With "American Made," Martha Stewart Pays it Forward

Martha Stewart is supporting small businesses with her In 1976, Martha Stewart launched her multi-million dollar empire out of her basement, making cooking and crafting not just an acceptable pastime, but a lucrative business. Now, with her "American Made" program, she's aiming to help other entrepreneurs turn their small business into big success stories.

Related: Martha Stewart's Top Tips for Packing

"I'm very interested in things that are made in America, and I've always been very interested in craftsmanship and artisanship," she told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "And we have probably helped more young entrepreneurs than anybody else, for a long time, by focusing on them. It's turned out to be something we really feel strongly about."

So strongly, that she decided to highlight the achievements of 10 small business owners, and encourage her readers to vote for one more who would receive $10,000 to kick-start his or her company. The winners are being honored at an open-to-the-public event in Grand Central Terminal in New York on October 17 and 18. While some portions of the event -- master classes with experts require free tickets, there are plenty tastings, book signing, and demonstrations going on as well.

"I'm excited about the whole thing!" Stewart said when asked to pick her favorite part.

The honorees range from artists like Alisa Toninato, who makes cast-iron sculptures ("One of my favorite cooking materials!" Stewart enthuses) to entrepreneurs like Brett Binford and Chris Lyon of Mudshark Studios, who help other small businesses meet big orders.

Though half of the honorees are male, Stewart points out that small businesses are especially important to women around the country. Between 1997 and 2011, the number of women-owned businesses in the United States increased by 50 percent, according to the American Express OPEN State of Women-Owned Businesses Report.

"Twenty-eight million entrepreneurs are working at home right now, creating things that are meaningful and useful and practical," Stewart pointed out.

"For some women, a business is a great outlet for their energy, leadership skills, and passion," Nellie Akalp, CEO of CorpNet.com, told GalTime. "For others, it's a flexible way to supplement the household income. And for many, it's simply a necessity. Since let's face it: living on a single income is not that easy in our two-income economy."

Take a look at some of the things these entrepreneurial women are working on: