If you’re a woman who wants to open a business in Nevada, you’re in luck. The Silver State is rich in resources to support you along your journey.
Calling all enterprising women in Nevada!
March is Women’s History Month, making it the perfect time to make your dream of starting a business come true.
The Silver State is known for its attractive tax laws, low operating costs, business-friendly regulations, and supportive community, making it well-suited for those with big ideas and entrepreneurial spirits. Read on for tips, resources, and funding opportunities for aspiring women entrepreneurs in Nevada.
Join a club
Joining a local chamber of commerce isn’t free, but it will boost your credibility, networking opportunities, visibility, contacts, and professional development. It’s like the real-world version of the little check mark next to your social media profile.
In Nevada, there’s a chamber of commerce for business leaders from all walks of life, from the Armed Forces to the LGBTQ community. These organizations advocate for entrepreneurs, including women, providing access to funding opportunities, networking events, business development programs, and other helpful resources.
Southern Nevada is home to chambers in Boulder City, Las Vegas, Henderson, Laughlin, Pahrump, and more. Northern Nevada’s chambers include Reno-Sparks, Carson City, and Elko—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Altogether, there are more than 30 Nevada chambers of commerce, including small cities like Caliente and Austin. There are even chambers for the Silver State’s Latin and Asian communities.
The Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Nevada, which is celebrating its 26th anniversary this year, caters to female entrepreneurs and their unique business challenges. The group has its own Hall of Fame, celebrating women in diverse fields from science to athletics to the arts in March.
Women’s Chamber President June Beland, who started her first business in 1977, founded the Women’s Chamber after moving to Nevada from California, and quickly learned that every state has very different business laws. She recommends learning the laws and procedures specific to Nevada, adding, “Make sure you do your research. Get your DBA, a business license.”
Apart from local chambers, there are other membership and networking groups for women in business in Southern and Northern Nevada, including dues-based groups like Powher Of We and Ladies of Las Vegas.
Small business owner and consultant Ericka Áviles founded the Las Vegas networking group Latinas in Power upon seeing the need for a group for entrepreneurial Latinas in Nevada, one of the fastest-growing sectors of entrepreneurship in the U.S.
“When women entrepreneurs come together (algo poderoso pasa), something powerful happens,” Áviles told us. “We remind each other that we are not alone.”
Áviles has seen firsthand how networking groups for women in Nevada create more than just connections.
“They create sisterhood,” she says. “When we come together to share our stories, our resources, and our belief in one another, we don’t just build businesses, we build legacies.”
Break the ice
Even if you aren’t ready to commit to joining a club or paying dues, you can still dip your toe into the networking world at events, classes, workshops, expos, and seminars.
With offices in both Southern and Northern Nevada, the nonprofit SCORE has a women’s networking group that hosts events to help women connect with other entrepreneurs and share thoughts, ideas, and plans. Part of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), SCORE has helped more than 17 million entrepreneurs since 1964.
The University of Nevada, Reno Extension in North Las Vegas, in partnership with the Latin Chamber of Commerce, hosts a monthly Conectando con Cafecito/Connect with Coffee gathering for women to connect and grow their businesses. Conducted in Spanish, the program features a different guest speaker every month.
The Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship at UNR’s College of Business also hosts events for female entrepreneurs, including the annual International Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium (IWES), a virtual event with 40 speakers and nearly 1,000 attendees from 50 countries.
To learn about upcoming events and the local networking scene, subscribe to local business magazines like the Vegas Business Digest, Las Vegas Business Press, and Nevada Business Magazine. Additionally, you can search your favorite social media sites for business networking accounts to follow.
Also, look for activities on ticketing and event websites like Eventbrite or Meetup. A recent search of upcoming events for business women in Nevada turned up several pages of events, including the Women-Owned Business Expo: Learn, Connect & Grow in Las Vegas and the Be You Brand Coffee Club, a monthly meetup for women entrepreneurs from the founders of Be You Brand Live.
There are also events catering to specific fields, such as the Women in Cannabis Expo at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center later this year.
Be resourceful
Nevada has lots of government, public, and nonprofit organizations that exist solely to assist entrepreneurs, including some that cater exclusively to women.
The Nevada Women Business Center (NWBC) provides free business education, training, and support services, including help with business plan development, marketing advice, entrepreneurial training, and workshops for women, people of color, veterans, and low-income individuals. NWBC’s Dreambuilder Business Planning Program is an online tool in both English and Spanish with discussion boards, messaging, sample business forms, and templates, plus classroom sessions and one-on-one business counseling.
NAWBO of Southern Nevada represents women entrepreneurs across all industries, with a focus on propelling women business owners into economic, social, and political positions of power. You can check out some of its members in the organization’s online member directory.
Speaking of membership directories, in 2025, Empowered Ventures and the Reno Women-Owned Business Facebook group launched an online Women-Owned Business Directory to connect women-owned businesses across the country.
Make it rain
Money makes the world go around, and it’s necessary when running a business. Fortunately, Nevada’s women entrepreneurs don’t have to look far to find funding opportunities such as grants, seed money, and loans.
In an article for the Nevada Independent, Anabel Navarro, the Southern Nevada area regional manager for Nevada’s Small Business Development Center, suggests women apply for the Battle Born Growth Microloan Program (BBGMP), which helps Nevada-based businesses with 100 or fewer employees and $5 million or less in annual revenue secure loans of up to $250,000 with nonprofit lenders. “It is an incredible new resource that I want to encourage small business owners to use as a way to sustain or grow their operations,” she writes.
Here are a few other programs designed to help women cover the costs of running a business:
- The Nevada Women’s Fund awards scholarships and Summit Project funds, ranging from $500 to $10,000, to support projects aligned with its goals.
- WomensNet supports women in business through various grants, including The Amber Grant, which awards at least 3 $10,000 grants per month to a diverse array of women-owned businesses. All $10,000 winners are automatically eligible for one of three year-end Amber Grants worth an additional $50,000.
- The SBA, through its Office of Women’s Business Ownership, has several funding opportunities available specifically for women-owned businesses, including loans and grants.
- The Nevada Business Opportunity Fund provides small business loans for women.
- The University Center for Economic Development, U.S. Bank, and the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN) will award a $10,000 prize to a woman-led business in Northern Nevada during 100 Women, a pitch competition and champagne brunch at Silver Legacy Reno in March.
