Children On Board

Chambers of commerce focus on women.

When starting a business, the first organization most entrepreneurs join is their local chamber of commerce. But some women entrepreneurs have an additional choice--joining a chamber geared specifically to females.

"We started [in 1988] because 10 Denver businesswomen felt they needed to provide an economic community for women in business through education, training, alliances and networking," explains Keller Hayes, president of the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce. Similar concerns were also behind the creation of the Women's Chamber of Commerce of Texas in 1989.

In addition to providing support for women entrepreneurs, the chambers offer workshops, seminars and other educational activities. They also act as advocates for women in business, addressing issues such as the inadequacy of procurement dollars given to female-owned firms, the glass ceiling and access to capital.

"In Texas, the HUB [Historically Underutilized Business] program is a big issue, and in the last legislative session, there was a bill to essentially eliminate it," says Rose Batson, president of the Texas chamber. By partnering with the state minority chambers of commerce, Batson's group helped save the program.

Although there are currently only a few women's chambers of commerce nationwide, Hayes believes as long as there is increased interest in doing business with women, the number of chambers will grow.

The other women's chambers in the United States are:

• Women's Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City, Kansas, (913) 371-3070

• San Antonio Women's Chamber of Commerce, (210) 299-2636

• Southern Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce, (719) 442-2007

• Women's Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Louisville, Kentucky, (502) 584-6265.

Contact Sources

Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce, 13949 W. Colfax Ave., Bldg. 1, #107, Golden, CO 80401, http://www.cwcc.org

Colt Safety Inc., (800) 475-2222, http://www.coltsafety.com

Women's Chamber of Commerce of Texas, P.O. Box 26051, Austin, TX 78755, http://www.web4front.com/wcct

This article was originally published in the December 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Children On Board.