2007 Holiday Edition

The WBEA has had an exciting last few months of 2007! October’s Annual Golf Classic & Auction was another successful fundraising event for WBEA. The weather, although predicted to be stormy, was beautiful. The golfers enjoyed a great game of golf in the sunshine while networking with potential suppliers and clients. Now that's a great way to spend the day. The auction had many great items to bid on and quite a few bidding wars were going on during the reception. The WBEA Annual Awards and Scholarship Luncheon broke attendance records. The event had over 450 people in attendance. The 2008 Scholarship recipients were announced and all eligible WBEs were encouraged to apply for a scholarship in 2008. The WBEA’s Cutting Edge Awards included not only our corporate members that have shown their commitment to supplier diversity, but for the first time, WBEs that have shown that same commitment. WBEA had 36 WBEs that reported spend with their "sister" WBEs resulting in over $2 million of business. We are also excited to announce that the 2006 corporate spend with WBEs increased from $364 million in 2005 to $477 million in 2006. These numbers only reflect the WBEs and Corporates that report their spend. Next year, those numbers will be even higher as more companies report. A special ceremony, hosted by the WBEA Board of Directors, was held prior to the November 8th Awards Luncheon to recognize those members that have been with WBEA for 5, 10, 15 and 20 + years. For those members who are wondering how one can be with an organization for 15 and 20 years if the organization has just celebrated their 12th year in existence, let me give you a brief history… The Houston Business Council started in 1973. In 1995 the HBC split into the Houston Minority Council and what was then the Houston Women’s Business Council. In 2002 we changed our name to the Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance. Therefore, even though we have only existed as a separate entity since 1995, we have members that moved from HBC to HWBC. We appreciate the fact that they helped start this organization! The WBEA has a new staff member that joined us on November 15. Brittany Patterson holds the newly created WBE Opportunity Development Manager position. She will be identifying opportunities for WBEA certified Women Business Enterprises and disseminating that information to ALL qualified WBEA WBEs. We also have some exciting news for our San Antonio members. We will be searching for a person that will work full time in San Antonio to help market WBEA to potential WBEs and Corporate members, as well as monthly meetings with our current members. WBEA will have our first ever EXPO: ConnectionLINK in San Antonio on February 27-28, 2008. There will be a chartered bus transporting all interested Houston WBEs back and forth. Register now to attend and support our members in San Antonio! Happy Holidays from the WBEA family to you and yours! Excalibur Exhibits Wins 2007 Lantern Award for Large Exhibit Exhibitor Online - Rochester,MN,USA Excalibur Exhibits is headquartered in Houston, certified as a woman-owned business, and a member of the OSPI Network... Houston CD/DVD Duplication Company Launches 24-Hour Service ... PR Leap (press release) - Chula Vista,CA,USA has earned three different "Houston Business Journal" awards: The Fast Tech 50, the Houston Small Business 100, and the Fastest Growing Woman-Owned Business...   Newsletter Sponsors Be a Sponsor of the WBEA Newsletter You can support your WBEA newsletter with a sponsorship of 1-month, 3-month or 1-year package. Your logo will prominently appear on the front page of the newsletter with a direct link to your site. find out more... Get Known! Get Business! WBEs on the Move… Toot your own horn! Share your success! We want to hear from you! Submissions to the WBEA newsletter are welcome and needed. Simply write a short blurb and send to René Williams at rwilliams@wbea-texas.org by the 20th of each month for inclusion in the following month’s newsletter. It’s all about you!!

The Arkansas Alumni Association recently honored distinguished alumni and faculty where Sue Burnett received the Citation of Distinguished Alumni. Burnett graduated in 1968 and is the founder and president of Burnett Staffing Specialists in Houston, Texas. Her staffing company started as a single office in Houston in 1974. Now, Burnett Staffing Specialists has offices in El Paso, Austin and San Antonio, as well as Choice Staffing in Dallas. Recognized as Texas' top woman-owned staffing, placement and training company, it also ranks as the United States' 47th Top Woman-Owned Business and Texas' fifth Top Woman-Owned Business by DiversityBusiness.com. Burnett, an active alumna of Chi Omega Sorority, graduated from the University of Arkansas with a journalism degree in 1968, and the department's reading room is named in her honor. Sue Walk Burnett, a 1968 graduate who was awarded a Citation of Distinguished Alumni, recalled that the football team won a national championship during her freshman year. "It was a great time to be at the University of Arkansas." The Aggie 100 is the list of the 100 fastest growing Aggie owned or managed businesses in the world. Christine Hollinden of Hollinden Marketing Solutions ranked #45 on the list! The list was published in the Houston Business Journal. "I have been a member of the WBEA (or its precursors) for 15 years. I came from a non-business background, having practiced law as a prosecutor and appellate law clerk for the previous 15 years. The WBEA gave me access to mentors in Fortune 100 companies who led me through the initial phases of starting an IT company so that it could grow and prosper, which it has. Those relationships, which I maintain to this day, and which have grown, helped me to successfully communicate with and market to some of the largest and most diverse global organizations in the world. Not only has IPM thrived, but it has been able to solely support a start up technology company, IPM Asset Solutions, which specializes in RFID. IPM Asset Solutions has also applied for membership in the WBEA, where no doubt, I, as well as the IPMAS staff, will continue to benefit from the programs and support of this organization." Sheila R. McIlnay Chief Executive Officer Independent Professional Management, Inc. IPM Asset Solutions "I have been a member with the WBEA for 21 years. Our membership has been a "Bonus" to our customers in the steel industry where knowledgeable, quality oriented, reliable "women owned" companies are scarce." Monica Grossman R&M Forge & Fittings, Inc. Welcome New Members October 2007 Allison & Shoemaker Pat Allison pallison@allshoe.com Awards & Engraving Michelle Bitterly mbitterly@awards-engraving.com Awards of Distinction, Inc. Marcia Vineyard marcia@awardsofdistinction.com CGP Manufacturing, Inc. Michelle Becker mbecker@cgpfittings.com Clayton Biltmore & Shouse LLC Karen Shouse karen.shouse@claytonbiltmore.com Ecologie Bags, LLC Cynthia Atmar atmarr@gmail.com General Works Construction, Inc. Paulette Simmons Pesimmons@sbcglobal.net GOGO Business Communications Joi Beasley joib@gogo-biz.com La Villette Special Events & Catering Mariquita Combes lavillettecater@aol.com Maria M. Cordon, PC. Maria Cordon mcordon@cordonlaw.com MIT Professionals, Inc. Rebecca Morgan rebecca@mitprof.com N.J. Pierce and Associates N.J. Pierce njpierce@njpierce.com Newman Favaloro & Troegel Deborah Newman dnewman@nftlaw.com PACE Consulting, LLC Aine Kirchner akirchner@paceconsulting.net USA Industries, Inc. Martha Pylate mpylate@usaindustries.com Williams Firm, PC, The Dana Williams dwilliams@wms-firm.com © 2007 Women's Business Enterprise Alliance 1900 North Loop West, Suite 270, Houston, Texas 77018-8120 | 713-681-9232 amoore@wbea-texas.org WBEA sends out the Connections Newsletter to all its members and other parties interested in our services and events. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please send an email to unsubscribe@wbea-texas.org.