50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies

Update: Application deadline has been extended to February 14! 


Apply now for the fifth annual search for the 
50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies™ in North America
. (Sponsored by American Express OPEN 
and presented by The Women Presidents' Organization.)

Companies will be ranked according to revenue growth from 2007 through 2011. The top 50 fastest growing companies have the chance of being published online and in print.

To be eligible, companies must meet the following criteria: 



• be privately-owned;
• be women-owned/led;

• have generated $500,000 in annual revenue by year end 2006

; and
• have reached revenues of $2 million by year-end 2011.

You do not have to be a WPO member to apply. Learn more here and send questions to fastgrowth@womenpresidentsorg.com. 

Applications must be submitted by February 1, 2012 February 14, 2012.

SHU Position Open: CareerWorks Director

Seton Hill University is seeking candidates for a full-time opening for Director of CareerWorks. This position supervises the CareerWorks Department including all responsibilities related to career counseling and the internship program. The candidate will also promote an increased awareness of entrepreneurial skill development across all academic programs and liberal arts curriculum.
 

Candidates must have a minimum of three (3) years of work experience in career counseling as well as in managing internships, externships, practicums and other experiential education. A master’s degree in counseling, student affairs or related field is required; graduate degree in career counseling preferred.
 

Successful candidate will be a data driven decision maker, proficient in cultivating partnerships within the university and external communities and be resourceful and creative in their leadership approach.
Interested and qualified applicants should send or e-mail letter of interest, resume, and three references to: Mary Ann Gawelek, Provost and Dean of the Faculty, Seton Hill University, 1 Seton Hill Drive, Greensburg, PA  15601; merlino@setonhill.edu. Review of applicants will begin on February 15, 2012 and will continue until the successful candidate is identified.

Winners' Circle Call for Nominations

Now in its 17th year, the Winners’ Circle Awards Program is Westmoreland County’s most prestigious business awards program. The Winners’ Circle Awards Program, presented by Seton Hill University’s E-Magnify women’s business center, recognizes women, men, businesses or organizations who advocate for women, women-owned business, and our community. The Winners’ Circle awards include the prestigious ATHENA Award®, the Seton Hill University Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, the Award for Community Service and the YWCA Rising Star Award. 

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2012 Winners' Circle Awards Program. Nominations may be made online on the new Winners' Circle website. The deadline for nominations is midnight, February 3, 2012.

2012 Award Criteria

ATHENA Award®

• Awarded to a woman or man who devotes time and energy to improve quality of life for others
• Mentors other women to reach full leadership potential
• Demonstrates excellence, creativity and initiative in business or profession

Seton Hill University Entrepreneurial Excellence Award

• Awarded to an individual (man or woman), organization or business
• Advocates for growth and success of women-owned businesses
• Creative in promoting and supporting women to be valuable contributors to the Westmoreland County economy

Award for Community Service

• Presented to a woman who has contributed her time, resources and efforts to community organizations and community growth
• Contributes personal influence and involvement beyond job expectations

YWCA Rising Star

• Awarded to a woman, 30 years of age or under
• Exhibits early professional success and potential to obtain marked achievement
• Demonstrates willingness to help others, especially women and girls

Winners will be honored at the Winners’ Circle Award luncheon on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at Four Points by Sheraton, Greensburg, PA. For more information, and to submit nominations, please visit the new Winners' Circle website.

Marcellus Shale Contracting Opportunities

Did you resolve to construct a prosperous business in 2012?

Event: FREE Small Business Forum &  Discussion to learn about Marcellus Shale, capital access, and contracting opportunities
Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Time: 8:15 to 10:00 a.m. (continental breakfast included)
Location: Charleroi Borough Building, Fallowfield & 4th St., Charleroi, PA
Register: Seating is limited. To register, email donn@charleroiboro.org or call 724-483-6011.

Want to explore Marcellus Shale opportunities in the new year? Can you grow your business through contracting or capital access but don’t know where to turn for free assistance? Then plan to attend a business-to- business workshop that will address the Marcellus Shale industry and FREE resources available to Mon Valley business owners.

Workshop Participants:

• Small Business Administration 
• Internal Revenue Service 
• Diversity Business Resource Center 
• Washington County Council on Economic Development 
• Small Business Development Centers 
• Government Agency Coordination Office 
• Community Bank 
• Southwestern PA Commission 
• Seton Hill University's E-Magnify Women’s Business Center

Increase in Patents Granted to Women

A new study commissioned by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) has found that the number of women obtaining patents has grown at an accelerating rate over the past 35 years and in numbers considerably higher than previously reported. 

According to the study, the largest spike came in 2010, when 22,984 patents were granted to women, which was a 35 percent jump over the previous year. In 2009, women received 17,061 patents, a 4.5 percent increase over the 16,321 issued in 2008.

The details are part of the preliminary findings from an extensive review of patents granted between 1975 and 2010 by the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO). NWBC commissioned a private research company, Delixus, Inc., to conduct the study to determine the rates of women who apply for and receive patents. The study, which also will examine data on women with trademarks, is the first of its kind to explore this issue in depth, mainly because federal patent and trademark applicants did not ask for gender information. Newly-passed legislation will allow USPTO to start tracking gender data this year.

“Patent and trademark ownership often is an indicator of entrepreneurial activity – historically, women have not been a large segment of this activity. A bump in IP ownership could indicate strong growth in women-owned companies,” said NWBC Chair Donna James said. 

NWBC researchers examined the names of all patents granted over a 35-year period, determining gender by using the applicant’s name. To do this, researchers relied upon multiple sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Social Security Administration, which compiles a list of the 10,000 most common American names for men and women. Because of the nation’s changing population demographics over the last quarter century, researchers also relied on commercially available data of the most common names in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Spanish, German and French. Uncommon names from other foreign countries, as well as unisex names, also were examined. Just under 6 percent of the names in patent disclosures could not be identified as male or female.

Details of the full report, which will include numbers on women, patents, trademarks over time and by industry, will be released during an upcoming news event at the USPTO headquarters in early March. NWBC will commemorate a 35-year history of women inventors by featuring a new female inventor every day on its website during March, which is Women’s History Month.

Small, Minority & Women Business Expo

Save the Date!

Event: Small, Minority & Women Business Enterprise Expo 2012

Date: March 28, 2012

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Location: Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA

Calling all minority business enterprises (MBE), women business enterprises (WBE), disadvantaged businesses (DB), veteran owned businesses (VOB), and service disabled veteran owned (SDVO) businesses in the state of Pennsylvania.

The Department of General Services, Bureau of Minority and Women Business Opportunities invites you to attend the “Small, Minority & Women Business Enterprise Expo” on March 28, 2012, to obtain information on contracting processes, best practices, and programs that support your business. The Expo is being held in an effort to provide information to contractors and subcontractors on contracting opportunities with federal, state, and city agencies.

The Expo will be hosted by Mayor Linda D. Thompson, City of Harrisburg, and co-sponsored by the Naval Supply Systems Command, the PA Departments of General Services and Public Welfare.

More information and registration details will be available soon. Visit the Bureau of Minority & Women Business Opportunities at www.dgs.state.pa.us/bcabd.

Food Network Seeks Food Entrepreneurs

image by decafinata, used under a Creative Commons license

Are you bravely ditching your day job to pursue your passion of launching your own food business with no culinary training?

Casting Call: A new Food Network series is looking for food entrepreneurs for a new show with Bobby Flay!

Specifically, the network is seeking people who have left their previous career to start a new restaurant (or similar business).

Entrepreneurs must meet the following criteria to be considered for the series: 

• must have little-to-no prior professional culinary experience;
• must be planning to open a brick-and-mortar space where there will be walk-in customers (restaurant, bakery, sandwich shop, etc.); and
• must be aiming to open between now and autumn 2012.

Those chosen will receive culinary and business coaching from Bobby Flay (a chef, restaurateur, and fixture on the Food Network) as well as invaluable national publicity.

If you fit the above criteria, email an outline of your timeline, budget, menu, team, and especially what’s at stake for you in this endeavor (why you are doing it and what risks, financial as well as personal, you are taking) to foodtvshow@gmail.com. They are highly interested in the “human-interest” angle of your story.

For more information, check out the Twitter account and Facebook page. 

Stories will be accepted through February. 

Exporting Webinars

Learn how your company can tap into the global marketplace.

As part of the National Export Initiative, the Commerce Department's Trade Information Center is offering a series of one-hour webinars on the basics of exporting.

The webinars are designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the export process, including transaction-oriented topics on subjects such as duty drawback and temporary export shipments. The series includes webinars on how to write an export plan, how to ship goods to international buyers, and how to classify products under the harmonized system, as well as estimating the full cost to the buyer of delivering your products to a foreign destination. Webinars will be led by experts in their field and will include slides, live audio, and question-and-answer sessions. The cost is $15 per webinar.
 
The first program, “How to Write an Export Plan," will be held on January 18. The full list of webinar topics and dates is available here.

Learn more and register at http://www.export.gov/articles/eg_main_022213.asp.