Newsletters
A Quarterly Publication of the Women's Business Development Center
January 2010
A Word from the Co-Presidents
A new year brings with it time to pause and reassess – to look back on this very difficult past year but to also look forward to new opportunities and overcoming challenges in the year to come. It’s a great time to recognize past accomplishments and set personal and business goals for the future.
Many are calling the past ten years the “digital decade,” and while computers got smaller, faster and cheaper, the WBDC also made great strides to grow and incorporate new technology into what we do. Our goal is that all our digital advances will serve to strengthen and reinforce the WBDC’s mission to “provide services and programs that support and accelerate women’s business ownership and strengthen their impact on the economy.”
Technologically, in the past decade the WBDC has:
• Launched its new website of resources for business owners. Find
contract opportunities,
register online for new and expanded seminars and events, browse free resources and tools for
start-ups and
established businesses, research
WBE certification and much more.
• Joined the social media revolution on
Facebook,
Twitter and via
video and
written blogging
• Gone ”green” with electronic newsletters and mailings
• Opened online classrooms through webinars – with new offerings to come in 2010!
As you make your business resolutions for the New Year, whether they are digitally related or not, remember that the WBDC stands ready to guide and assist you. Be sure to check out our website at
http://www.wbdc.org/. We look forward to the opportunities this new decade will bring!
Happy, healthy and successful New Year!
Hedy M. Ratner & Carol Dougal
Co-Presidents
WBDC Technology Makeover Competition Winner Announced
Julie Savitt Wins $35,00 in Free Technology
Julie Savitt, owner of
AMS Earth Movers, Inc., in Lake Bluff, IL, was recently named the winner of the WBDC’s Technology Makeover Competition. AMS Earth Movers is a construction material hauling company whose primary service is the hauling of aggregate, brick, broken asphalt, soil and contaminated soil to and from job sites in the greater Chicago area.
Julie was named the winner at a January 7th reception held for aspiring entrepreneurs at the WBDC offices. Judges who interviewed the five finalists just prior to the announcement were representatives of the generous sponsors, some of whom are WBEs. Other finalists included: Julie Casserly, JMC Wealth Management, Inc.; Carol Courtney, J&J Exhibitor Service, Inc.; Stephanie Hickman, Trice Construction; and Colleen Kramer, Evergreen Supply Company. Finalists will each receive technological support valued at over $5,000.
“The judges were moved by Julie’s compelling business start-up story as well as her incredible entrepreneurial spirit,” said Hedy Ratner, WBDC Co-President. “She sees obstacles as opportunities and owns an already profitable company that could benefit immensely from the technology assistance.”
The competition was open to any woman-owned business in Illinois who had been in business for at least two years and had a minimum of two employee work stations. Applications were judged on the strength of the business or marketing plan, the financial strength of the company and the business owner’s explanation of how a technology makeover would increase the business’s productivity. Nearly 100 women entered the competition.
Julie will receive $35,000 in technology services and products provided by the competition sponsors. The prize package includes: a server and network upgrade; website design and development; Microsoft Small Business Server and five copies of Microsoft Office; two months free high-speed internet, e-mail, anti-virus protection, telephone and cable service; Microsoft Office classroom training for up to five people; Microsoft SharePoint portal; and a Xerox Phaser color network printer and supplies.
The competition was sponsored by the WBDC in partnership with: Techcare, LLC, Market M, Synergistic Networks, Microsoft, Comcast, MXOTech, Directions Training Center, Chicago Office Technology Group, and CDW.
WBE Spotlight
Colt SAFETY, Inc.
Christine Bierman is founder and CEO of
Colt SAFETY, Inc, a warehousing and distribution company providing personal protective equipment and industrial supplies. Founded in 1980, Colt SAFETY currently has headquarters in St. Louis, MO and a warehouse in Las Vegas, NV.
Since the beginning Christine has focused on being a quality-managed and technically-oriented company. As a woman business owner in a traditionally male-dominated industry, she acknowledges that she has had to work harder for everything she has gotten, but through hard work and delivering a better value at a better price she won contracts and eventually the respect of her male competitors. In 2001, she was selected by the St. Louis chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers as the first woman to receive the Safety Professional of the Year (SPY) award.
Christine is a longtime advocate and outspoken voice for women-owned businesses and has been recognized with many awards. In 1989, she was one of a handful of women to testify before Congress on HR 5050, which birthed the Women’s Business Ownership Act. She has also been involved with Women Business Enterprise (WBE) certification in St. Louis since the late 1980s and successfully advocated for a centralized certification system in St. Louis, and she is currently active in trying to implement a similar system in Las Vegas.
In 2000, Christine became a WBENC certified WBE through the WBDC and currently attends WBENC’s annual conference, the WBDC’s annual Entrepreneurial Woman’s Conference and the WBDC events held in the St. Louis area. In 2006, Colt SAFETY’s WBE status led to an invitation to participate in the largest privately-funded construction project in America’s history, the Las Vegas MGM CityCenter. Christine points to MGM’s strong diversity inclusion program as the reason Colt SAFETY was invited to be a project supplier.
As Colt SAFETY celebrates its 30th year in business, Christine is maintaining her commitment to quality management and technical expertise, and she points to her valuable team of employees as her most important asset, stating, “As a business owner, human capital is your most valuable resource. I have a wonderful team of professional and knowledgeable staff.”
Funder Spotlight
The Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust
The WBDC is honored to be funded in part by The Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust. Since 2005, the WBDC’s Child Care Business Program and the Latina Business Program have been partially funded by the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, in conjunction with their focus on low-to-moderate income entrepreneurs. The existence and strength of the WBDC has been elevated by the Trust, which has been generously supportive of its mission and its programs through its commitment to women’s business ownership and community economic development.
For more information about The Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, please visit
http://www.cct.org/.
WBDC New Staff
WBDC Welcomes New Procurement & Certification Professionals
Freida Curry is the Director of the WBDC Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). A previous consultant and trainer with the WBDC, Freida joined the staff in November 2009. As PTAC Director, Freida assists business owners with the process of finding, bidding for and winning contracts with local, state and federal government agencies. Freida has a rich background in assisting small business owners in the various stages of starting, growing and funding their business ventures. In previous positions, she worked as the Entrepreneurship Director at The Chicago Urban League and the Director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Freida also previously owned Freida Curry & Associates, a small business consulting and training firm, and I AM Records, a recording label.
Jo-Ann Hunigan joined the WBDC as a Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) Consultant in November 2009. Jo-Ann has over 27 years of federal contracting experience and is Level III Certified. She previously worked as a Contract Specialist at the Department of Energy administering educational research grants and Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants and as a Contract Specialist at the Department of Veterans Affairs procuring medical equipment and nursing services for the National Acquisition Center. She also worked as a Small Business Specialist on Arsenal Island in Rock Island, IL counseling small firms on how to do business with the federal government at the Tank-Automotive Command (TACOM). Jo-Ann received her degree in Social Work from George Williams College.
Leon Moore is the newest WBDC Certification Specialist. Prior to joining the WBDC in January 2010, Leon was a Senior Manager of Contract Compliance at the Chicago Housing Authority, Department of Procurement & Contracts. Leon worked for ten years in the City of Chicago’s Department of Procurement Services as the Assistant Director of Certification, where he was appointed the Certification Board Chairman and served as a board member of the Illinois Unified Certification Program (IL UCP). He also previously ran his own consulting company. Leon attended Roosevelt University for a Master’s in Public Administration and has a B.A. in Psychology from Blackburn College.
Kristin Travis began an internship with the WBDC in August 2009 and was hired as the WBDC Program Assistant in October 2009. As Program Assistant, Kristin is responsible for PTAC department support, data collection and storage, workshop and Entrepreneurial Woman’s Conference registration and the WBDC’s Insider newsletter. Kristin previously worked at WJYS Channel 34/WEDE Channel 62 (Chicago) as the Programming Executive Assistant. Kristin is an active member in her community, with service and fundraising assistance for the Rich Township Food Panty (a division of the Greater Chicago Food Depository) as well as her church’s Helping Young People Excel in Education Program. Kristin received a B.S. in Advertising from Kent State University and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Communication at Governors State University.
WBDC Advocacy Report
WBDC Active in Area Advocacy Efforts
Since its founding, the WBDC has been actively involved in advocacy efforts on the issues of women’s and minority business ownership and economic development.
The WBDC currently serves on the Governor’s Economic Recovery Commission, established by Governor Quinn in October 2009 to provide solutions to our economic challenges in Illinois. As a member of the Commission the WBDC and others have been charged with examining how the state of Illinois can sustain and grow traditional and high-growth businesses through debt equity and venture capital; access to private and public-sector business opportunities for small, minority and women-owned businesses; the greening of Illinois; educational emphasis on science and technology; government infrastructure and policy development to enhance economic growth in Illinois. In the Committee’s recent report to the Governor the WBDC included strong recommendations to improve access to capital and procurement opportunities for small businesses.
The WBDC was also appointed to and actively participates on both the Mayor’s Affirmative Action Advisory Board and the Small Business Advisory Committee. The WBDC continues to be a strong advocate through these channels for increased contracting goals and improved procurement and certification policies for M/WBEs and better access to capital for area small businesses.
