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WBDC/FL Affiliate of WBENC Annual Report

Executive Summary

Included in this annual report is information on the Women’s Business Development Center, our Women Business Enterprises (WBEs), the Board of Directors, corporate partners and general statistics on our growth and development for 2006.

The WBDC Board of Directors is a dynamic group of business professionals that offers financial support and business expertise to the Center for our programs. Our Board of Directors includes representatives from Citibank, Memorial Healthcare System, Microsoft Corporation, North Broward Hospital District, Office Depot, Scripps Florida, and the Small Business Administration.

To further our resources the WBDC will continue to work with several organizations as we strive to solidify Strategic Alliances and sign memoranda of understanding with them in 2007: Women Impacting Public Policy, The Commonwealth Institute, Latina Style, US Women’s Chamber of Commerce, NAWBO, NAFE, WeCAI, and local chambers of commerce.

Throughout 2006 we had 14 very special Corporate Partners who offered their financial support and guidance to the Center. Some of them are represented on our Board of Directors, but the majority represent companies who have a commitment to supplier diversity and specifically with women owned businesses. These Corporate Partners provide access to new markets, corporate buyers and decision makers for our members.

In 2006, the WBDC reported 35 Done Deals between WBEs and Corporations, as well as, deals between WBEs and other WBEs. Equally impressive is the fact that 74 of our WBEs reported awards and recognition that they have received for their business success. This includes 15 WBEs who were listed in 24 of the Florida Business Journals’ Top Lists. In addition 59 WBEs received awards and recognition in various media outlets.

As the Florida affiliate of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council the WBDC provides certification and re-certification services for women business enterprises with headquarters in the state of Florida (minus the panhandle of Florida). We have 309 certified WBEs in our database. For program purposes we have divided our territory by region: South Florida, Central Florida and North Florida. The WBDC hired a Central Florida Coordinator whose duties include corporate and sponsorship outreach, as well as WBE development in Central Florida. We have included a map of certified WBEs by region for your review and information.

The year 2006 has been a banner year for the WBDC as revealed in our statistics and charts. In addition we launched our re-designed website and on-line newsletter. We are proud to report that the website received approximately 3000 monthly hits. Our on-line newsletter is published monthly and contains over 20 pages of information for, and about, our WBEs.

The last section of the annual report contains testimonials from our WBEs regarding our services and programs.