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Public Meetings

June 2024 Public Meeting

The National Women’s Business Council held a virtual public meeting on June 6, 2024. During this meeting, NWBC provided updates regarding the Council’s subcommittee policy deliberations, SBA’s outreach and technical assistance innovations, and lived experience-based research from the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center about women’s pathways to success in business.

Public Meeting Recap

Opening Remarks:

  • NWBC Associate Director of Policy and Research and Acting Designated Federal Officer Erin Hustings opened the meeting by acknowledging the absence of Executive Director Tené Dolphin, currently on medical leave. She described NWBC’s mission to make policy recommendations that advance women’s business ownership, informed by original research and convenings of government and private sector stakeholders. She called on Council Members, and 11 were present: Sima Ladjevardian, Samantha Abrams, Brandy Butler, Karen Clark Cole, Kathy Cochran, Selena Rodgers Dickerson, Roberta McCullough, Pamela Prince-Eason, Katica Roy, Leslie Lynn Smith, and Dr. Shakenna Williams.

Chair Address:

  • Chair Sima Ladjevardian welcomed Council Members, guests, and audience members, and shared an overview of recent council activity.
  • During Women’s History Month 2024, Council Members and staff attended and exhibited at WBENC’s Annual Conference. NWBC also co-sponsored SBA’s Women’s Business Summit and a discussion of the leveraging of public-private partnerships to advance women-owned businesses, particularly in infrastructure-related and male-dominated fields.
  • April was National Innovator’s Month; NWBC presented an in-person roundtable conversation on increasing access to federal opportunities funded through Invest in America legislation. During the roundtable, the Council also released research on women’s STEM entrepreneurship.
  • In the subsequent weeks, Council Members gave presentations on women’s entrepreneurship to the Democratic Women’s Caucus, Diana International Research Institute’s Conference, and NAWBO Advocacy Days.
  • In 2024, Council Members and staff have meet with representatives from the Department of Transportation, the National Science Foundation, internal contacts within SBA from Advocacy, Government Contracting and Business Development, and more, countless small business owners, and institutions like the Brookings Institute and the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund to learn more about the data, decision-making and details around work driving entrepreneurship.
  • Women now own over 14 million businesses, representing 39.1 percent of all businesses, employing over 12 million people and generating $2.7 trillion in revenue. Equity could add $7.9 trillion to the economy.
  • Challenges, such as court rulings against procurement equity programs, have arisen, but women entrepreneurs continue to realize gains. SBA-backed loans to women-owned small businesses totaled $5.1 billion in FY23; women-owned small businesses received $30.9 billion in federal contracting dollars in FY23, up from $28.1 billion in FY22. At the end of March, SBA announced the selection of 17 new Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), 13 of which will be hosted by established Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) across ten states.

Deeper Dive into Policy:

  • Access to Capital Subcommittee Chair Roberta McCullough gave an update on the NWBC Subcommittee’s deliberations in 2024.
  • Going forward, the Subcommittee will focus more closely on financing methods, opportunities, and equities, while the former Women in STEM Subcommittee will shift to take on federal contracting issues previously in the jurisdiction of the Access to Capital Subcommittee.
  • Issues before the Subcommittee include:
    • Exploring forms of financing for women other than loans and equity investments.
    • Leveraging alternative lending criteria that expand access to capital: the Subcommittee engaged with the Office of the Comptroller of Currency’s Project REACh and its efforts to support banks in deploying Special Purpose Credit.
    • Ensuring tax incentives and benefits that reach women owned businesses: the Subcommittee reviewed the impact and limitations of popular business tax credit programs.
    • Considering fair pay and company valuation as a factor impacting starting, scaling and succession: the Subcommittee reviewed NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center’s research about fair owner pay for women entrepreneurs.
  • Forthcoming products include research on sustaining the recent surge in Black and Latina women-owned business startups.
  • Access to Opportunity Subcommittee Chair Selena Rodgers Dickerson gave an update on the NWBC Subcommittee’s deliberations in 2024.
  • The Subcommittee reformed from the former Women in STEM Subcommittee, and will address pathways into participation in diverse public sector-funded programs whose goals include growth and advancement of businesses that fill gaps in the economy where women, owners of color, and others are persistently underrepresented.
  • Issues before the Subcommittee include:
    • Improving user experience in the women-owned small business (WOSB) federal contracting program: the Subcommittee reviewed agency scorecards with SBA’s Office of Policy, Planning, and Liaison, and viewed results of nonprofit partners’ survey of small- and medium-sized business owners about their experiences seeking contract work.
    • Ensuring equity driven programs are resilient in spite of legal challenges.
    • Advancing entrepreneurship education: the Subcommittee discussed opportunities to plan and build entrepreneurial workforce development programs with consultants Prospera Insights.
    • Guaranteeing there is “no wrong door” into government assistance.
    • Strengthening outreach and awareness of federally funded technical assistance, grant funding, and loan opportunities amongst women business owners.
    • Changing how we think about the grant and contracting solicitation process to ensure accessibility to women business owners, starting with the notices of funding opportunity and requests for proposals themselves: the Subcommittee discussed innovative outreach and application procedures in SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition and Regional Innovation Clusters program.
  • Forthcoming activities include roundtable conversations on streamlining business certification, and simplifying federal Notices of Funding Opportunity and Requests for Proposals to make them more accessible to women-owned and women-serving entities. NWBC will publish additional findings of research on influences on women’s STEM entrepreneurship, and commence research on parity in contracting opportunity for women-owned small businesses.
  • Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Subcommittee Chair Kathy Cochran gave an update on the NWBC Subcommittee’s deliberations in 2024.
  • Issues before the Subcommittee include:
    • Understanding how paid family and medical leave as well as childcare programs can support the smallest of the small businesses: NWBC submitted written testimony in response to a Congressional RFI and Committee hearing seeking ideas to advance access to care services.
    • Changing the narrative around vital support services to focus on economic benefits: the Subcommittee spoke with government and nonprofit advocates for systems that treat childcare as a public good, and that require contributions to wider care availability from recipients of government funding.
    • Fostering a sense of inclusion in entrepreneurship amongst business owners from different backgrounds and in different industries.
    • Incentivizing public-private-philanthropic partnerships to widen opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
    • Cultivating resource partners’ and technical assistance providers’ sustainability: the Subcommittee talked about ways to support WBCs with the Association of Women’s Business Centers.
  • Forthcoming activities and research include a roundtable conversation in August to dive deeper into ways to ensure stability for SBA resource partners that help women; and release of additional findings from research on women’s entrepreneurship in rural and tribal communities.

SBA Initiatives and Outreach Round Robin:

  • Council Member Leslie Lynn Smith introduced speakers from SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership, Office of Public Engagement, Office of Investment and Innovation, and from the Administrator’s Office.
  • Assistant Administrator Christina Hale presented SBA’s network of 150+ Women’s Business Centers who provide diverse sources of support to entrepreneurs. Some have specializations in particular industries or communities. This network is at its all-time high and serves more people than ever by reaching businesswomen where they are, and will soon open grants that could fund as many as 40 additional locations. New grants will support services in USVI, specializations in helping women-owned businesses get certified and earn contracts and in supporting childcare providers, and virtual services.
  • Senior Advisor Diedra Henry-Spires previewed SBA-led efforts to expand access to childcare, beginning with announcement of grants for WBCs to support childcare businesses. WBCs have communicated their belief that there is a market for these entities. In addition, SBA will meet with CDFIs to find ways to expand funding for care businesses. The agency is developing partnerships to produce an open source business guide for care providers. Finally, SBA’s Disaster office is looking at shoring up care availability in natural disaster-affected areas heading into hurricane season.
  • Director of Public Engagement Jessica Reeves spoke about recent key initiatives: relaunch of SBA’s streamlined, user-friendly Empower to Grow program (formerly known as 7(j)) that helps businesses get ready to participate in procurement competitions (including state and local opportunities) and introduces them to agency contracting officers; release of streamlined, faster mySBAloan and LenderMatch portals with more funders incorporated; and announcement of an SBA-backed program to provide working capital through lines of credit.
  • Director of Ecosystem Development Brittany Sickler shared updates on the Office of Investment and Innovation’s lead programs: Regional Innovation Clusters are networking hubs that connect related businesses in specific industries – OII has redesigned program metrics and data collection to include measures of trust and inclusion (currently 24% of participants self-identify as WOBs); Growth Accelerator Fund Competition awardees are providing support with an emphasis on underrepresented and undercapitalized populations; the Federal and State Technology Partnerships program expands awareness of SBIR funding opportunities. Finally, OII manages Small Business Investment Companies that make venture investments with government backing, and has made changes to diversify participants and their interests. Through OII, SBA participates in USPTO’s inclusive innovation council and conducts other interagency coordination and promotion.
  • Policy Advisor Skye Bork presented SBA’s new website and platform designed to help small businesses engage with programs funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS for America Act. Focus areas include home repair and construction, manufacturing, and government contracting and subcontracting. The website also highlights related supports available through SBA and other agencies, such as surety bonds for potential contractors.

Council Member Response:

  • Council Member Pamela Prince-Eason noted that a new WBENC commercial airing on CNBC highlights the importance of women-owned businesses and the resources available to support them. WBENC also is featured in a forthcoming episode of Empowered, hosted by Meg Ryan. WBENC appreciates new resources SBA and others are making available to resource partners and small businesses; and will work to ensure that organizations that focus on underserved, underrepresented communities can continue to advance equity.
  • Council Member Roberta McCullough shared upcoming events that will connect digital equity with entrepreneurial opportunity and feature SBA leadership speaking.
  • Council Member Dr. Shakenna Williams spoke about the Diana International Research Institute’s recent international conference, as well as the opportunity to apply to participate in Babson College’s B-WEL program to connect Black women entrepreneurs to contracting opportunities.

Research Presentation:

  • Chair Sima Ladjevardian introduced Nicola Corzine, CEO and Executive Director of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, to speak on findings from recent research on the lived experience of women business owners.
  • Executive Director Corzine presented NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center survey- and data-based research around pay, ownership, and valuation, inspired by the observation, circa 2020, that women owners were paying themselves more than $50,000 less than similarly situated men, and that their businesses were valued at 70% reduced rates. Their work sought the reasons for and deeper insights into gendered disparities.
  • Positive factors that contribute the most to women’s success: having the independence of cash flow break-even status and the ability to make choices about building and growing the business; speed of achievement of cash flow break-even; average monthly revenue; and ease of access to capital.
  • Driving speed to cash flow break-even status: pressure to pay oneself a living wage; owners’ mindset (higher confidence and sense of being supported makes people more successful) – this tells us that mentorship and mental well-being matter; age – middle age affords the greatest advantages (34-54); capital access: can be affected by factors like where businesses made their first sale, founders’ long-term vision – how can we better and earlier help founders identify where they want to go and what kind of capital is most effective?
  • Pressure from living situation (responsibility to pay mortgage/rent, for example) and financial obligations is a positive factor for women entrepreneurs.
  • Discretion over cash flow is important, but as little as 3-4 weeks of operating funds is an effective and helpful intervention.
  • Other insights included: early-stage companies are restrained by formation as LLCs in access to capital opportunities – folks with larger ambitions should form the right way from the start; growth patterns are set within ~5 years of formation and most growth companies show that potential early on; motivations for starting businesses matter; and BIPOC entrepreneurs are affected by lower levels of self-reported health, created in part by pressures and challenges of entrepreneurship.

Public Comments:

  • Council Member Samantha Abrams provided the Council’s response to a selection of comments submitted by attendees in advance.
  • Significant themes included inquiries about overcoming barriers to accessing affordable and low-cost loans and grants – for example, one person wrote, “High interest rates are preventing me from borrowing capital to expand. Are there any new SBA loan programs?”
  • Financing continues to be a threshold barrier for too many. Actors throughout the financial system are constrained by prevailing interest rates. We urge stakeholders to advocate more creative solutions like:
    • The Paycheck Protection Program initiative, which created a blueprint we could build upon to provide forgivable loans at scale.
    • Special Purpose Credit Programs that provide more financing to businesses without credit histories or collateral by relying on factors like cash flow history.
    • Government-funded patient capital for businesses developing scientific and technological innovations.
  • Question: how can more women-owned businesses get started with and thrive through government contracting?
  • NWBC will consider the recommendation that agencies reduce past performance requirements for proposals submitted by certified businesses.
    • The certification process for 8(a) firms has changed because of court-imposed constraints, but the WOSB program stands, and NWBC is working to substantiate the need for it and develop recommendations that strengthen its effectiveness.
  • Members of the public are looking for professional development and want to provide it to peers; and to get more involved with NWBC.
  • Entrepreneurs can find support from SBA’s community-based resource partners, especially WBCs, and can consider applying to be resource partners themselves.
    • The Council encourages members of the public to share compelling stories and great policy ideas at info@nwbc,gov, and to attend and engage during NWBC-sponsored meetings, roundtables, and other events.
  • Attendees asked about policy trends and priorities, and future opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
  • NWBC is writing policy recommendations and will vote on them in September 2024.
    • There is strong momentum and desire to broaden access to supports that help entrepreneurs balance work and life: national policy may be inspired by successful innovations at the local and state levels.
    • The fact that women of color have led a boom of small business starts is a testament to positive social and economic change, and necessitates a shift in resources toward helping solo and microbusinesses sustain and mature into stable enterprises.

Closing Remarks:

  • Chair Sima Ladjevardian recognized and thanked NWBC Council Members, staff, Executive Director, SBA guest speakers, Executive Director Corzine, and audience members. She encouraged stakeholders to view NWBC resources and share thoughts and feedback to info@nwbc.gov.
  • The meeting adjourned at 1:54pm Eastern time.

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Council Members Present

NWBC Team

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