2009 Policy Priorities of Women Business Owners

Abstract

On April 29, 2009, a town hall meeting of women business owners was held in Atlanta at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Student Center. Hosted and facilitated by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), this meeting was the seventh in a series of meetings that began in March 2007. NWBC designed these conversations to generate grassroots‐level recommendations from women business owners for the ultimate consideration of the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). This report intertwines the findings of the discussions the NWBC facilitated from March 2007 through April 2009. There is a particular emphasis on the most recent meeting held in Atlanta, to reflect that meeting’s intent to determine how women business owners’ needs may have changed amid the current national economic downturn. This report divides the priority policy‐related needs and opportunities identified by women business owners into five key areas: Access to Capital, Affordable Health Care, Education and Workforce Development, Procurement, and Taxes. The report concludes with a section focused on needs specific to microenterprises (defined as businesses with five or fewer employees, including the owner).