The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women.

Hold elected officials accountable

A nationwide ‘Dialogue with Women Entrepreneurs’ solicits their economic concerns and their proposed solutions.

Local, state and federal elections are imminent. What will women business owners have to say about their elected officials? How are they feeling about the local and national economies? What will it take to get them to start hiring more people?

The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women decided to answer those questions by holding national conference calls and conducting listening tours throughout the country in August and September.

It is important to note that the audience for all of our events was diverse-Democrats, Republicans, Tea Party and Independents-including women from all racial backgrounds.

On Aug. 3, we held a national conference call with 46 women business owners from 31 states to find out whether the organizations wanted IEEW to come to their state for further discussion. The call focused on what women business owners want in terms of public policy education, what their major public policy concerns are, and finally, a discussion about what is needed to get women entrepreneurs hiring again.

We had several national women group leaders on this call, including representatives from the Women Presidents’ Organization, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), the National Women Business Owners Corp., the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, the Association of Women’s Business Centers and Enterprising Women magazine.

On Aug. 11, we started our listening tour, titled “Dialogue with Women Entrepreneurs. “Kansas City women business owners hosted the first of four events with 30 women entrepreneurs, including two from Wichita, Kan. National NAWBO president Kelly Scanlon was in attendance, and the Kansas City Council of Women Business Owners organized the event. These entrepreneurs told the institute what they view as problems and what they see as logical solutions. They were:

Problems

• Government procurement
• General lack of knowledge on public policy
• Major concern about the deficit and spending

Solutions

• Fire everyone in Washington.
• More public policy training is essential.
• Get to know your elected officials in regard to government contracting.

The listening tour then took us to Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 22, where we hosted 60 women, including four who drove in from Phoenix, Ariz., to take part in the discussion. Local leaders from NAWBO, Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and the Women Presidents’ Organization also attended. These women laid out what they saw as problems in the economy, as well as their solutions. They were:

Problems

• Bad leadership in Congress
• Congress spends too much money.
• WBOs don’t understand the system.

Solutions

• Discover how money is being spent.
• Cut spending.
• Cut waste.
• Cut taxes
• Vote your values-be heard.
• Understand the system-take action-follow up-get training.

Our next stop was in Little Rock, Ark., on Sept. 9, where we hosted 35 women entrepreneurs and two who flew in from Chicago to take part. NAWBO’s and WIPP’s local leadership attended, as well. These women identified their concerns and offered solutions:

Problems

• Overwhelming government changes-can’t manage changes in cost-effective ways
• Banking changes made difficult due to new regulations
• No clear information on health care
• Networking groups are dropping members who can’t pay dues.
• There is no personal accountability.

Solutions

• Talk to your elected officials-they only talk to lobbyists and need a balance from WBOs-and we need education on this.
• Hold the government accountable for the tax dollars it spends.
• Redefine women’s groups to make effective change.
• There should be one place to funnel information to women business owners-a place to help interpret regulations.

Our fourth and final trip was to New York City on Sept. 17. We hosted 22 women from New York and New Jersey. Some prominent organizations with representatives in attendance were the Women Presidents’ Organization, the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, the National Association of Female Executives, Business and Professional Women International, and Black Book of Travel. These women articulated the following concerns and solutions:

Problems

• Bad leadership in Congress
• Spending is out of control.
• The media are not aware of women business owners and their contributions.
• Access to capital is a major issue since requirements have been raised on banks.
• Companies are sitting on money and not hiring because they’re unsure about policy-social benefits are a major contributor to the uncertainty.
• Need a party that is committed to small business-major corporations get the attention, and no one knows what small business needs.

Solutions

• Women business owners need a lobbyist and need education.
• Get involved in campaigns and get women business owners on the ballots.
• Training in each congressional district in the country is needed.
• Although social issues are a concern, we have to stop spending so much money.

After each event, the institute sent a follow-up survey to the attendees asking them to rank the following topics from 1 to 5, with 5 being their highest concern. The following shows the three topics of highest concern:

• 52 percent: taxes
• 45 percent: deficit and federal spending
• 44 percent: health care

In addition, 82 percent of the women surveyed said they are able to secure the funding their businesses need, with 78 percent wanting to know more about navigating the government procurement process and ways to take their businesses to the next level. Sixty-nine percent of the women said more information and research on the number of jobs created and on the annual economic output of women-owned businesses are needed on a regular basis so women business owners can band together to harness that power.

This gives you a general idea of where women business owners are right now, what their needs and concerns are, and their ideas on solutions.

Will their voices be heard on Nov. 2? Only time will tell.

Terry Neese is founder of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women. Based in Oklahoma City, Okla., IEEW provides domestic and international training for women business owners in the areas of public policy and entrepreneurial education.