President George W. Bush has announced his intent to appoint Carole Jean Jordan, owner and founder of Vero Beach, FL-based Jordan Sprinkler Systems, Inc., to be the next Chairperson of the National Women's Business Council. Jordan has served as a member of the Council since May 2007. She takes over the chair position upon the departure of the previous Chair, Tami Longaberger.

Jordan founded Jordan Sprinkler Systems, Inc., with her husband Bill in 1973. Soon after founding the irrigation company, she took over daily business operations, including managing all areas of customer service, finance,and employee relations. The company has grown into a multi-million dollar business, now run by their son Billy.

In recent years, Jordan transferred her experience as a business owner to the political arena when she was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida in 2003. In this role, she instituted many business-based initiatives to foster efficiency, encourage positive public relations, and develop sound fiscal policy. She is actively involved in groups such as the National Black Republican Association, the Florida Federation of Black Republicans, the National Republican Women’s Network, the Tillie Fowler Women’s Leadership Series, and the Republican National Committee. In 2005, Jordan was appointed to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, a program that offers young men and women first hand experience working at the highest levels of the Federal government. She has served on several international delegations, including trips to Russia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In addition, she has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, NBC, FOX and scores of other national and international radio and television stations.

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NWBC Executive Director Margaret Barton participated in a panel celebrating the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 at the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) National Conference in Phoenix, Arizona earlier this month. This seminal piece of legislation, often known by its bill number HR 5050, improved women business owners’ access to credit, expanded data collection on women-owned businesses by the Census Bureau, gave birth to the Women’s Business Center program, and created the National Women’s Business Council. Other panelists included former NWBC Executive Director Julie Weeks and Madison Services Group’s Ann Sullivan.

Council members Rebecca Boenigk and Leslie Saunders will be participating in a similar panel later this month at the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Council staff member Emily Reynolds will also participate in the conference, which is scheduled for June 23-26.

Themes from these panels involved honoring the past achievements of women business leaders and advocates, acknowledging the present state of women’s enterprise, and looking ahead to the future of women’s business ownership. Barton, Boenigk, and Saunders’ participation was part of a year-long awareness building campaign and celebration for the Council, in which Council members and staff will join sister organizations to take this celebratory message of progress and achievement to conferences and communities around the country. Please check the Council's web site for updates.

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Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) recently released the results of its 2008 member survey, which indicated that the economy is one of the most important issues facing the women business owners participating. Health care also continues to be a top concern of respondents, with more than 60% of those surveyed indicating that they offer health insurance to their employees.

Other issues reported to be priorities by the women business owners surveyed were rising energy costs, the environment, access to capital and procurement. Following the release of the SBA’s proposed women's procurement program, which would only apply to four NAICS codes, 66% of the WIPP respondents did not believe the proposed program would help the government reach its 5% contract goal for women owned businesses.

Click here to learn more about the results of the WIPP survey.

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The Women Presidents' Organization (WPO) and Entrepreneur magazine have launched the 2nd annual ranking of the 50 fastest-growing women-owned/led companies in North America.

To be eligible for the ranking, businesses are required to be privately held, woman-owned/led companies in the U.S. or Canada and have reached revenue of at least $100,000 by the first week of 2003 and $1 million in 2007. All eligible companies are ranked according to a sales growth formula that combines percentage and absolute growth. From this list, the 50 fastest are selected. The deadline for applications is July 1, 2008, and the winners will be published in the November issue of Entrepreneur.

All 50 companies will be honored at a special event with the WPO in New York City. To learn more about the 50 Fastest and to apply, please visit the WPO web site.

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Steven Preston, who served as head of the U.S. Small Business Administration since July 2006, was sworn in as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on June 6. SBA Deputy Administrator Jovita Carranza now serves as Acting Administrator of the SBA.

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Congress recently passed a temporary extension of the legislation authorizing the National Women’s Business Council and Small Business Administration, through March 2009. The extension was signed into law on May 23.

In addition, the Senate passed a resolution on June 4th increasing the SBA’s budget by $101 million over the President’s request for 2009. The resolution includes additional financial support for small business programs, such as Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, and SCORE, as well as increased funding for microloans, contracting assistance, veterans outreach programs, and technical assistance programs.

Specifically, the legislation increases funding for Women’s Business Centers from $11.9 million to $17 million, for Small Business Development Centers from $87 million to $105 million, and for SCORE from $4.95 million to $7 million. The Microloan Program and programs supporting veterans and energy efficiency also receive increased funding in the Senate’s budget package. Finally, the legislation calls for expanding the number of Procurement Center Representatives to help support small firms in gaining federal contracts. Click here to learn more about the legislation.

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In late May, the Food, Conservation and Energy Bill of 2008, also know as the Farm Bill, was passed into law after Congress successfully overrode the President’s veto. The legislation originally was vetoed by President Bush, but an override of his veto is expected. The legislation (H.R. 2419) includes several provisions expanding the government’s support of rural entrepreneurs, including: a new $15 million Rural Entrepreneur program to provide low cost loans of up to $50,000 to establish small businesses in rural areas; a new Rural Collaborative Investment Program to aid rural regions in developing new collaborative economic development strategies, and authorization of several new and existing regional development authorities in rural areas.

Click here to learn more about the provisions of the new legislation.

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