Lafayette Women’s Chamber of Commerce is the first of its kind in the state of Louisiana. The chamber offers members opportunities, exposure, and resources with the hope they can help business owners build relationships and generate ideas.

“Most our members have never belonged to a chamber. Everything that we do is based on a small business budget,” says Debbey Ryan the President of the Lafayette Women’s Chamber of Commerce. The non-profit has been around for a little bit over a year and with 350 members they are targeted to hit 500 by the end of this year.

“Being with the Women’s Chamber and seeing what Debbey and everyone has done, and the resources and communication they provide, they are now a resource that I can refer my clients to,” says Robin LeBlanc a local CPA and chamber member.

There are 9,609 women owned firms in Lafayette Parish. With these women owned businesses bringing in $2.5 billion in sales annually.

“Those who may not have been traditionally business owners and are just kind of figuring out how to do that, I think this is an awesome resource and we can all kind of go through that together,” says Kristin Fontenot. She’s not originally from here and with the help of the chamber she says she’s been able to network and grow her business.

“This allows us to tap into other peoples knowledge and resources, and support each other,” says Fontenot.

“There’s over 9,000 women owned businesses in Lafayette Parish alone and we only have 350 members and they are not all business owners. We have a lot of people that can step up and help us really ramp up this chamber,” says Ryan.

For more information about Lafayette Women’s Chamber of Commerce visit their website at the link here.