The need for improving market opportunities is clear: Only 3
percent of private-sector contracts and 2 percent of government
contracts go to women.
Susan Bari of the Women's Business Enterprise National
Council (WBENC) identified some steps to help overcome the
inequity: increasing procurement and simplifying the certification
process for women in government contracting. WBENC and the National
Women Business Owners Corp., which both certify women-owned
business enterprises, have agreed to create a universally
recognized certification format.
Summit participants also want to encourage corporations to
increase supplier diversity. "The key to a good program is
commitment from CEOs," says Bari. In response, summit leaders
are creating a series of regional CEO Covenants in which
corporations with successful programs encourage others to set and
achieve supplier diversity goals.
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Finally, participants passed a resolution requesting "Women
business enterprises be treated with the same presumptions [of
historic underutilization] as minority business enterprises when
government programs provide competitive enhancements for minorities
and women under the rubric of socially and economically
disadvantaged statuses."
Once the programs are finalized, summit organizers will create a
master plan they'll present to Congress and the president
during women's history month in March.
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