Council Hosts Successful San Francisco Town Hall Meeting
The National Women’s Business Council held a town hall meeting for women entrepreneurs on November 6 in San Francisco, California. The sixth in a series of meetings across the country, this event attracted nearly 200 participants and 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. The results of the day-long discussions will be compiled in a Council report to policymakers, to ensure that the voices of women business owners are being heard on Capitol Hill.
NWBC Responds to Proposed Women’s Procurement Rule
In October, the National Women’s Business Council submitted a letter to the U.S. Small Business Administration in response to its newest proposed rule affecting the women-owned business federal contract assistance procedures. In the letter, Council Chair Carole Jean Jordan states that, due to time restrictions, the Council is unable to offer a sound recommendation to the question of which data set, the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) or the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners (SBO), will provide the soundest basis to identify industries in which women-owned businesses are underrepresented in Federal procurement.
Click here to read a copy of the Council’s response.
Updated Issue Brief Examines SBA Loans to Women-Owned Businesses
The National Women’s Business Council recently updated its Issue Brief on SBA Loans to Women-Owned Businesses. The updated brief examines the current state of SBA’s loan and financing programs to women-owned firms based on newly available FY 2008 data. Numbers of loans, dollars lent, and average loan value to women business owners between FY 2004 and FY 2008 are examined, with comparisons made to all firms. The brief was last updated in 2004, covering FY 1998 through FY 2003.