Leslie Saunders, CEO of Lutz, FL and Charlottesville, VA-based Fly Fast, LLC and president of Leslie Saunders Insurance and Marketing (LSIMI), Dr. Ann Blackburn, President and Owner of Lafayette, CA-based Blackburn Advisory Services, and Cecelia McCloy, President and CEO of Walnut Creek, CA-based Integrated Science Solutions, Inc. (ISSi), have been appointed to a three-year terms on the National Women’s Business Council.
Saunders serves on the board of Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and will represent WBENC on the Council. Established in 1988, LSIMI provides innovative insurance products and private placement of unique risks to a variety of national and international risks firms.
As a member of the Board of Directors, Blackburn will represent Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) on the Council. Her company, 5-year old Blackburn Advisory Services, provides organizational advisory services and strategic planning to private and public sector clients. McCloy started ISSi, a certified woman-owned science and engineering firm, in 1999 with her partner, David Dobson. Since then, the company has grown to 75 people in six locations across the United States.
In addition, Ann Marie Almeida, President & CEO of the Association of Women’s Business Centers, completed her three-year term on the Council. The Council is grateful to her for her service and unfailing commitment to improving opportunities for women business owners.
Click here to learn more about Saunders, Blackburn and McCloy.
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The National Women’s Business Council recently updated its primary fact sheet on Women Business Owners and their Enterprises. The updated fact sheet includes new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, in addition to data from the Center for Women’s Business Research, the SBA Office of Advocacy, and other sources. The fact sheet highlights areas of growth for women-owned firms, statistics on women-owned employer firms, and key issues of women business owners. The updated fact sheet is now available on NWBC’s web site.
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Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) held its 10th Annual Women in Business Conference (June 25-28) in Los Angeles, CA. NWBC staff members Margaret Barton and Emily Reynolds joined over 2,000 attendees and over 400 exhibitors who came together to promote business opportunities for women business owners and their enterprises.
Council member Rebecca Boenigk, CEO of Neutral Posture, received WBENC’s prestigious 2007 Applause Award, an honor given to those who demonstrate exceptional accomplishments to expand opportunities for women's business enterprises on a national level while furthering WBENC's mission of breaking down the barriers that impede the progress and growth of businesses owned and operated by women. For more information on WBENC or the conference, visit www.wbenc.org.
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On June 27th, the National Women’s Business Council welcomed five international visitors from Poland as part of a three-week program through the International Visitor Program of the U.S. Department of State. The program’s goals included examining cooperation between government and business to promote local development and economic growth and learning how to encourage greater participation of women in business.
With the help of interpreters, Katherine Stanley, NWBC operations manager, and Sally Wilson, NWBC summer intern, shared how the Council’s programs promote and support women entrepreneurs. The discourse was enlightening for both the Council staff and the visitors as the meeting allowed for a revitalizing exchange of ideas and suggestions.
The group consisted of government officials and mayors from throughout Poland who work on issues of local governance and public administration. As part of their visit to the United States, the Polish delegation also visited Raleigh-Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Jackson, Wyoming; Tucson, Arizona; and Louisville, Kentucky.
The International Visitor Program brings participants to the United States from all over the world each year to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to experience the United States firsthand.
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The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced new recertification regulations to help small businesses gain access to federal contracting opportunities. As of June 30, 2007, small businesses will now be required to recertify their size status at the end of the first five years of long-term contracts and must immediately recertify anytime the company is involved in a buy-out or merger.
The status of awarded contracts will not be altered, but the government’s contracting database will be updated to more accurately reflect the procurement landscape. Through better data collection, federal agencies will be held to higher account in meeting Congress’ mandated 23% government-wide small business contracting goal. Click here to learn more about the SBA’s new recertification regulations.
In June, the SBA also announced the Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative for veterans and members of the military community wanting to establish or expand small businesses. The Patriot Express Pilot Loan is a streamlined loan product offered by SBA’s network of participating lenders nationwide, which features fast turnaround time for loan approvals and low interest rates. Loans can be used for most business purposes, including start-up, expansion, equipment purchases, working capital, inventory or business-occupied real-estate purchases. Details on the initiative can be found at www.sba.gov/patriotexpress.
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On July 18th, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship held a hearing entitled, “Increasing Government Accountability and Ensuring Fairness in Small Business Contracting.” During the hearing, Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), and Ranking Member Olympia Snowe (R-ME) indicated that they plan to promote bipartisan small business procurement legislation in the 110th Congress.
According to Eagle Eye Publishers, the federal government spent more than $412 billion in contracts last year but small businesses only saw 20% of that, falling short of the federally-mandated 23%. As a result, more than $12 billion in contracts that should have gone to small businesses did not. During his opening statement, Sen. Kerry criticized many federal agencies for not meeting the required percentage of contracting dollars to small and disadvantaged businesses, arguing that the lack of progress in meeting these goals results in small firms having a more difficult time staying competitive and doing business with the government.
The hearing also focused on government-wide contracting goals with other groups, including women-owned businesses, serviced-disabled, veteran-owned businesses (SDVOSBs), and Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) businesses. In fiscal year 2005, women-owned small businesses only achieved 3.3 percent of contract dollars, rather than the goal of 5%, HUBZone companies received only 1.9% instead of the 3 percent goal for these companies, and SDVOSBs achieved only 0.6 % of government contracts, far below the 3% goal. Sens. Kerry and Snowe both urged the SBA to implement the Women’s Procurement Program, which became law in 2000, as quickly as possible, and asked the government to improve contracting levels with service disabled veterans.
During the hearing, testimony was given by Paul Hsu, Small Business Administration Associate Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development; Anthony R. Martoccia, Director of the Office of Small Business Programs in the Department of Defense. Other witnesses included Todd McCracken, President of the National Small Business Association; Ronald Newlan, Chairman of HUBZone Contractors National Council; Patricia A. Rice, Director of the Maine Procurement Technical Assistance Center; and Magdalah Silva on behalf of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and Coalition Partners.
Other issues, such as contract bundling, size standards, lack of protection for subcontractors, and difficulties getting access to the General Services Administration’s schedule program, were also discussed as problems which pose challenges for small businesses. Many of the witnesses agreed that improved accountability in government contract programs is an important goal. Click here to learn more about the hearing or to read submitted testimony.
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Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a series of entrepreneurial development and technical assistance initiatives, including the SBA Women’s Business Programs Act of 2007 (H.R.2397). This act expands the reach of Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) and increases services in underserved communities. The legislation allocates resources to strengthen WBCs across the country to ensure the stability of the program.
On July 12, the Senate Appropriations Committee narrowly approved a $44.2 billion financial services spending bill (H.R.2829) which includes a provision allocating Women’s Business Centers with $16.8 million for fiscal year 2008. The legislation has been placed on the legislative calendar for full Senate vote.
Finally, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, introduced two bills in June designed to improve access to quality health care for small businesses, their employees and their families. The Small Business Children’s Health Education Act (S.1714) would create an intergovernmental task force headed by the Administrator of the SBA, to launch a campaign to enroll eligible children in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) and provide information about eligibility criteria. The Small Business Health Insurance Options Act (S.1690) would establish a grant program for Small Business Development Centers to provide regional information for small businesses about health insurance options available to them. The provisions in this bill were included in the Entrepreneurial Development Act (S.1671), which the Committee unanimously passed on June 26th.
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Entrepreneur Magazine and the Women Presidents’ Organization have launched a search for the 50 fastest-growing women-owned or women-led companies in North America. Companies will be ranked according to revenue growth from 2002 to 2006. To be eligible, companies must be privately-owned, women-owned or –led, have started generating revenue by the first week of 2002, and have reached revenues of $1 million by year-end 2006. The Top 50 fastest-growing companies will be publicized in the November 2007 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine.
Click here for more information.
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