Want to land U.S. government and corporate contracts? Look to the
Women's Business Enterprise
National Council, which boasts 11 years of certifying Women's Business
Enterprises and nine years of holding annual conferences to connect female
entrepreneurs with supplier diversity professionals from major corporations.
Today, there are more than 7,500 WBEs, and certification numbers grow by 20
percent each year. "Certification can help open the doors to corporate
contracts," explains Linda Denny, president and CEO of WBENC. "[Women] still
have to go in, compete and win the business, but they have an opportunity to bid
that they might not have had before." Denny says WBE certification is a great
marketing tool for businesses that are at least 51 percent woman-owned, operated
and controlled.
Lisa Rothstein, president of Columbus, Ohio-based
BrowniePointsInc.com,
agrees: "[WBENC] broadens your opportunities." Case in point: Rothstein, 43,
gained Nordstrom as a client due partly to the resources she accessed through
WBENC.
WBENC provided Rothstein's $1 million dessert gifts company with data from
more than 800 companies, including specific supplier diversity contacts. "It
helped me reach the right people in many companies we'd like to do business
with," she says.
Julie Copeland, president and CEO of
Arbill, a
workplace safety business based in Philadelphia, first heard about WBENC in
2004, when she took over the family business. "I wanted to take a proactive role
in the community to build partnerships among corporations and WBEs, forge
innovative solutions for building business and demonstrate our success as women
business leaders," recalls Copeland, 37, who is affiliated with the
Pennsylvania, Delaware and South New Jersey WBE Council.
Since becoming involved with WBENC, Copeland says her company has analyzed
its own supplier base and turned to more WBEs as suppliers. "We're finding the
WBEs are good partners because they care, and they are flexible," she says.
Another benefit of being involved with WBENC? Copeland has been able to secure
more contracts thanks to her company's WBE certification and is expecting sales
of $40 million this year.
To find out more about WBE certification, go to
http://wbenc.org.
Originally published in the June 2008 issue of Entrepreneur magazine.