This story appears in the
March 2001 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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Push may very well be coming to shove for female entrepreneurs
who want to snag procurement dollars from Uncle Sam.
Since 1994, federal agencies have been required to give at least
5 percent of their contracting business to women. But, of the top
20 agencies, only the State Department, the Veteran's
Administration, the Commerce Department and the Department of
Housing and Urban Development met the goal in the program's
first three years.
A new initiative spurred by Executive Order 13157 (Increasing
Opportunities for Women-Owned Small Businesses) is aimed at turning
that statistic around.
In addition to calling on agencies to meet the 5 percent goal in
both contracting and subcontracting, the order established the
Office of Federal Contract Assistance for Women Business Owners
(CAWBO), called for creation of a comprehensive Web site to help
women successfully do business with the government and directed the
SBA to help agencies reach the 5 percent threshold.
CAWBO's primary goal is to help women win more federal
contracts. Part of the effort will be additional training and
technical assistance opportunities, says Sheryl J. Swed,
CAWBO's assistant administrator.
The new site, www.womenbiz.gov, pulls together data
from 100 different Web sites to help entrepreneurs find out
everything from how to get started to what type of products
agencies are buying. In addition, the site features the federal
government forecast detailing what all departments plan to buy in
the future and a calendar of procurement outreach activities
nationwide.