1/6/12 Tic, Tic, Tic... Tock

Tic, Tic, Tic... Tock

Yes, the clock is ticking down to the last chance to register for the Annual Congressional and Leadership Conference before the late registration fees kick in. If you register by next Monday, the member registration fee is only $675 for four full days of workshops, VIP meetings, Congressional visits, networking and DC-Style-Receptions. The hotel room block at the four-star St. Regis Hotel two blocks from the White House is open until January 13th. After that, the rooms jump from $225/night including internet to over $325/night plus internet. Save yourself some of that hard earned money and register now while you're thinking about it. Use the simple online process or complete this form and fax it to 202.330.5151, or just call 800.788.3548.

This is your chance to meet our Board of Directors and many of our new members, share a cocktail with the folks that make the rules and regulations you have to run your business by, learn from a plethora of knowledgeable and entertaining speakers, talk to representatives from SBA Headquarters, meet your Congressional Representatives – and enjoy the camaraderie of being with women just like you. The next DC meeting won't be until April, 2013 so take advantage of this chance to grow your business and your network while enjoying the best that the nation's capitol has to offer you.

WCOE Board of Directors announces new Board appointment

We are delighted to announce that Marian Salvaggio has been appointed as the Western Region Director effective immediately. Many of you will know Marian from her "Smart Girls" program that she launched with Kathlynn Smith and introduced to WCOE SoCAL members. Marian is an attorney with Hunt Ortmann Palffy Nieves Lubka Darling and Mah in Los Angeles (and Pasadena), CA.

Those of you on the West Coast have already heard from Marian as she hit the ground running with an email to our Western Region members introducing herself and promising rapid membership growth along with expanded programs and networking opportunities.

Look for a contest between the Central Region Director (Jane Hilboldt) who currently claims the fastest membership growth and our new dynamo on the West Coast. It will be a very interesting year! 

Welcome to our newest members

A very special welcome to Karen Barbour, CEO of The Barbour Group in Westminster, MD who has joined WCOE as a Council of 200 member. Karen’s company is in the surety bond business and works specifically with small businesses to find creative ways to meet their bonding needs. Karen has been honored with several awards including SBA’s “Small Business Person of the Year”, the Brava 2011 Community Champion, Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women, and is a gubernatorial appointee as Co-Chair of the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Small Business. US Senator Ben Cardin is one of Karen’s fans and calls her “one of Maryland’s most distinguished business leaders.” You can contact Karen at 410.876.9610 or Karen@thebarbourgroup.com. She will also be attending the Annual Conference next month so you can meet her and personally welcome her to WCOE!

We are also delighted to welcome Jennifer Maher as a new Associate member. Jennifer is an attorney with Smith Pachter McWhorter, a large northern Virginia law firm which specializes in construction law encompassing all phases of the contracting process. Their diverse clientele includes ENR 500 firms, small and medium sized organizations and women-owned businesses. They have been named by the Washingtonian magazine as the “2011 Top Lawyers for Government Contracts”. Jennifer is also a prolific writer with an armful of published articles about construction and licensing issues. Her bio is on the web and you can contact Jennifer at 703.847.6700 or jmahar@smithpachter.com.

Welcome back – two returning members!

We love it when members come back to WCOE after a long hiatus. This week we are delighted to welcome back Dorothy (Dottie) Terrell, an attorney with the above-mentioned Smith Pachter McWhorter who was surprised to learn during a phone call to WCOE that her membership had expired and she instantly jumped back in. Welcome back, Dottie – we missed you. She can be reached at 703.847.6281 or dterrell@smithpachter.com.

Patricia (Patty) Ahrens, President of Ahrens Contracting in St. Louis has also rejoined WCOE. Patty's company is a specialty contractor that focuses on demolition, excavation and environmental remediation projects along with providing dumpster/roll-off rental, hauling and disposal services. She has a terrific website with actual time-lapse videos of some of her memorable demolition projects – like the venerable Busch Stadium demolition. Check them out! You can connect with Patty at 314.631.7799 or pahrens@ahrenscontracting.com.

LA MTA gets new WCOE liaison

WCOE member, Deborah Dyson, President of Dyson Electric, is the newly appointed liaison to the Los Angeles Metro Transit Authority. Deborah has been an active MTA meeting attendee and will now report back to WCOE on opportunities available to our members.

Thank you, Deborah for stepping up and volunteering for this important role.

NASBP & WCOE Announce Strategic Alliance

Just before the Holiday break, WCOE and the National Association of Surety Bond Producers announced a strategic alliance agreement. The full announcement is posted on our website.

NASBP will be doing a workshop on bonding challenges and solutions at the February Conference.

WCOE Member Gwen Parker receives prestigious award

The Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) recently presented Gwen Parker from AECOM with the “Large Business Award” for outstanding small business subcontracting performance in support of the US DoD programs. Gwen is AECOM’s Director of Federal Small Business Programs and based on her interaction with WCOE and our members, she is very deserving of this award. Congratulations, Gwen, we are very proud of you!

Your opinion is needed...

What do you think about boots? Not fashion, but work boots! We have been contacted by a work boot manufacturer who wants to know if our members think there is a market for women's work boots. This goes hand-in-hand (foot-to-foot?) with other manufacturers who wonder if there is a market for woman-sized safety equipment. We're not talking pink here – we're talking about the shape and size of construction footwear and safety equipment to specifically fit women. If you have an opinion, please send a quick email to penny@wcoeusa.org. If we don't speak up for what we need, then we don't deserve nor will we receive consideration.

Half a loaf is better than no loaf at all

In response to a purposely leaked proposed Presidential Executive Order, the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act containing a provision sponsored by small business advocate Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to prevent the federal government from politicizing defense contracting decisions. You may recall this issue was mentioned several months ago in a Turning Point newsletter.

The proposed Executive Order would require that ALL government bid submittals contain a listing of ALL political and non-profit organization contributions made by the contracting company as well as by all executives and their families personally. The outrage was intense and was called by both sides of the aisle as politicizing the government contract bidding process. Unfortunately, while this hole in the dike was plugged by the Senate, a new proposed Executive Order was “leaked” which would require the same list be provided immediately following awarding of the contract. One can only imagine the nightmare created when the executives and management staff of a small business have to report every contribution they or their spouses personally make.

Attention Southern California Members

Marian Selvaggio has sent us word that Clark Construction is hosting a CBE outreach meeting for the Hall of Justice Renovation project in downtown LA on Thursday, January 12th. The meeting will take place at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, 431 West 7th Street, LA from 9:00 to 11:00 am. No RSVP necessary. For more information call 714.429.9779

Also, Swinerton and MHM Builders are inviting WCOE members to a “Meet & Greet” event to review various subcontracting opportunities including the Fort Irwin Replacement Hospital. The meeting will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Victorville (12603 Mariposa Road) with check-in beginning at 9:30 am and the presentation at 10:30. You must RSVP to Leah Jones, lejones@swinterton.com or 303.418.5372.

Attention Northwest Members

WCOE member Carole Bionda has sent us word that EHW Constructors, a joint venture between Skanska USA, American Bridge and Nova Group, is inviting WCOE members to meet with its representatives to review subcontracting opportunities on the MCON P-990 Explosives Handling Wharf project at the Naval Base Kitsap, Bangor, WA. The meeting will be held today, January 6th at the AGC Building, 1200 Westlake Drive in Seattle, from 10:00 am to noon. Sub-bids are due no later than COB on Monday, February 6, 2012. Questions should be addressed to Trent Irick, trent.irick@skanska.com or Carole, bionda@novagrp.com.

Attention West Coast Members

Long Beach, CA has long been known as the original birthplace of the “Rosie The Riveter” cultural shift which many credit as the initial wave which created the tsunami of women working in non-traditional industries (like construction!). The city of Long Beach has created a Rosie the Riveter Park and Interpretive Center in Long Beach. A memorial wall is included in the park and will contain tiles commemorating the original Rosies on one-half of the wall, and on the other half will be women like WCOE members who were inspired by our Moms, Aunts, Grandmothers, and Friends who actually were the Rosie’s, and now a few decades later have become women in construction, building trades, factories and blue collar work. The tiles are available for $100-$200 each depending on the size and will be engraved with your 4 or 8 line message with 21 characters per line.

If you have a special Rosie in your life that inspired you – or if you want to commemorate your own journey into your non-traditional career, you can contact WCOE member Pat Williams (patjwilliams4@aol.com) or Amy Graham at the City of Long Beach, 562.570.6932 for more information.

Women Construction Owners and Executives
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