National Association of Women Business Owners

BOARD & COMMITTEE NEWS
Education: Registration is in progress for our Education Center's Finance and Accounting track. See below for September classes, or Click here for general information and a link to the schedule and registration form. If you would like to be considered as an instructor, please see instructor application.

Remarkable Women Reception The 2006 Remarkable Women (RW) award winners and honorees from participating Orange County organizations were honored at a reception on September 7th at the private residence of Camille Jayne, NAWBO-OC President. In attendance were the main honorees: Cynthia Stamper Graff, Cassie Hoag, and Melinda Masson (pictured above with event co-chairs Camille Jayne and Rachel Owens) plus 32 participating organizations' Members of the Year who will be recognized for their accomplishments at the annual Remarkable Women’s luncheon on October 12th at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine.

Over 135 attendees enjoyed the Merrill Lynch-hosted event, including RW sponsors, NAWBO-OC board members, VIPs and past honorees, RW committee members, and the Founding Members of the Women’s Business Institute who have donated scholarships for our new Education Center. There was a brief program that included special mention and thanks to Merrill Lynch and the sponsors of this year’s RW event, including Marquis Sponsor: Farmers & Merchants Bank; Platinum and Honoree Reception Sponsor: Merrill Lynch; Gold Sponsor: CitiBank; Silver Sponsors: Matters at Hand and Haskell & White; Bronze Sponsor: UPS; Silver Media Sponsors - Churm Publishing and KOCE-TV. The champagne at the event was donated by South Coast Winery, the servers were donated by Jodi's Vitality Gourmet, and the beautiful RW ice sculpture and tables were donated by That’s Cool Events.

Please join us on October 12th to honor our special award winners and remarkable women from Orange County organizations. RSVP online for this inspiring event, or contact the NAWBO office at 714-630-2983.

Click section TITLES and highlighted words for the full scoop!

PUBLIC POLICY
Governor Signs Wage Increase Authored By South Bay Legislator 09/12/06: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed legislation authored by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, which will increase the state's minimum wage to $8 an hour by January 2008. The $1.25 an hour increase will give California the highest minimum wage in the nation. Schwarzenegger, who is running for re-election this year, vetoed two earlier minimum wage increases in 2004 and 2005, but said the state's economy is strong enough now to handle the increase.

Governor Signs 3 Chamber-Supported Bills to Help Small Businesses
AB 2330 (Arambula; D-Fresno) helps protect the ability of small businesses to maintain and create jobs by requiring a study of the cost impact of state regulations on California small businesses.
AB 3058 (Arambula; D-Fresno) instructs Office of Small Business Advocate to help prepare "Small Business Emergency/Disaster Preparedness" handbook.
SB 1436 (Figueroa; D-Fremont) seeks to re-establish the Small Business Ombudsman program in state agencies to improve small business access to information on proposed regulations affecting their businesses. get more information

SEPTEMBER EDUCATION CENTER CLASSES
(click titles to register for any of these classes)
Financial Statements & Analysis (Sept 13 & 20) Instructor: Debbie Dickson of Smith Dickson, An Accountancy Corp. Financial statements are valuable tools for business decision-making. This interactive 6 hour workshop will introduce elements of financial documents such as the income statement, balance sheet and statement of cash flows. Upon completion of the workshop, attendees will be able to read, understand and prepare financial statements for their business.

Financial Accounting, Cash Flow Management and Budgeting Fundamentals (Sept 14 & 21) Instructor: Hal Hendrix, Hendrix & Associates. Experts agree that cash flow is critical to business success. Many business owners, however, have no established budget or cash flow plan to monitor progress toward financial goals. In this series, attendees will gain an understanding of accounting’s role in business with emphasis on the importance of accounting systems and record-keeping, will discuss the many ways budgeting helps business owners prepare for the future and foresee problems. Upon completion of this 6 hour workshop, attendees will have an understanding of the best ways for gathering financial information, record-keeping and financial controls and will have an updated or developed operating budget and cash flow plan for their company.

How to Value & Finance Your Business (Sept 19 & 26) Instructor: Cassie Hoag, Equity Architects. This workshop will introduce the concept and components of business valuation, financial vehicles and sources of capital. Attendees will get examples of valuation models- how they impact financing and other growth strategies- and learn the requirements of potential investors and lenders. Upon completion of this 6 hour workshop, attendees will have a basic understanding of business valuation methods, the types and sources of financing available for small business, and how to access such.

Managing Business & Personal Funds for Maximum Return (Sept 28) Speakers: Nannette Macbeth, CFM, First Vice President, The Macbeth Group-Wealth Management Services. In this three hour workshop, attendees will learn the life cycle of a business and the financial concerns and solutions that they will encounter as their business starts, grows and passes on to employees or is sold. Good cash management, insurances, investments, retirement plans and estate planning will be discussed. Upon completion of this course attendees will have a basic understanding of the wealth building process and the universe of options available to put their hard-earned profits to work and to secure their retirement. Additional speakers: Darlynn C. Morgan, Esq. and Anne Burginas, Retirement Specialist.

CORPORATE & COMMUNITY MEMBER NEWS & EVENTS
September 26, 2006: Employee Benefit Makeover: How Growing Companies Can Become More Attractive This class showcases the benefits makeover of a business run by a woman, reviewing what benefits to keep, cancel or add to help sell your company to employees. This Principal Financial Group's Women in Business Teleclass is scheduled at noon Central Time. Space is limited. Pre-register at www.principal.com/women. An audio archive of past teleclasses is also available. See list of upcoming teleclasses.

September 27, 2006: CAPITAL WISDOM - Financial Strategies for High-Growth and Maturing Companies Access Southern California's top financial and legal professionals to learn how business owners and executives can implement sophisticated strategies to harness the power of corporate assets in order to provide a strong and sustainable financial platform. 20% discount for NAWBO members. Click for more info & RSVP.

September 27, 2006: 4th Annual BIZCON Business Conference
The goal of BIZCON is to promote, develop and reflect the multi-ethnic diversity and dynamism of Orange County’s business community. BIZCON 2006 is a day of networking, workshops with panel discussions, and showcase of products and services designed to help you understand the diversity market, meet with community business leaders, explore business opportunities with local and foreign companies as well as government agencies, and learn the global multi-cultural aspect of networking. 7:30am to 4:30pm at Embassy Suites in Garden Grove. Sponsors include our corporate members Citibank, Southern California Edison, and Union Bank of California. Click for more details.

October 20, 2006 Women's Breakfast for Champions 7-9:30am at El Adobe Restaurant in San Juan Capistrano. $25-$30 Click for more info & RSVP.

SBA Seeks Nominations for 2007 Small Business Week Awards The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is soliciting nominations for its Small Business Week Awards 2007 celebration. Awards include Small Business Person of the Year, Exporter of the Year, SBA Young Entrepreneur, Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year, Minority Small Business Champion, Women in Business Champion, Veteran Small Business Champion, Home-Based Business Champion, Financial Services Champion, and Small Business Journalist. Nominations are due by 11/24/06. Click for nomination form. Nomination Preparation Workshops are being conducted to show you techniques for writing and preparing a winning package. For information on the nomination process or to register for a workshop, please contact Sylvia Gutierrez at (714) 560-7454 or sylvia.gutierrez@sba.gov.

NEWS FROM NATIONAL
September is National Preparedness Month
NAWBO has joined the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to promote National Preparedness Month, a nationwide effort held each September to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and schools. Throughout September, Homeland Security will work with a wide variety of organizations, including local, state and federal government agencies and the private sector, to highlight the importance of family emergency preparedness and promote individual involvement through events and activities across the nation. To learn more about how you and your family can prepare for emergencies or get involved visit: www.ready.gov or www.citizencorps.gov.

Oct. 15, 2006: Third Annual Women of the Year Award Deadline
OPEN from American Express and Entrepreneur magazine will honor one outstanding woman entrepreneur as Woman of the Year. If you are the woman business owner who best exemplifies the qualities needed to be truly successful in business today—competitiveness, compassion and clarity of vision—you could be the winner. To qualify, a woman business owner must be a founder of the business, own at least 51% of the business, be actively involved in day-to-day operations, have been in business for at least one full year, have 2005 sales of at least $1 million, and have fewer than 100 employees. To enter, visit www.entrepreneur.com/womanoftheyear/.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS UPDATE

by Shaila Mistry
I have been invited to represent NAWBO on a U.S. Dept. of Trade Business Mission with Brussels, European Economic Community in October 2006. I will get an opportunity to do business with potential markets in Europe. Mine is the only Technology Company attending, so I will be bringing breadth and perspective. This mission is shaping up to be one of the most exclusive and customized trade events this year. It is receiving a lot of attention from both national and local governments, including the Dutch royal family. The Embassy is also working to secure press coverage for mission participants. Participating organizations include: U.S. Embassy—The Netherlands, U.S. Embassy—Belgium, American Chamber of Commerce, Brussels Chamber of Commerce of Amsterdam Markant (leading women's business association in Belgium), and Black Women Business Association—The Netherlands.

OTHER ORANGE COUNTY EVENTS
September 21, 2006: 2nd Annual Orange County Conference for Women hosted by the City of Newport Beach will be held at the Balboa Bay Club from 8am-1:30pm. This conference will feature panel discussions and a luncheon with keynote address. See www.ocwomen.org for info & RSVP.

October 5, 2006 at 6 pm: Women's Leadership Exchange® Connections Jones New York, Macy’s and Women's Leadership Exchange invite you to join us for a private evening of business solutions, networking and shopping! The speaker, Leslie Grossman, Cofounder of WLE, will share business strategies on creating YOU as a Brand. Includes networking and exclusive Jones New York Fashion Show with the latest business classic and business casual styles for Fall '06. Free. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Click here to RSVP

NAWBO Orange County

NAWBO
Orange County

National
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