SUPPLIER DIVERSITY
Women’s Business Enterprise National Council Applauds Full Implementation of Women’s Procurement Program
the Women’s Procurement Program, enacted into law in the year 2000.
T “The Women’s Procurement Program at last clears the way
for women’s businesses to compete for federal contracts and in- crease their share of this business representing potentially $6 bil- lion,” said WBENC President and CEO Linda Denny. Signed into law by President Clinton, the Women-Owned
Small Business Federal Contract Program of the Small Business Act set a five percent contracting goal for the Federal Govern- ment to do business with women owned companies. Even though the Federal Government has come from less than one percent to about 3.5 percent currently, the difference between the current number and the five percent goal represents over $6 billion in contract opportunities for women.
NOT FOR PLACEMENT - PLEASE REQUEST FINAL FILE/SIZE
he Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) applauds the release of the final rule which will implement
The rule also allows woman-owned businesses to either self-certify or certify through third parties approved by SBA. “As the leading certifier of Women’s Business Enterprises (WBEs), WBENC is delighted that the SBA will also open the door to third-party certification,” Denny added. “The Women’s Procurement Program will benefit not
only the businesses themselves, but also the new hires and in- vestments that we know is the bigger economic outcome of women’s business growth,” she said. When enacted, contracting officers will have the ability to
restrict competition to women-owned small businesses if the procurement falls within one of the eighty-three (83) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. The previous version would have applied to only five codes. On behalf of WBENC, Denny galvanized the support of
its Corporate Members, WBENC-certified Women’s Business Enterprises and 21 organizations representing 1.25-million women’s businesses to conduct a comprehensive commenting campaign disapproving specific elements of the proposed ver- sion and recommending some of the improvements that ap- pear in the newly approved one. “We thank SBA Administrator Karen Mills for her leader-
ship on this issue. And we are extraordinarily proud of our colleagues at Women Impacting Public Policy for their contin- ued effort to make this 10 year goal a reality,” Denny said. Important to the program’s success is a change made in the
Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 which restored “parity” among all of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) small business contracting programs. The program will be consid- ered equal to any other small business contracting program. This issue is highlighted in The Economic Blueprint: The Women Business Owners’ Platform for Growth, developed by WIPP with contributions from WBENC and other organiza- tions.
About WBENC:
Take steps to help moms have healthy pregnancies and save babies’ lives.
start your team at
marchforbabies.org 20 PROFESSIONAL WOMAN’S MULTICULTURAL MAGAZINE
The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) is the leading advocate for, and authority on, Wom- en’s Business Enterprises (WBEs) as suppliers and vendors to the nation’s corporations. Founded in 1997, WBENC is also the nation’s leading third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women.
www.wbenc.org.
Source: Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
CELEBRATING 11 YEARS OF DIVERSITY
WWW.PROFESSIONALWOMANMAG.COM
© 2010 March of Dimes Foundation
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68