Post by Dr. Marsha Firestone, contributing Women On Business writer
As the Founder and President of the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization, I know the importance of a women’s business community such as this. The WPEO is one of the 13 regional affiliates of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). I will be blogging weekly with Amy Blais, Program Director in NY and Liz Cullen, Executive Director in DC to discuss pertinent topics for women business owners.
What is the WPEO and what is our mission? The WPEO is dedicated to increasing access to business opportunities for Women Business Enterprises (WBEs) while advocating in public and private sectors, providing skill development, and certification services. We are a regional affiliate of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation’s leading advocate of women-owned businesses and third party certification organization.
Certification can be valuable to your business, some of the benefits include:
- Business profile listing in WBENC national supplier database.
- Access to a directory of corporations accepting WBENC certification.
- Use of WBENC seal on marketing materials.
The certification-process involves three key concepts: awareness, approval and access.
Awareness: Most Fortune 1000 companies are aware that it is a good business practice to contract with women owned businesses. As a result, many corporations have instituted their own supplier diversity goals based on the percentage of B-to-B contracts that are awarded to women and minority companies.
Approval: WBENC-certification affirms that the woman not only owns her business but operates, manages and controls it as well.
Access: WBENC certification comes with an extensive database of other certified WBEs and corporate supplier diversity members. The database provides contact information, business profiles and diversity program information as well as a mechanism for building connections and responding to requests for proposals (RFPs).
I urge any woman owned business to consider the 3 A’s as well as certification as a best practice for their business. I am looking forward to sharing my ideas with Women on Business each week. If you would like more information about the WPEO, please visit our website.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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