TUESDAY IN TAMPA
Summit To Focus On Women In Business
Published Saturday, September 20, 2003
By Mary Toothman
The Ledger

LAKELAND -- Women from all over the state will gather Tuesday to attend the free "Women's Entrepreneurship in the 21st Center Summit" at the Tampa Convention Center.

Co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence, the one-day event is one in a series being held around the country. The first was held in March 2002, when President Bush addressed a summit held in Washington, D.C.

A prepared statement issued by the U.S. Department of Labor said women-owned businesses are an engine for job growth. Women-owned businesses are growing at more than twice the rate of all privately held U.S. firms, the statement said, and increasing their employment at more than three times the rate of such firms.

Summit issues will include a focus on the bottom line, including access to capital, government procurement, affordable health care, growing a business and new tax policies.

Conference topics address the concerns of entrepreneurial women by featuring workshops on access to capital, marketing to corporations, obtaining federal contracts and 21st century work force issues.

Keynote speakers include Elaine L. Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor; Hector Barreto, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration; and Angela Styles of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

Two Lakeland women, Lisa Kaiser Hickey and Maria Mahoney, served on the White House Office of Public Liaison's Steering Committee in planning the conference. Hickey is president and CEO of Douglass Screen Printers Inc., and represents the Lakeland Metro Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners' national board of directors as directorat-large. Mahoney, president and CEO of Mahoney Group Commercial Real Estate, represents NAWBO as president-elect and vice president of public policy.

Mahoney said she encourages any women interested to register. "This is a great opportunity for women to not only network, but pursue their business and take it to the next level," she said. "There are so many resources out there."

For more information or to register, visit www.women-21.gov.

Mary Toothman can be reached at mary.toothman@theledger.com or 863-802-7533.