprehensive 14-week, 54-hour self-employment training program, individual business counseling, facilitated peer groups, personal development and economic literacy training, mentoring, and business start-up loans of up to $25,000 to pre-bankable microenterprises.

WEV's microloan program, the Small Business Loan Fund of Santa Barbara (SBLF), was established in 1996 with a Grant of $75,000 from the City of Santa Barbara and $225,000 in matching funds from seven local banks. The individual microloan program replaced WEV's peer lending model.

In 1999, WEV was certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Currently WEV has made microloans totaling over $500,000.

WEV has a staff of nine employees and a budget of over $550,000. Since its inception, WEV has provided self-employment training for over 1,000 women.