Women's Business Enterprise National Council and Houston Women's Business Council Announce 'Women In Business 2002: Sharing The Vision' Conference   2,500 Women Business Owners and Top Corporations to Convene in Houston WASHINGTON and HOUSTON, March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 2,500 women business owners, corporate decision makers and government officials will meet in Houston from June 25-27 to advance opportunities for women business enterprises (WBEs) in marketing products and services to U.S. corporations. "Women in Business 2002: Sharing the Vision," a three-day conference and trade fair, is an unmatched forum for raising the visibility of women business enterprises among their prospective clients, and for exploring the latest trends affecting entrepreneurial success. The Conference is presented by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation's leading advocate for women-owned businesses among corporate vendors and suppliers and the leading third-party certifier of women-owned businesses and the Houston Women's Business Council (HWBC), one of the nation's largest organizations for nationally certified women business enterprises. Together, the organizations will offer one of the nation's largest trade fairs for women business owners -- the 5th Annual HWBC Women's Business Opportunity Expo -- featuring more than 250 booths and an intensive schedule of seminars aimed at building successful businesses and improving corporate programs for supplier diversity. A unique feature is the MatchMaker Meeting Program offering pre-arranged face-to-face meetings for certified women business enterprises with corporate buyers. Other special segments include "Women Business Owners & The Bottom Line: Corporate CEO's Speak Out" and a number of special events and networking receptions. In addition to the trade fair, workshops offer direction on a variety of topics designed to stimulate and enhance business. Subjects include growth through the Internet, global supply chain management, gender communication and maximizing the benefits of certification, to name a few. The event's sponsors include leading corporations from a variety of industries: BP, ChevronTexaco, Halliburton, Pennzoil-Quaker State, Shell Oil Company, United Parcel Service; ExxonMobil, IBM Corporation; Office Depot, Wal-Mart Stores, BakerHughes, Coca-Cola, Lucent Technologies, PepsiCo, Inc., Pitney Bowes, Reliant Energy, W.W. Grainger, WorldCom, Conoco, JP Morgan Chase, SBC Communications, Schlumberger, Verizon Wireless and Sears, Roebuck and Co. Women's business enterprise sponsors include Cole Chemical & Distributing, Inc., Clausman Legal Staffing, Inc., TLC Adcentives, Epic Companies, The Business Lab, and Warren Electric Group. Media Sponsors include Enterprising Woman, MBE Magazine, Professional Woman Magazine, WE-Women's Enterprise, Working Mother, Houston Chronicle and KRIV-Houston/Fox 26. As the leading third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) partners with corporate diversity executives and women's business organizations throughout the United States. Of the approximately 400 corporations with supplier diversity programs, all of them accept WBENC certification. WBENC provides these key elements to a successful certification program: -- Access to a national standard of certification; -- Information on certified businesses to purchasing managers through an Internet database - WBENCLink. -- Training programs and manuals covering certification review procedures. -- Management training programs for its organizational partners. -- Creation and dissemination of topical seminars and workshops for women business owners. WBENC also provides business-to-business sourcing opportunities through WBENCLink and another Internet tool, WEbuy@wbenc.org . WBENC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that seeks and accepts donations from corporations, foundations and individuals that support its mission and programs. The Houston Women's Business Council ( http://www.hwbc-texas.org/ ) is an independent 501 (c)(3) full-service purchasing council for nationally certified women's business enterprises. The Council has more than 340 women business enterprise members and more than 70 corporate members. Last year the Council's corporate members spent more than $700 million dollars with HWBC certified WBE's. HWBC provides educational, networking, procurement-related, and informational programs and services that foster growth and business opportunities between women business enterprises and purchasing entities, including major corporations, government agencies and other entities seeking to provide business opportunities to women business enterprises. For registration information or to register online, visit http://www.wbenc.org/ or http://www.hwbc-texas.org/ . Source: Women's Business Enterprise National Council Contact: Lynthia Romney, +1-914-238-2145 or E. Denise Stovell for Women's Business Enterprise National Council, +1-202-588-9875   Website: http://www.wbenc.org/ http://www.hwbc-texas.org/   ###