Rosandra Heffefingers was a successful project leader at a Ventura insurance brokerage firm — until her job fell out from beneath her.

“They just decided it was no longer a lucrative project, so my position wasn’t necessary,” she said. Facing dim prospects in a difficult job market, she decided to look into entrepreneurship as an alternative.

Heffefingers isn’t alone. A recession means hard times for many women who have lost their jobs, but some are taking matters into their own hands by starting their own businesses. And in the Tri-Counties, a growing community of female entrepreneurs is connecting through organizations such as Women’s Economic Ventures, which provides them with classes, networking and loans.

WEV is a nonprofit that lets women network with people who currently have businesses and build solid business skills.
“I saw an ad for a WEV orientation in the paper and decided to go, but I was as new and green as you can imagine,” Heffefingers said.

The full version of this article is only available in the print edition. To view everything the Business Times offers, see this week’s print version or SUBSCRIBE to the print edition for $49.99 today.