Contact: Barbara Riley
Friday, September 15, 2006

WASHINGTON, DC – United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH) has urged Senate leadership to consider the “Women’s Small Business Ownership Programs Act of 2006” (S. 3659) in the current session of Congress.

“It is imperative that S. 3659 be given full consideration in one form or another given its impact on existing Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), especially in New Hampshire,” Sununu wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).  “As more and more women entrepreneurs explore the opportunity to start, expand, or improve small businesses, critical information and key contacts can make the difference between success and failure. WBCs fill this role by providing business counseling and training in finance, management, marketing, procurement, and other needed skills. In New Hampshire, the WBC has a long track record of meeting the needs of local small businesses started or owned by women, including conducting hundreds of business related courses and holding monthly networking and mentoring meetings.”  

In 2004, Sununu was instrumental in helping the Portsmouth Women’s Business Center secure $75,150 as part of $6.8 million in SBA funding for centers across the nation. The New Hampshire center is currently in its 11th year of operation and assists more than 1,000 women in New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts, and southern Maine each year with education programming, one-to-one counseling, and peer support.

The “Women’s Small Business Ownership Programs Act of 2006” was originally introduced by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

Editor’s note: Further information on the Women’s Business Center, New Hampshire can be obtained by calling its Executive Director Ellen Fineberg at 603-430-2892.