Simone Calvin has found a way to turn her business into a family affair. The owner of Chester-based Simone's Art Gallery, she often recruits her twin girls and two older boys to pitch in after school and on weekends, enabling her to concentrate on managing the operations side of her business, as well as attend a course to learn how to professionally frame the artwork she sells.

Several times a month, Simone meets with two other women that she met through Chester Microenterprise Partnership. Soon after meeting, they discovered a shared dedication to their businesses and determination to succeed. Together, they formed a Community Capital Works peer lending group and created a critical business support system enriched by the services provided by the program's staff.

Simone has taken advantage of nearly every service that PDP has to offer, from the business skills training course to attending regularly scheduled one-on-one counseling sessions. She received a Trickle Up grant and a loan and is ready to conquer her next mission—to draw corporate clients to her business.