NYC ChallengeHER

Last August, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that the federal government reached its 23% small business contracting goal for the first time in eight years. Of the $83.1 billion spent with small businesses in FY13, 4.32% was awarded to women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) – up from 4% in 2012 and 3.98% in 2011 – but still short of the government’s 5% goal.

On Friday, June 12, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet will help women business owners learn about doing business with the federal government at the free ChallengeHER NYC event. Throughout the program, attendees will learn about the SBA’s Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract program and hear from agency officials and successful small business contractors about growing their businesses by selling to the government. Additionally, attendees can sign up to participate in Contract Connections, which are one-on-one meetings with procurement officials, government buyers and large prime contractors that will run in tandem with the event.

Launched in 2013, ChallengeHER is a joint initiative from the SBA, American Express OPEN and Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) designed to promote the WOSB Program and bring more women-owned firms into the federal government’s supply chain.