In June 2016, I had the opportunity to attend the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council’s National Conference and Business Fair. We had been certified by WBENC as a woman-owned CNC machine shop only three weeks before so this was all new territory.
The week’s conference was a packed 3-1/2 days in Orlando. There were more than 3,500 woman business owners and representatives in attendance. The learning sessions were fascinating and the social events were lots of fun.
Many of the women I met were so helpful with getting my bearings in this new environment. Cathy Koch, the President and CEO of K-Tec Systems, was a facilitator of a group breakout session I attended. She discussed how we can best serve our customers and how to share our WBENC certification with them. Cathy and many others helped me get so much out of the conference week.
I had the honor of meeting Ya-El Mandel-Portnoy early in the conference. She was there as part of the WBENC Student Entrepreneur Program Pitch Competition. She has developed technology that can predict atrial fibrillation before the cardiac event happens. Her work is simply amazing and it was fitting that she won the Student Pitch Competition.
Now that Bothe Associates is a certified woman-owned business, we will be participating in this national conference and in local events with the Women’s Business Development Center in Chicago. We look forward to this being the beginning of a period of growth for Bothe Associates as we work to build relationships with companies who want to do business with WBEs.
