GRASONVILLE — The luncheon held by the Chesapeake Women’s Network of Queen Anne’s County Thursday, Sept. 13, was an opportunity to not only mingle but also to strategize.

The event, held at Harris Crab House, was attended by nearly 50 individuals all looking to expand their contacts and hear from author and successful business owner, Sylvia Henderson.

As the CEO of MindTeam Solutions in Olney, Maryland, she provides strategies to individuals and groups implementing ideas, ensure organizational culture and increase profitability with what company founders and owners want.

“We take time every month to connect with one another to see where our businesses are,” said Jenny Griffin, president of the Chesapeake Women’s Network for Queen Anne’s County. “It creates community and benefits scholarship recipients that will be announced this coming June. We have so many different careers represented here that if you need a different service, there’s someone here.”

The CWN is a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships for women who are at least 22 years old, live and/or work in Queen Anne’s County, and are pursing an accredited program, certificate program, or U.S. college degree.

Since its inception in 1986, the organization has grown to an estimated 100 business women, according to CWN data. That philanthropy has been the cornerstone of the CWN as the group held its first event of the year.

“It’s about helping adult women re-entering the workforce or experiencing a career change. We’ve had many of those women come back and be a part of our group and actually give back through that as well,” said Griffin.

Jen Batchelder, CWN vice president, also noted that despite the increased number of women-owned companies, there still exists a disparity in many market sectors. It is for that reason why such organizations and events are vital.

“Women are underrepresented and we try to use one another’s expertise to help all our members. It’s a collaborative effort by our board to get this planned and we like having this kind of turnout,” said Batchelder.

Batchelder went further saying any woman interested in joining needs only reach out to the organization and find the next meeting to attend to see if it is the right fit.

Along with a designated networking session, Henderson provided a brief speech centered on recording and developing ideas. The process by which an entrepreneur does so, according to Henderson, is the root of business growth and expansion for start-ups and established companies alike.

“Having ideas is what a business owner does every day, but what are we doing to actually make them happen? I’ve been helping businesses have those ideas and develop them for profit and for a purpose. Ideas are great only if you have a way to implement them.,” said Henderson.

Her time as an IBM manager gave her ample opportunity to put her system to work. It also gave her the unique perspective to author books like “Hey, That’s My Idea!,” “Txtversations,” “Pathways to Positioning,” and ‘Success Language.”

“I realized there was a process I took my employees through to implement ideas,” said Henderson. “It was not about the idea, but what I was going to do to help them make money. So when I came out to help individuals and small businesses, I worked through that process. After that, you have to ask if it worked and if people are responding to have it come to fruition.”

Recently, the eighth annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by American Express, noted Maryland has an estimated 234,300 women-owned businesses, employing 200,200 people and attributing to roughly $33,479,500,000.

Maryland is ranked number 23 in the growth of the number of women-owned firms since 2007 with a 36.1 percent increase, number 20 in the growth of jobs created with a 21 percent increase and number 10 in the growth of firm revenues with a 50.1 percent increase. In total, that placed the state as number 13 in terms of overall growth of women-owned firms.

More information on the Chesapeake Women’s Network of Queen Anne’s County is available at www.cwnqac.org.