FRESHEN UP YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGY TOUR

SPRING TIME VALUABLE NEWS FOR LOWCOUNTRY WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

The best predictions are that the largest impact of the recessionary period for 2009 is beginning to fade. Recovery prospects appear most promising. Some new blogs and postings are out there to enable the woman owner to take a fresh look at potential opportunities for business growth and success for 2010 and beyond.

There are three important sources of information to check:

FIRST STOP IN GAINING KNOWLEDGE TO CULTIVATE NEW CUSTOMERS:

The new list of Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) Awards, announced in late March (http://www.wbenc.org/). WBNEC is the leading advocate for, and authority on, Women's Business Enterprises (WBEs) as suppliers and vendors to the nation's corporations as well as the nation's leading third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women. The Council offers the “only national award honoring corporations for world-class programs that create level playing fields for women's business enterprises (WBEs) to compete for corporate contracts." The 21 award winners include: Accenture, Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T Inc., Avis Budget Group, Inc., Chevron, Dell, Energy Future Holdings, Ernst & Young LLP, Exxon Mobil Corporation, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Manpower, Marriott International, Inc., Microsoft, Office Depot, PepsiCo, Inc., Pfizer Inc., Shell Oil Company, The Home Depot, UPS, and Verizon. Also look for the upcoming posting of current suppliers and procurement executives from hundreds of major U.S. Corporations at WBENC Blog Site.

SECOND STOP ON SPRING FRESHEN UP TOUR:

Go to http://www.we-inc.org/, a network to keep women entrepreneurs informed. Two important announcements were recently signed into law as part of health care legislation and job growth. Follow the link to Health Care and Hiring Tax Credits: Does your firm qualify? Further, you may wish to check out the opportunities from The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization upcoming conference, 11th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & EXPO, May 10-11, 2010 at the Georgia World Congress Center, in Atlanta.

FINALLY, GO TO SCORE WOMEN'S SUCCESS BLOG

An especially helpful Blog “Customer Service: How Effective Are You?” has thirteen tips on how to better serve your internal and external customers more effectively. Posted by Vernita Naylor, Ft. Worth SCORE