The Chamber's Women's Business Center is the only Internet training recipient in the State of Louisiana. The purpose of the Act was to stimulate the economy by providing long-term training and counseling to aid and encourage the growth and development of small businesses owned and controlled by women. Title ll of the act established the Demonstration Program to assist women with financial, management, procurement and marketing assistance. The WBC is funded in part by the United State Small Business Administration, which is matched through donations from corportions, foundations and individuals. Women are currently starting businesses at nearly twice the rate of men and the trend shows no sign of slowing.
Women face unique challenges in business.
Women business owners lag behind terms of government procurement, receiving only 1.8 percent of federal prime contracts and 2.4 percent of subcontracts in 1993. Women owned businesses experience great difficuly obtaining credit. OWBO provides programs to support women entrepreneurs from business startup to expansion through a varity of services and resources. Women throughout the country can log into the OWBO Home Page . Reasonable arrangements for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance.