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Helping Women in Business

SCRANTON — The old South Side Bank and Trust Building on Cedar Avenue is now home to a People’s Security Bank and soon a lot more. Part of the first...

SCRANTON -- The old South Side Bank and Trust Building on Cedar Avenue is now home to a People's Security Bank and soon a lot more.

Part of the first floor will become a women's business incubator headed up by the Scranton Area Community Foundation and CEO Laura Ducceschi.

"We will have a coordinator there. We'll have various services that'll be available to help women understand how to keep moving forward in their business. And they can vary, they can be anywhere from software programs to communication, to training regarding that," Ducceschi explained.

The building is owned by the United Neighborhood Centers which will move some of its offices into the bank building. A state casino grant is helping to pay for renovations to the building.

The state gaming grant only pays for part of the renovations, but United Neighborhood Centers tells us they plan to start renovating within the next few months.

"17 years here on Cedar Avenue and I've watched the area come up and it's doing very good," said Connie Catapano.

Catapano has done business at her hair salon on Cedar Avenue since 2001 and she'd like to see more women like herself. In fact, she's helped Susan Sedano get her business, Bella Bunnyrella, off the ground.

These women in business think the incubator is just what south Scranton needs.

"Sometimes we have an idea but we don't know what steps to take to get to that point, so that would be super nice," Sedano said.

"They can send them somewhere where they can get help to fix their credit, that'll be a start, and then from there, whatever resources they have to help them would be great," Catapano added.

The Scranton Area Community Foundation says it plans to have up to 13 women working with them at a time once the incubator starts offering services.

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