JoAnn Roberts Wilder, President of Christian Business Women, had her first small business breakfast in February.

“It was the start of something blessed!” she said, hands clasped in pleasure.

Wilder, a native of Gray, lives in Macon with her husband, the Rev. Tommy K. Wilder of Well Springs Ministries.

Wilder is one of 15 women, all small business owners, who come together once a month in order to increase their contacts and discover new ways to improve their businesses.

“I wanted to help focus on home-based businesswomen,” Wilder said. “There are a lot of women out there that may have a good idea on their hands, but they just need a little exposure.”

The group, composed of women from Macon, Perry and Unadilla, gathers at the Simply Self Storage conference room on Presidential Parkway in Macon.

In addition to presiding over organizational meetings for Christian Business Women, Wilder is also an independent associate with Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc., a company organized solely to design, underwrite, and market legal expense plans. She also partners with GoSmallBiz, a network founded by former pro football player Fran Tarkenton that provides business information to upcoming entrepreneurs.

“Both of these companies help people run businesses and grow their businesses,” Wilder said. “And I wanted to help people in the middle Georgia area do just that.”

Members of Christian Business Women are granted access to information circulated by GoSmallBiz and participate in various group meetings via conference call.

Since the inception of Christian Business Women, Wilder has met many interesting women with wide-ranging backgrounds and unique business know-how.

“When I was first setting up the group, I was in contact with a woman from North Carolina who introduced me to a woman named Carolyn James from right here in middle Georgia,” Wilder explained. “Carolyn has been there from day one. She’s a virtual assistant and has really helped out with our newsletter and everything from a legal standpoint.”

Through word of mouth, Christian Business Women is expanding, bringing more interested businesswomen into the fold. In order to accommodate every woman in the group, Wilder also set up an evening meeting once a month that is scheduled the day after the monthly breakfasts.

Wilder prints a newsletter that highlights topics of discussion popular to business owners. Specially featured in the newsletter is a small business of the month.

“We do everything we can to highlight small businesses,” Wilder said. “And we help them grow.”

Christian Business Women is programmed especially for Christian women but welcomes women of other faiths.

“It’s not just about business and profit,” Wilder explained. “We are caring for women and acknowledging God in the process because he leads and directs us, so we open our meetings in prayer.”

Wilder has found many women willing to participate and hopes to expand the group further in the area.

“I would love to have more women from Gray,” she said. “We’d be willing to bring our meetings out to the community every now and then.”

For more information about Christian Business Women, Wilder may be contacted at (478) 731-6391 or by e-mail at cwbb@cox.net.

“I’ve really met a lot of motivated people that I didn’t know before, and I’m looking forward to the growth.”