End of the Year Round Up

There's a lot going on in Washington and state capitols.

Here's a sample of news about policy debates the outcome of which will affect women business owners:

The ranking Democrat on the House Small Business Committee is calling for SBA Administrator Hector Barreto's resignation because of concerns about the SBA's Katrina response. Women business owners also should be concerned about the Administrator's footdragging on the women small business contracting program. NAWBO is keeping the pressure up on this issue.

Association Health Plans legislation is pending in the Senate. Read the NFIB alert.

Minimum wage increases are pending in California, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Nevada. This issue is likely to be coming to your state soon. Right now the federal minimum wage won't pay for 2 gallons of gas. Pressure is on in the states to boost state minimum wage laws as a result. NFIB has more.

Will the Bureau of Labor Statistics continue to include women business stats in their reports? WIPP is on top of this issue.

The US Womens Chamber of Commerce has launched a new initiative on access to health care.

Want to get inspired for the new year?

Read this story about NAWBO Long Island member Anne Shybunko-Moore, the 34-year-old president of GSE Dynamics Inc., a military aircraft parts-maker in Hauppauge, who is one of the few women defense contractors.

GSE was told last week it beat out several rivals to win a $14-million Navy contract to make mast fairings - coverings for sensitive communications equipment - for submarines. The contract is the largest in GSE's history, and is nearly 1 1/2 times last year's revenue of $10 million.

"It's a whole new level of business for us," Shybunko-Moore said. "It will eventually double sales."

In hopes of getting the contract, GSE gambled, renting a 15,000-square-foot building next to its main facility so it would be able to handle such a large order. And a few weeks ago, it acquired, for an undisclosed sum, tools, material and know-how from giant General Dynamics Corp. to manufacture the mast fairings. GSE will be taking on nine or 10 General Dynamics workers who have been making the parts for two decades. GSE has about 38 employees.

Shybunko-Moore likes to say she takes careful risks, and she says she is not easily intimidated.

"I'm not afraid to walk into a room full of men and say, 'I don't understand this or that,'" Shybunko-Moore said. "I was raised with a strong sense of self-esteem and confidence."

So, get on out there....gamble, take a risk, we women business owners can do anything!