President/CEO: SWLA Economic Development Alliance
As the Times salutes Women in Business, so do we.
Do you know there are over 10 million women owned businesses in the United States? There are over 9,000 businesses in our five parishes. Of that over 2,500 are owned by women, but I suspect the number is really much larger. Women entrepreneurs are the fastest growing segment in small business with an almost unlimited potential for growth.
As we strive to diversify our economic base in our five parishes, The SWLA Alliance and Chamber SWLA will be encouraging folks in our area to consider starting their own businesses. It’s not for everyone, but business owners who make it have freedom to chart their own course and be their own boss. There are risks and small business owners can’t call in sick or take the day off. You are the business and, if you are not there, you are out of business. The rewards top the negatives and many wouldn’t consider returning to work for someone else.
We are fortunate to have many successful women-owned businesses in Southwest Louisiana. Congressman Charles Boustany and the U.S. Chamber Trade Roots program recently presented one such business woman with an impressive award. Alta Baker, CEO of Safe Haven Enterprises of Jennings, was honored for her work manufacturing and exporting blast-resistant buildings, doors, and windows used for high-security areas such as U.S. Embassies and throughout the world. Alta had the dream and she acted on it. Now, her company sells their in demand units worldwide.
On the Chamber SWLA Board, we have several successful women leading our Chamber and Economic Development efforts. Next year, Patricia Philmon of Merrill Lynch will be our Board Chair and Celia Case of The Southwest Call Center remains our Workforce Vice Chair on the Chamber SWLA Board Executive Committee. Tobie Hodkins, President of Bessette Development, always lends a hand there when a tough task to be done. Tobie and Mandi Mitchell headed up the Task Force which revamped the Chamber SWLA Leadership program.
(The new Leadership program and curriculum begins in January 2010 and the application deadline is October 1st.) While Dr. Andrea Lewis Miller, the new Sowela Chancellor, is relative newcomer to our area, she is remolding the institution into a fine two-year community college and technical school which will provide training for thousands of our citizens in the future.
Andrea Bacarisse of E2E Technology does triple-duty on the board representing her business, the technology sector while also serving as Chair of Fusion Five, our young professionals group, which is helping to develop our up and coming leaders today. (Membership in Fusion Five is open to those in business between the ages of 21 and 45 in Southwest Louisiana.) Cynthia Hoffpauir of the Jeff Davis Business Alliance and Avon Knowlton of the Greater Beauregard Chamber are a few of the other women on the Chamber board representing regional allies.
I hesitate to mention only these few, but I wanted to make a point.
Without our strong women leaders and business persons, our region would be greatly diminished. That is why we’re excited about developing a new forum for women in business to help women get into business and stay in business.
At the Alliance, we have conducted entrepreneurial training programs for the last several years and roughly 2/3 of those attending have been women and we have only scratched the surface. Today, we salute our women business leaders. At the Alliance and the Chamber SWLA, we look forward to working with both the business women and business men of our region to build a better future for Southwest Louisiana.
Think globally, act regionally and let’s talk up Southwest Louisiana.
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