[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 100 (Tuesday, June 13, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E814]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE WOMEN'S ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NITA M. LOWEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 2017

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Women's Enterprise 
Development Center (WEDC) based in Westchester County, New York, which 
is celebrating its 20th Anniversary on June 15th.
  Since its establishment in White Plains, NY, in 1997, the Women's 
Enterprise Development Center has helped hundreds of aspiring 
entrepreneurs start and grow their own businesses by providing them 
with training, advisory services, and access to capital. The more than 
1600 graduates of WEDC's 60-hour Entrepreneurship Program have achieved 
business success in many fields ranging from accounting to moving 
organic food products to construction and landscaping to senior 
services. WEDC's clients include women who lack access to traditional 
business and financial resources. In 2015 alone, WEDC provided 1,666 
motivated clients with the tools they needed to succeed.
  The accomplishments of WEDC have not gone unnoticed, and over the 
years it has gained support from the federal, state and local 
governments as well as major corporations such as IBM, M&T Bank, 
MasterCard, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Verizon, and Wells Fargo. 
WEDC was recently designated as the New York Empire State Development 
Entrepreneurial Assistance Program (EAP) Center for the Mid-Hudson 
Valley, and its work has been recognized by the County governments of 
Westchester and Rockland as well as the U.S. Small Business 
Administration, which named it a Women's Business Center in 2003.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have worked for the last two decades with 
Anne Janiak, a founder and the CEO of WEDC, and her team to support 
entrepreneurial women in New York's Hudson Valley. I urge my colleagues 
to join me in applauding their 20 years of service to the Lower Hudson 
Valley and congratulate them as they celebrate this important 
anniversary.

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