SCORE NEMA, the northeastern Massachusetts chapter of the US-based small business mentoring organisation SCORE, hosted its 2026 Women's Business Summit on September 16 at the Andover Country Club, bringing together business leaders, mentors and partner organisations focused specifically on supporting women entrepreneurs across the region.
The summit format combined panel discussions, mentorship sessions and networking opportunities aimed at both aspiring women entrepreneurs considering launching a business and existing women-led business owners looking to scale their operations. Programming included discussion of practical strategies for navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship, alongside sessions connecting attendees with no-cost and low-cost partner resources intended to support small business growth.
SCORE, a nonprofit organisation supported by the US Small Business Administration, has long positioned itself as a mentorship-driven resource for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs across the United States, drawing on a network of volunteer mentors with backgrounds spanning a wide range of industries and business functions. Regional chapter events such as the NEMA Women's Business Summit represent a core part of the organisation's approach: localised, in-person programming designed to build community and practical support networks among entrepreneurs within a specific geographic area.
Women entrepreneurship remains an area of sustained policy and industry attention in the United States, with women-owned businesses representing a significant and growing share of the country's small business landscape, even as women entrepreneurs continue to face documented disparities in access to capital, particularly institutional venture funding, relative to their male counterparts. Community-based mentorship and networking events such as SCORE NEMA's summit are often cited by small business advocates as an important complement to capital-access initiatives, given the significant role that peer networks, mentorship and practical operational guidance play in small business survival and growth rates.
The event's focus on connecting attendees with local partner resources reflects a broader recognition within the small business support ecosystem that entrepreneurs — and women entrepreneurs in particular — often benefit as much from practical, localised guidance and community connections as from direct capital access alone, particularly in the earliest stages of business formation and growth.
As SCORE NEMA and similar regional organisations continue to run targeted programming for women entrepreneurs, events of this kind contribute to a broader, decentralised ecosystem of small business support infrastructure across the United States, one that operates alongside — and in some ways compensates for — persistent structural gaps in formal venture capital access for women-led businesses.
