Wine Women & Shoes Event
Nov. 18 to Benefit weVENTURE

Sponsorship, Volunteer Opportunities
Available for Soiree in Vero Beach 

MELBOURNE, FLA. — weVENTURE Women’s Business Center at Florida Tech’s Bisk College of Business will be the non-profit beneficiary of the 2021 Wine Women & Shoes event on Nov. 18 at the Sun Aviation hangar in Vero Beach.

weVENTURE WBC provides low- and no-cost business education and training to entrepreneurs in Brevard, Indian River and St. Lucie counties. Since 2007, the non-profit program, funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, has grown to serve over 600 clients a year and has become the leading regional resource for woman-owned businesses.

Proceeds from WW&S will allow weVENTURE WBC to expand capacity to serve more women on the Space and Treasure coasts, including many still grappling with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The event, which starts at 6:30 p.m., will feature wine tastings, a shoppable multi-designer marketplace, and Sole Men literally serving up this season’s must-haves in footwear on silver platters. In addition to shopping for peep-toes while sipping pinots, guests will enjoy a fashion show and the chance to win jewelry and trips, including a tasting experience and stay in wine country, a North Carolina mountain getaway and a surf shack stay in Puerto Rico.

“Each day awareness is growing about how gender and race biases hold us back, and Ocean Drive Plastic Surgery strives to support this awareness in every way possible,” said Ocean Drive owner and presenting sponsor Dr. Alan Durkin. “weVENTURE is a remarkable organization that provides women with the business opportunities and the empowerment that they deserve. As a father to a daughter and a husband who bettered himself by ‘marrying up,’ I am personally and professionally honored to support this progressive and thoughtful organization.”

The economic challenges of COVID-19 have been dubbed a “she-cession” due to the disproportionate impact it has had on women and women-owned businesses, which are likely to be in the hardest-hit industries of food service, hospitality, retail, personal services and health care.

“There is no question we have seen increased demand for our services,” said Kathryn Rudloff, executive director of weVENTURE WBC.

Positively, research has shown women-owned small businesses were much more likely than those owned by men to have already established an online presence, allowing them to take advantage of the rapid increase in virtual commerce. weVENTURE can assist in these cases, as well.

“Many women-owned small businesses are thriving through COVID, and we want to help them continue to grow,” Rudloff said.

WW&S sponsorship opportunities are available starting at $500, and an event volunteer committee is being formed. Email weVENTURE@fit.edu for more information and to get involved.

Tickets will be $200 for VIP and $150 for general admission, with all proceeds benefitting weVENTURE Women’s Business Center. Visit www.winewomenandshoes.com/event/verobeach/ to be added to the mailing list and “like” www.facebook.com/winewomenandshoesverobeach for updates on when ticket sales will begin.

About weVENTURE Women’s Business Center

weVENTURE Women’s Business Center at the Florida Tech Bisk College of Business, accelerates growth for entrepreneurs by providing customized coaching, business education, mentorship and networking programs to female entrepreneurs on the Space and Treasure Coasts. weVENTURE is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. For more information, or to register for weVENTURE courses and mentorship programs, visit https://weventure.fit.edu/ or call 321-674-7007.

About Wine Women & Shoes

Founded in Napa Valley in 2005, WW&S is a fun and fashionable national event series that lets women put their most generous foot forward, sip to their hearts’ content, and laugh until their cheeks hurt. (Talk about a positively good time!) With events in over 100 cities—and counting—it has helped net over $70 million for various causes across the country. For more information on Wine Women & Shoes, please visit www.winewomenandshoes.com

About Florida Institute of Technology

Florida Tech was founded in 1958 at the dawn of the Space Race that would soon define the Atlantic coast of Florida and captivate the nation. Now the premier private technological university in the Southeast, Florida Tech is a Tier 1 Best National University in U.S. News & World Report and one of just nine schools in Florida lauded by the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Florida Tech is ranked among the top 5 percent of 20,000 degree-granting institutions worldwide in the 2020-21 World University Rankings and has been named a Top College and Best Value University for 2019 by Forbes. Florida Tech offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in aeronautics and aviation, engineering, computing and cybersecurity, business, science and mathematics, psychology, education and communication. Learn more about our relentless pursuit of greatness at www.fit.edu.