U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce to Address Congressional Small Business Committee

March 20, 2007; 02:37 AM

Access to federal contracts is serious business. That's the message leaders of the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce(TM) (USWCC) will deliver to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business this week. A subcommittee hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, 2007, to address the significant shortfall of federal government contracts awarded to women-owned businesses across the U.S.

"Women business owners are losing more than $5 billion dollars every year as the federal government fails to meet its paltry goal of five percent contracting with women," says Nancy Hurlbert, national policy chair of the USWCC. "It's serious business by any calculation," she adds, "and our members believe it's a serious issue their elected representatives need to address -- now."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Small Business Administration missed another court ordered deadline for implementing the Women's Federal Procurement Program. The SBA promised to complete a study of industries in which women-owned firms are underrepresented in federal contracting by November of last year -- but recently SBA Administrator Steven Preston admitted the review would not be complete for several more weeks.

"This issue is absolutely bigger than the implementation of this program," notes Margot Dorfman, USWCC CEO. "We cannot stand by and hope things will change. We will not accept a culture of failure in meeting goals and deadlines. We need leaders from every federal agency to engage right now, and open their doors wide for women prepared to bid and win business."

For more information on the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce (including a complete summary of the USWCC's 2004 suit against the SBA), please see the organization's full-feature Web site: http://www.uswcc.org.

The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce(TM) is the leading advocate for women on economic and leadership issues. The USWCC creates opportunities and change for women by building a strong community voice, lobbying for members, and providing programs and benefits to support the economic growth of women across America and around the globe. The USWCC is a not-for-profit 501(c)6 organization founded in 2001; its headquarters offices are located in Washington, D.C.