By CHRISTINA YOON Special to the Daily Press
MAIN LIBRARY The Chair of the State Board of Equalization has teamed up with local business groups to hold a free seminar today to help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
The event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., will be held at the Santa Monica Public Library on Santa Monica Boulevard, with check-in starting at 8 a.m.
“Seminars like these are important because every day, 420 women go out and start their own businesses — twice the rate at which men do so,” Chair Judy Chu, Ph.D, said. “And women-owned businesses generate revenues of $2.5 trillion in sales.”
Chu organized the event with the Los Angeles Regional Small Business Development Network and the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Today’s keynote speaker is Maria Contreras-Sweet, the founding chairwoman of Promerica Bank. Other attendees include representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and other agencies.
Topics at the seminar will include marketing strategies, contracting opportunities and how to avoid common sales and use tax pitfalls. Chu said that the seminar was important in supporting the large base of women entrepreneurs who may often feel as though they are lacking the necessary resources and confidence to expand their businesses.
“Twenty-five percent of women business owners report encountering gender-related obstacles, and do not feel they are treated with the credibility and respect they deserve from their suppliers and business associates,” she said.
For more information about today’s seminar, visit the Board of Equalization website at www.boe.ca.gov or call (213) 593-1311.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 22, 2008. Read the original PDF.