Throughout the month of March, we celebrate the contributions of women leaders around the world and commemorate the impact women have had on our history during Women’s History Month. One such leader succeeding in the male-dominated New York City financial sector is using her diverse career experience to help her team think outside the box when it comes to funding high-growth companies, entrepreneurs, and women-owned small businesses.
Jo-Ann Erhard’s career began working at her family’s business, Airport Clearance Services, which served as a Customs Broker, Freight Forwarder, 3PL Warehouse, and Fulfillment Provider for goods coming through JFK International Airport.
“I worked in ACS’s export department and also headed up the domestic freight forwarding division, specializing in video game deliveries for street release dates,” she says. “Those live release dates meant every location had to have a specific inventory of the product at the same time. This is also where I learned and practiced collateral management, which became valuable experience for my transition into the finance world, managing purchase order finance transactions.”
When ACS closed after 50 years in business, bought by MTB Bank in 1996, Erhard stayed with MTB in their Trading Alliance Division, where she coordinated logistics on behalf of purchase order finance clients. Erhard’s capability to learn and adapt quickly led to a promotion to the division’s Assistant Vice President two years later. Succeeding in her newest endeavor, she became the bank’s first female vice president soon after. Today, Erhard serves in a leadership position with Star Funding, where she’s using her unique career blend of logistics, operations, and finance to support growing businesses with working capital and purchase order financing.
“Our lending is transactionally-focused, not balance sheet-specific,” Erhard says. “When a business owner is just starting to see hockey-stick growth appear, they can still be denied a loan by a more traditional bank or lender because they are looking at financial history. Instead, we look at the opportunity the client has in front of them. Our clients can come to us for support with multimillion dollar purchase orders from buyers like Walmart, Costco, or the federal government. If we are confident that the business owner can complete the order, Star will finance the production or acquisition of the products for them to deliver.”
Star Funding’s innovative financing model is helping entrepreneurs presented with an opportunity for growth. For women-owned businesses, that financial support can be a game changer. That’s because men are more likely than women to receive traditional funding, such as loans from a bank. When it comes to venture capital funding, the gap even wider. Women-led business ventures are 63% less likely to receive traditional VC funding (Columbia Business School, 2019) and the statistics for businesswomen of color are even worse.
“So many female entrepreneurs come up with fantastic ideas and products,” Erhard says. “We can help them because of how we look at financing them through the opportunities presented to them and their businesses. This is a huge part of what we do at Star Funding with businesses owned by women, especially for women and businesses in underserved communities.”
For Erhard, helping women leave their mark on the world aligns perfectly with her philosophy of helping others whenever and however possible. While Star Funding does provide the capital for the deals they choose to make with clients, they don’t take equity or a piece of the company.
Erhard explains, “No one wants to give away their equity just to stay alive, otherwise you’ll find yourself working for a company that you’re now a minority shareholder in. Show us the opportunity in front of you so we can help get you over that hump and into the next level of operating your business.”
Supporting her community also plays a key role in Erhard’s experience. “I’m very involved in my community through leadership roles,” she says. “From day one of my kids being in school, I knew I wanted to help them and the community they were now a part of, so I began taking on leadership roles throughout the PTA organizations in the community, most notably as the president of the coordinating council overseeing the PTA for 6 schools. I am now serving as an elected school board trustee and currently Vice President for my district.”
For women business owners, entrepreneurs and those thinking of starting a business, Erhard gives this advice: “Securing capital for a fast-growing business is hard and the statistics unfortunately show that for women and minority-owned businesses it’s even more difficult. Women are amazing at thinking outside the box. It’s that kind of ingenuity we need in the business world and why I love helping women entrepreneurs succeed.”
