Florida Senate - 2015                            (NP)    SR 1658
       
       
        
       By Senator Margolis
       
       
       
       
       
       35-02620A-15                                          20151658__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing April 23, 2015, as “National
    3         Association of Women Business Owners Day” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, in 1975, a dozen like-minded businesswomen in the
    6  Washington, D.C., area gathered to share information and create
    7  an atmosphere of professional community and to further and
    8  strengthen their entrepreneurial interests, and
    9         WHEREAS, this group quickly grew to become what is now
   10  known as the National Association of Women Business Owners
   11  (NAWBO), and
   12         WHEREAS, in 1988, NAWBO played a key role in the passage of
   13  the Women’s Business Ownership Act, also known as H.R. 5050,
   14  which allowed women to receive business loans without the
   15  cosignature of a male relative, and
   16         WHEREAS, the federal legislation also created the National
   17  Women’s Business Council, a body of women entrepreneurs and
   18  women’s organizations which provides counsel to the President
   19  and Congress, and
   20         WHEREAS, over the past 40 years, NAWBO, through its
   21  affiliation with the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs,
   22  has extended its global reach to 60 countries on five continents
   23  and has expanded across the United States, boasting a chapter in
   24  nearly every major metropolitan area, including five chapters in
   25  Florida: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County, Southwest
   26  Florida/Estero, Orlando, and Lakeland Metro, and
   27         WHEREAS, NAWBO strongly supports the achievement of state
   28  and federal procurement goals for women-owned small businesses
   29  and other steps designed to ensure that women business owners
   30  win their fair share of state and federal contracts, realizing
   31  that failure to achieve such goals has cost women business
   32  owners an average of $5 billion in lost revenues per year, and
   33         WHEREAS, NAWBO propels women entrepreneurs into economic,
   34  social, and political spheres of power by strengthening the
   35  wealth-creating capacity of its members and promoting economic
   36  development within the entrepreneurial community; creating
   37  innovative and effective change in the business culture;
   38  building strategic alliances, coalitions, and affiliations; and
   39  transforming public policy and influencing opinion makers, and
   40         WHEREAS, on April 23, 2015, the Florida chapters of NAWBO
   41  will converge upon the Capitol to focus the political spotlight
   42  on issues affecting women business owners and to celebrate the
   43  40th anniversary of NAWBO’s founding, NOW, THEREFORE,
   44  
   45  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   46  
   47         That April 23, 2015, is recognized as “National Association
   48  of Women Business Owners Day” in Florida.