[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 125 (Thursday, September 12, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SUPPORT WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NANCY L. JOHNSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 12, 1996

  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, small business owners are 
the backbone of the economic well-being of this country. The financial 
health of our Nation simply cannot survive without the ingenuity, 
imagination, and hard work of those who own and operate small 
businesses.
  But did you know that it is the women small business owners who are 
leading the charge into the 21st century? There are over 7 million 
women-owned businesses in the United States which employ 15.5 million 
people nationwide. And these firms contribute over $1 trillion in sales 
to the economy in every industrial sector.
  Women have been able to make such a remarkable contribution to 
society thanks in part to programs such as the Women's Business 
Training Centers within the Small Business Administration. This 
demonstration program has established 54 nonprofit business centers 
around the country since it first began in 1988. These business centers 
provide training, counseling, and technical assistance to women hoping 
to start their own businesses and 60,000 women have benefited from 
their services.
  These business centers have a unique funding structure. Three years 
after a business center is established, it must become financially 
self-sufficient. Thirty-five of the business centers are now entirely 
independent, providing needed assistance without Federal funding.
  Currently, the authorization for the Women's Business Training 
Centers ends in 1997, which is why I have introduced legislation to 
permanently authorize the program. This legislation will also increase 
the business centers' funding cycle from 3 to 5 years to ensure that 
they are well established, and authorizes a funding level of up to $8 
million, so that the SBA can establish business centers in the 22 
States that currently have no such sites.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in support of the Women's Business 
Training Centers Act of 1996.

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