When Julie Espalin organized the first meeting of a new chapter of Women Entrepreneurs of Nevada in Reno, she hoped that 10 women might show up.
More than 30 spilled out of a small meeting room, and Espalin quickly began looking for a larger venue for the group's monthly meetings.
That's an experience that Christy Virden expects to become common as Women Entrepreneurs, headquartered in Carson City, begins its nationwide rollout.
The parent organization, Women Entrepreneurs of the World Inc., is a for-profit. Local chapters operate as nonprofits.
Virden jokes that she serves as "COE" - "Chief Of Everything" - for the organization that has launched chapters in Reno, Sparks, the Carson Valley, the Lake Tahoe area and Fallon.
The organization's cornerstone chapter in Carson City has about 70 members, growing from 10 members a year ago.
Next up, Virden says, will be chapters in Las Vegas and other cities in the West.
Members pay dues of $70 a year. Monthly meetings include educational speakers, business networking, and peer-to-peer discussion of business challenges.
Virden says Women Entrepreneurs also seeks national and local corporate sponsors that are willing to provide discounts to members of the group.