PNC walks the walk for women business owners

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PNC’s involvement in the “Mind Your Business: Ladies Who Launch” seminar at Morgan State University is just one of the many ways in which the bank has reached out to women who aspire to start their own enterprise or those who have an already up and running operation.

Bank officials aren’t just talking the talk— they are walking the walk.

“PNC has a real focus on working with women business owners and more than 1,500 of our employees have been certified as Women Business Advocates who understand the opportunities and the challenges that women who own businesses have to make,” said Laura Gamble, the bank’s regional president for greater Maryland.

Women’s Business Advocates at PNC are bankers especially committed to supporting the achievement of women who own or run businesses.

In addition to delivering the financial products, services and resources needed to thrive, the advocates often play leadership roles in organizations that mentor or connect women in business, according to Gamble.

“They create opportunities for businesswomen by hosting events that bring people together. They elevate women business owners by nominating them for community awards and recognition,” she said. “And, most of all, while they recognize that a businesswoman doesn’t need special treatment to be successful, they’ll treat [everyone] with the respect their business accomplishments deserve.”

The advocate program is the bank’s recognition that it isn’t easy to start or even run a business.

Women who start and run companies, regardless of the size, often face obstacles that men don’t, said Séson Taylor-Campbell, a development advisor for PNC Community Development Banking.

That is why PNC offers the Women’s Business Advocate program, which features banking professionals whom Taylor-Campbell says, understand the pressures, challenges and opportunities for women business owners and female executives.

Both Taylor-Campbell and Gamble say the advocates represents PNC’s way of communicating the bank’s intent to understand the business, earn the trust of the business owner and support their company’s and individual’s personal financial success.

At PNC, a banker who is certified as a Women’s Business Advocate is a man or woman who has completed a training curriculum and voluntarily applied for the certification designation.

In addition to their responsibilities as a banker, PNC-Certified advocates have also committed to hosting or participating in organizations and events in the community that nurture, network and recognize women in business and the causes you care about, according to bank officials.

As a result, the advocates are tuned-in to issues that concern business owners and likely have connections to resources that may be especially helpful.

“We’re very passionate about that at PNC, and I definitely share that passion,” Gamble said.