On March 12 in Columbus, Ohio, the National Women’s Business Council held the first of three town hall meetings for women entrepreneurs scheduled for 2008. The free event, which attracted more than 150 participants, provided an opportunity for the Council to hear from a diverse population of women business owners who may not be involved regularly in the public policy process.
Breakout sessions focused on specific policy areas, such as affordable health care, access to capital, procurement, and taxes, and allowed participants to discuss the challenges and priorities they face running their businesses. The Council plans to bring the results of the day’s discussions directly to policymakers to ensure that the voices of women business owners are being heard on Capitol Hill.
The Council will hold similar town hall meetings in Houston, Texas on April 3 and Boca Raton, Florida on May 14. Recommendations gathered during all three events will be compiled later this year in a report that will help the Council formulate policy recommendations. Visit www.nwbc.gov for more information or to register.
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On March 13, the Council held a semi-annual meeting at the headquarters of The Longaberger Company in Newark, Ohio following the Columbus Town Hall Meeting. The meeting was hosted by Council Chair Tami Longaberger at her company headquarters in order to mark her last meeting as Chair. During the meeting, Longaberger presided over the swearing-in of two new Council members. In addition, the Council discussed the state of women's procurement, reviewed recent projects and discussed plans for FY 2008.
The public is invited to attend future meetings of the National Women’s Business Council, which are held twice a year.
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The U.S. Small Business Administration has reopened the comment period on the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures (72 FR 73285) proposed rule. The original comment period was from December 27, 2007, through February 25, 2008, but the SBA reopened the comment period until March 31, 2008 to accommodate the great level of interest that the proposed rule has generated. If you feel strongly about this ruling and the impact on the future of procurement opportunities for women-owned businesses, please file your comment before the new deadline.
All comments should be submitted online at the Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov, or by mail to: Robert C. Taylor, Office of Contract Assistance, Office of Government Contracting, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street, SW, Washington, DC 20416.
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NWBC once again will be participating in the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s (OSDBU) 18th Annual Procurement Conference at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on April 24, 2008. The national one-day conference is geared to fostering business partnerships between the Federal government, prime contractors, and small, minority, veteran-owned, HubZone, and women-owned businesses.
The event will feature seminars, procurement matchmaking, and exhibits. Former NWBC member, and current President and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Karen Kerrigan, will be moderating a conference seminar on small business financing, organized by the Council. In addition, SBA Administrator Steve Preston is scheduled as a guest speaker. For more information and to register for the conference, please visit www.osdbu.gov.
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The Small Business Administration will mark National Small Business Week 2008 from April 21-25. This year marks the 55th anniversary of the agency, and the 45th annual proclamation of Small Business Week, which recognizes small business owners from across the country.
Beginning with three days of events in Washington, D.C., the SBA will recognize more than 100 outstanding business owners from across the country, as well as men and women involved in disaster recovery, government procurement, small business champions, and SBA partners in financial and entrepreneurial development. The highlight of events will be the announcement of the National Small Business Person of the Year.
On April 24th, following the DC-based events, Small Business Week will move to New York City, where SBA will participate in the closing bell ceremony at NASDAQ to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Women’s Business Ownership Act (HR. 5050), which established NWBC and the Women’s Business Center program. NWBC will then serve as a host of a reception following the event, “Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs,” along with other women’s business organizations and corporate partners. New York City events will also include an awards event celebrating the top small business lenders and a financial forum on community investment, cosponsored with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.
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The Council, along with several other government agencies, will be celebrating Women’s History Month at a special event on March 27 in Washington, DC. The event, entitled Women Making History…Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, is being organized by the National Women’s History Month Inter-agency Committee. The program will include workshops on finance and career development, agency displays, and keynote remarks from Ms. Shinae Chun, Director of the Women’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor. Sharon G. Hadary, Executive Director of the Center for Women's Business Research, will moderate the day’s events. Advance registration is not required to attend the event, which is taking place from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the National Transportation and Safety Board Conference Center.
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Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula J. Dobriansky honored eight women with 2008 International Women of Courage Awards on March 10th, International Women’s Day. The award recognizes women from around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for women’s rights and advancement. The ceremony, which took place at the State Department, included keynote remarks by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Later that day, President and Mrs. Bush also honored the award winners at the White House at a ceremony attended by women members of Congress and cabinet members. NWBC Executive Director Margaret Barton attended both events. Click here to learn more about the award recipients.
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The U.S. Small Business Administration recently launched a free online course called Business Opportunities: A Guide to Winning Federal Contracts. The instructional, self-paced guide, available on SBA’s Website at www.sba.gov/training, is designed for all small businesses, especially women entrepreneurs and small firms in underserved markets that have historically had difficulty in tapping into federal contract markets.
The course provides information about the $400 billion federal market, contract rules, and most importantly, where to find contract opportunities and how to sell to the government. It also highlights the best contracting resources and directly engages entrepreneurs in the contracting process. For example, the course encourages and leads participants to the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) – generally considered the first step in engaging in the federal market place. The course also includes several other practical “next steps,” all designed to engage business owners in the federal contracting space.
This Business Opportunities online course is one of more than 24 online tutorials offered by the SBA through the Small Business Training Network.
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As part of its Regulatory Review and Reform (r3) initiative, the SBA Office of Advocacy recently announced the 2008 Top 10 Rules for Review and Reform. The Top 10 are drawn from over 80 rules nominated by small business owners and their representatives and recommendations for addressing these rules have been transmitted to the appropriate federal agencies.
Making the Top 10 is a recommendation to simplify the home office business deduction. The requirements to qualify for and calculate the deduction are confusing for taxpayers and do not account for changes in technology that affect the way business is conducted. Consequently, many at-home workers do not take advantage of the home office business deduction. According to the Office of Advocacy, the IRS should revise the rules to permit a standard, optional deduction for home-based businesses. Taxpayers who wish to claim the home office deduction could choose to continue to follow the current home office deduction rules or they could choose the new standard deduction.
Advocacy created the r3 initiative to identify and address existing federal regulations that should be revised because they are ineffective, duplicative, or out of date. The cumulative burden of these federal regulations represents $1.1 trillion per year, which is more per household than the cost of health insurance, and this burden is borne by the smallest of businesses. According to Office of Advocacy research, small businesses annually pay 45 percent more per employee to comply with federal regulations than big businesses do.
In order to track agency action on the Top 10, the Office of Advocacy has posted the list to its web site and an update on the status of agency reviews will be published twice a year. Small businesses are encouraged to follow the progress of the reviews and comment to the agencies on that progress. To find out more about the r3 initiative and the agency’s progress in reviewing the Top 10 rules, visit www.sba.gov/advo/r3.
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On March 11, the Small Business Administration announced the selection of 11 cities to participate in the Emerging 200 initiative, a jobs and growth stimulation effort targeting promising inner-city small businesses. The designated cities are Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Memphis, Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee, Albuquerque, New Orleans, Des Moines and Oakland.
Research shows that small firms with fewer than 20 employees created 80 percent of the net new jobs in the economy from 1990 to 2003. In addition, small businesses in inner cities added nearly three times the number of new jobs than larger companies between 1995 and 2002.
The SBA Emerging 200 initiative will enable entrepreneurs from 200 small, inner-city companies to participate in an intensive and comprehensive curriculum focused on developing winning, local strategies and attracting capital to fuel growth. Participants also will have the opportunity to work with experienced mentors, attend workshops and develop connections with banks and the private equity community.
Engaging the local network of business resources that is already in place in each city is a critical component of Emerging 200. Consequently, the local SBA District Offices will be deeply involved in assembling community partners, including state or local government, technical assistance partners, and capital providers.
For more information on the Emerging 200 initiative, visit www.sba.gov.
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