Mat-Su Women in Business prepares for inaugural vendor show

WASILLA — A Valley women’s business group that has seen phenomenal growth in the last two years is ready to take its message and networking expertise to a larger stage.

The inaugural “Lip Gloss and Leadership Women in Business Summit” is set for Saturday, May 21, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Menard Center in Wasilla. Billed as a vendor show, networking session and motivational seminar, the event is a showcase of women-owned businesses and business professionals, said event coordinator and Mat-Su Women in Business leader Tammy Gray.

“We will have vendors plus a new speaker on a different subject every hour,” Gray said. “This is the first of what we hope will be a signature event for future years and we are looking for feedback and support from the community.”

Gray said admission is $2, with all proceeds benefitting the Food Bank of Alaska, Grow Palmer and the YAK youth center in Palmer.

“It is up our alley as a group to want to shine a light on these nonprofits and what they stand for,” Gray said.

Attendees will have the opportunity to win hourly door prizes — a basket of prizes valued between $100 and $500 each — and will be eligible for the grand prize drawing at the conclusion of the event, an original painting by artist Charlen Satrom.

The event will feature local vendors representing some 46 women-owned businesses, Gray said, ranging from architects to artists as well as fitness coaches and clothing store owners. Gray said sponsors included GCI, Imaging Associates, Aflac Insurance, the Heart Link Network and A Link to Your World Magazine.

“It is a huge range of businesses,” she said.

Speakers include Misty VanderWeele, Jeanette Gardiner, Antiqua Lisha, Julie Danielson, Haley Ragsdale and Hillary Saffran.

“We have a talented pool of speakers and writers involved with this event,” Gray said.

Gray said the show is a result of the exponential growth of Mat-Su Women in Business, which began with a core group of 40 women and a Facebook page a couple of years ago. The group now numbers 625, with members from around the Mat-Su and even Anchorage.

“It started out as a way for women business owners and women in business to encourage and support each other,” Gray said. “We had a different business as a host and had monthly networking meetings.”

The support — and the sheer numbers — continued to grow, Gray said, eventually leading to separate meetings for Palmer and Wasilla. Gray said the group eventually joined the national women entrepreneurs’ Heart Link Network.

“This just really took off; there has been a lot of collaboration and it shows the power of networking,” she said. “Small business owners have to wear a lot of hats and we realized what a great talent pool we had to share in so many areas. That grew into the vendor show.”

For more information on Mat-Su Women in Business, visit facebook.com/groups/MatSuWomenInBusiness.

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com