Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century. Summary Report.

On March 18-19, 2002, over 1,200 women entrepreneurs from America convened in Washington, D.C., for an interactive conference. Hundreds of others participated via satellite. Delegates participated in workshops, panel discussions, and interactive voting sessions and heard presentations. Workshops focused on access to capital, trade, health insurance costs, understanding the tax code, access to government procurement, gaining media exposure, work/life balance, trends in technology, and retirement security. Highlights were these: health care costs were unsustainable for women entrepreneurs; access to capital was a key challenge for them; the federal government should be made small business-friendly; tax code complexity challenges women entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship is a tough work/life balancing act; women entrepreneurs are going global; they have retirement issues; and technology helps them succeed. (The document contains a letter from Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, an executive summary, a conference report on the highlights listed above, remarks from two speakers, and the keynote address."Remarks" (Elaine L. Chao) calls on women entrepreneurs to be today's drivers of tomorrow's economic prosperity. "Remarks" (Hector V. Barreto) encourages women entrepreneurs to take advantage of Small Business Administration programs. "Keynote Address" (President George W. Bush) touches on small businesses, economic stimulus plan, tax reform, and making health care more available. (YLB)