When Tanya Keith saw how fast properties were being snatched up in Des Moines’ East Village earlier this year, she knew she had to act fast if she wanted to find a place there for her rapidly growing business. Lucky for her, fellow members from the National Association of Women Business Owners were ready to help her with her aggressive plan.

Keith opened Simply for Giggles, a business specializing in interior design and furnishings for children, July 29 in the new Soho Development in the East Village. She credits lessons learned from the Central Iowa chapter of NAWBO and a mentor in the group for the speed with which she got her business off the ground.

“I would not have opened my store for many years, if at all, had it not been for the encouragement of my mentor and NAWBO,” Keith said.

Keith joined the Central Iowa chapter of NAWBO a year ago. She had launched Simply for Giggles a year earlier from her home, and was interested in networking with other women business owners. Through the organization, she learned about a new nationwide mentoring program the group that paired new business owners with members who were experienced business owners. Keith submitted information about her business goals and personal strengths and weaknesses and was teamed with a woman in New Mexico who worked as a business consultant.

“I couldn’t imagine a better match for me,” Keith said. “She had all the answers to my questions. Even today, if I have a question here or there about how to handle things, I send her an e-mail and she helps me out. It’s been a great relationship.”

The mentoring Keith received was free with her NAWBO membership. She said she also obtained helpful information through from attending NAWBO meetings that included educational sessions on topics such as securing business loans and choosing business insurance.

NAWBO was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1975. Its Central Iowa chapter, which is the only one in the state, began in 1988. Monica Dolezal, the owner of Bizstarts LLC, got involved with the local chapter of NAWBO shortly after it began as a representative of her employer at the time, Wells Fargo & Co., which was a corporate sponsor of the group.

“When it started, it was a way to break through the ‘good-old-boy system,’” Dolezal said. “It took this type of a group to effect positive change in the business environment for women business owners.”

Dolezal has watched the local chapter go through many changes and peaks and valleys in membership over the years. The past two years have been a period of rebuilding for the group, whose membership had dipped into the 20s just a couple of years ago. Membership has since rebounded to more than 40 people. Dolezal said the chapter constantly changes based on the needs of its members.

“Trying to meet the needs of existing members can be a challenge, and because of that, the organization keeps changing,” she said. “That’s a good thing, not a bad thing. Someone’s business needs are not going to be the same today as they were five years ago, and the group needs to provide the proper education opportunities to meet the needs of everyone.”

Knowing that its members have a variety of business experience, the chapter began offering roundtable discussions with a panel of experts this past year on a variety of topics, such as retirement plans and obtaining loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The optional roundtables precede the group’s networking meetings, which are held about every six weeks between quarterly meetings.

“We try to look at the full year of programming and make sure we have something for every level of business owner,” Dolezal said.

Devon Wendler Alvord currently serves as the president of the Central Iowa chapter. She joined the group in 2003 when she moved to Des Moines, hoping to meet other business owners. She operates a West Des Moines branch of a financial services company, Mass Mutual Financial Group. She belongs to other professional organizations, but says she enjoys NAWBO because although it’s composed of a diverse group of women, they still have a lot in common with one another.

“We aren’t just professionals; but we’re mothers and daughters and we also have a household to run,” Wendler Alvord said.

Keith agrees that her fellow women business owners are better able than others to understand her experiences and provide support and advice to help her make good business decisions.

“I think that having role models in other women business owners is a huge benefit,” Keith said. “I started my business when my daughter was still an infant, and there’s just some things that a man can’t relate to in that way. I was trying to juggle nursing and parenting and my business all at the same time. I felt relieved when I walked into the NAWBO meetings because everyone understood what I was going through. They understand what it’s like to start a business as a woman and balance a family.”

Wendler Alvord said she considers many members of the Central Iowa chapter of NAWBO to be her “personal board of directors if I need advice on something.” She said she wasn’t expecting to form good friendships through the group, but that “it’s been a pleasant surprise.”

Dolezal said one aspect of NAWBO she is looking forward to during this coming year is the attention the group will devote to public policy issues. The national organization emphasizes the importance of transforming public policy by influencing decision makers, but the Central Iowa chapter has not devoted much time to that activity in recent years.

Dolezal now serves as the chairwoman of the chapter’s public policy committee, and she is planning a Central Iowa NAWBO Day on the Hill during the next legislative session to talk to lawmakers about issues affecting women business owners.

“One of the reasons I remain active in NAWBO is that the group has the ear of the president of the United States at a national level,” Dolezal said. “If the president wants to know what’s going on in the women business owner’s world, he contacts NAWBO.

“We as women have all the same concerns as business owners and then some. We’re concerned about the same issues as everyone else, such health-care costs and Social Security changes, along with issues such as on-site child care and procurement issues for women business owners.”

The Central Iowa chapter of NAWBO’s Day on the Hill is planned for Feb. 9, 2006, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Contact Dolezal by phone at 229-2345 for more information about this event. For information about how to get involved with the Central Iowa chapter of NAWBO, contact Amy Anderson-Peck with the membership committee at 270-6104.