Programs for members have never been more vital, and committee involvement from our WBE and Sustaining members has reached record numbers. The increased involvement speaks to the value the Council brings to your business development and corporate WBE initiatives. One of our major objectives this year is to provide education and resources that assist our Sustaining Members in their WBE utilization and diversity program growth. To that end, we are offering a workshop at Round-Up for corporate and government representatives entitled “Futurizing Your Supplier Diversity Program” where participants can learn and share the best practices and “next” practices that will propel their programs forward.

Expanding our network throughout our four-state region is another major goal in 2002 and we’ve gotten off to a great start in Arkansas where our February 27th networking meeting brought together women business owners, corporations, and government entities interested in utilizing the WBCS certification and business development programs.