Recently in the Advocacy Category

TAKE ACTION TODAY - HOUSE VOTE IS SET FOR SUNDAY!

With the US House of Representatives set to vote on Healthcare on Sunday, it is imperative that we make sure the voice of women small business owners is heard! Please complete the following ACTION ALERT now, urging members of Congress to act on much needed small business healthcare reforms.

TAKE ACTION NOW by writing your Congressional Representatives today to ask for their support on key healthcare reforms that will greatly benefit small business.

While the future of comprehensive healthcare reform is uncertain, small business owners need access to more insurance plans and better insurance rates. We are asking Congress to move forward with reforms small businesses need even if it does not move forward with a major overhaul of the healthcare system.

Click here to learn more about what these crucial small business healthcare reforms include and to contact your Congressional Representatives to move these reforms forward!

Please contact Angelin Barrios at abarrios@wipp.org with any questions.

I just read a new analysis of job gains and losses from the SBA Office of Advocacy that indicates small businesses created some 65 percent of the net new jobs in the private sector over a recent 15-year period. Although many of the new jobs are in new business startups, even more are in expanding firms - most especially mid-sized firms with 20-499 employees.

New startups and continuous high-growth firms were found to play an essential role in the labor market - allowing for an environment to create a large share of jobs.

Click here to read the complete article. Click here to visit WIPP's Economy policy page and learn more about our recent activities.

For more information and a complete copy of the report, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo.

Social Media is being used by a lot of businesses to build relationships, strengthen their brands, increase prospects and even provide better customer service!

As a member of WIPP, using information you get from WIPP can help you solidify your branding. A lot of social media users do not understand the importance of creating a conversation in social media. It is important to RT (re-tweet) posts from other people to show that you are paying attention and are part of the discussion.

Because WIPP is bi-partisan, its tweets are the perfect opportunity to RT without getting involved in partisan bickering or political discussions which might be a turn-off to clients, potential clients and colleagues. (It is a personal decision for each business owner to decide how much of their personal opinions are public in the business arena).

As an example, what would you think of someone who RTs the following messages?

1. WIPP Releases Statement on Accelerating Job Growth
2. President and First Lady Obama Announce White House Fellows Program
3. Women, Business and Opportunity: A Seminar for Women Business Owners - 1/29/10. REGISTER NOW:
4. White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth briefing on Dec. 10:
5. Be sure to watch my new #PBS feature "Reinvent URself Now". 12-3 http://bit.ly/4vSF7S Hope U will consider pledging too. #smallbiz
6. We received the award for Best New Building Construction from the Queens Chamber of Commerce! http://tinyurl.com/yjgskjr
7. Grow Your Business through Government Contracting. http://bit.ly/8aS9Ad

Do you think that person is:
• a leading woman business owner?
• an advocate for small business and women business owners?
• someone who keeps up on current events?
• a business owner who cares about others?
• a good colleague to work with?

I found the tweets above in less than 10 minutes. Besides RTing from WIPPWeDecide, look for other WIPP members to RT, as well as corporate sponsors.

The first four Tweets are by @WIPPWeDecide. #5 is from @susansolovic, a WIPP board member and owner of SBTV.com. #6 is by @nancygoshow, the co-chair of WIPP's Energy Committee and owner of Goshow Architects in New York City, and #7 is from @OPENForum, a corporate sponsor of WIPP. Plus the article cited in that Tweet mentions WIPP.

Commenting on other people's tweets, blogs and activities helps build our own awareness, and brand. The more valuable your comments are to others, the more it reflects on your abilities and your character.

Social media allows us to brand through story telling. Sharing what we know and what we've learned from others is a big part of that. As a WIPP member, WIPP offers invaluable information to use to let people know who you are -- and what you value.

We would like to invite you to join us on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 4pm EST for the webinar:  Benefits of WIPP Membership:  Use Social media to amplify Your Voice and Brand.  Learn how WIPP's state Instant Impact Teams and individuals can use Social Media for Advocacy:
• Organize around policy issues to gather support for a particular issue
• Deliver a consistent message to a larger audience
• Get the word out to existing members about what's going on at WIPP
• Spread the word to others about the great things WIPP is doing

You can register by going to:  http://www.wipp.org/events/event_details.asp?id=85986

We have never had information before that relected the overall economic impact of women-owned firms.  Today we have it and it reveals the magnitude of importance that small business plays in the overall economy.

Women-owned firms produce employment for more than 23 million people in the United states, or 16% of our 2008 workforce.*.   This means that approximately 8% of the total labor force work directly for a woman-owned firm.  This is astonishing news.

But what really is remarkable, is that that 80% of the women businesses are NOT employer firms.

What would this mean to our national economic recovery if we increased the number of "employer" firms to 25%? To 30%?  How many more people would join the ranks of the employed?   

It is time to start focusing on strategies and policies to make this happen.  WIPP is asking these questions and addressing these issues directly.

*US Department of Labor, November 2008 national employment figures.

WIPP, The Center for Women's Business Research, The National Women's Business Council and Walmart announced exciting new data at the Economic Summit on Friday, October 2nd.

• If women-owned businesses were their own country, they would have the 5th largest GDP in the world, ahead of countries, including France, the United Kingdom and Italy.
• If women-owned businesses were their own country, they would have a greater GDP than Canada, India and Vietnam COMBINED.
• Women-owned firms have a total economic impact of $3 trillion, including creating and/or maintaining 23 million jobs, 16% of the total workforce.

The economic impact analysis explains the direct, indirect, and induced economic impact of women-owned businesses nationwide.  Moving well beyond the traditional number of women-owned firms, industries, and revenue levels, this research takes things to the next level by analyzing the economic ripple effect of the women-owned business communiety, i.e. what their direct spending is in addition to subsequent spending by their suppliers and employees.  

The survey data provides:

• industry specific data that can be used for programming and public policy;
• data that can drive private and public investments; and
• data that can illuminate the true production capacity of women-owned firms.

The objective of this important research was to broadly quantify the economic contributions of women-owned firms and is unprecedented.  This is the first time that this type of analysis has been undertaken for women-owned firms in the nation and the results will have significant and wide-ranging impact for policymaking, economic development, and private investment focused on women business owners and their communities.  Please go to www.cfwbr.org and www.wipp.org for further information and SBTV.com for a video recording.