The Blog of Denise & Jynell at Innoventum, Inc.

WBE stands for “Woman Business Enterprise”. WBE’s can obtain one or more levels of certification to increase your chances of getting projects from the government and Corporate America.

A WBE certification confirms that the business is 51% owned, controlled, and operated by one or more women. There are different types and levels of certification, and many people get them confused. This article explores the different levels of certification. Not every woman-owned business needs a WBE certification. For example, if you have a business that doesnt sell a product or service that the government or Corporate America would ever want to buy, then there is really no need to obtain a WBE certification.

But if you would like to sell your products or services to these cash rich government and corporate clients, then you should definitely consider obtaining a WBE certification. One reason a WBE certification can be valuable is because government agencies and many corporations MUST award a certain percentage of business each and every year to WBE enterprises. Your WBE certification allows you to prove that you meet the requirement of being a woman-owned business.

There are basically four different levels of WBE certifications, and this is where most people get confused:

1. Local WBE Certification
2. State WBE Certification
3. Federal WBE Certification
4. National WBE Certification

Each of these levels of certification will now be looked at in further detail.

Certifying Locally

A local government agency awards local certifications. Your business should obtain a local WBE certification if wanting to do business with a particular local government agency and desiring to increase your chances of getting them as a client.

Certifying with the state

Most states have a state MBE/WBE office where you will obtain your state certification. That state certification is necessary if you want to sell to one or more state government agencies with increased likelihood of getting the work. To obtain a state WBE certification, you contact the MBE/WBE certification office in the state in which you want to be certified. You can then fill out whatever paperwork they require.

Certifying at the federal level

There is actually no formal certification process to obtain a federal certification. Federal WBE certifications are “self-certifying”. When selling to the U.S. federal government, then you “self-certify” that you are a WBE. That basically means that you just state that you are 51% owned, controlled, and operated by a woman. Later, after awarded a project with the federal government, they may ask you to prove that WBE status, but in most cases, they do not. However, dont say you are a WBE if you are not.

Since there is no formal WBE application process for the federal government, this means that you can get right now in responding to federal government opportunities and leverage that WBE status (once you are registered as a federal government vendor with CCR, etc.). And consider the mandatory goals of the federal government to award 5% of their projects each year to woman owned businesses. (That statistic was current as of September 2009, but the exact percentage can change from time to time).

The main point is that the federal government has projects that are set-aside just for WBEs. So this is a wonderful opportunity for you to take advantage of special projects that have been designed just for women owned businesses!

National WBE Certification

National certifications can be obtained by filing an application with the Women’s Business Enterprise National Counsel (www.wbenc.org). You should pursue a national WBE certification if you want to have large corporations as clients. Some large corporations will accept a state certification, so before you rush out and get a national certification, you should first check and see what is required by the specific corporations you want to have as clients. But many large corporations will want you to have a national certification from WBENC before they want to work with you. So if you plan to do a lot of business with various large corporations, then you should definitely consider a national certification.

For additional details on obtaining and leveraging WBE certifications, make sure you check out our FREE CD and video on obtaining a WBE certification.

FREE Certification Secrets CD and Training

We finally launched a new web site with lots of new content.  We heard a lot of feedback from our subscribers that our videos were good, but that reports that summarized the reports would be even better.  So we’ve created reports to correspond to all of the video series that we sent you in the past.  They include:

• The Business 2.0 Blueprint
• Grant Secrets Revealed
• Money From Washington (sell your goods and services to the U.S. government)
• The Power of Certifications (how to obtain and leverage minority, woman, and veteran-owned business certifications)
• Secrets from Hollywood (acting/presenting session we had with a Hollywood actress/voice-over professional)
• Marketing in a Web 2.0 World

Let us know what you think of the new site design, as well as the new reports.

P.S.  We also added some games (just for fun).  We all need to lighten up a bit from time to time and take a break.

PRESS RELEASE

“Jobs for Millions” Campaign Started by Two Attorneys to Combat U.S. Recession

Denise Gosnell and Jynell Berkshire, attorneys and co-founders of Innoventum, Inc., have announced the launch of the “Jobs for Millions” campaign designed to create 500,000 new American businesses and to help 500,000 existing American businesses grow.

Indianapolis, IN (PRWEB) December 19, 2008 - Denise Gosnell and Jynell Berkshire, attorneys and co-founders of Innoventum Inc. announce the creation and kick off of the “Jobs for Millions” campaign (http://www.jobsformillions.org/). To combat the staggering number of U.S. job losses and help stimulate the economy, “Jobs for Millions” plans to create 500,000 new American businesses and help 500,000 existing American businesses grow through a collective effort.

Denise Gosnell, business owner and attorney in the unique position of being both an advocate for the regular Joe looking for a job and also a high tech attorney for global software companies, states, “We need to create our own bailout.” She continues, “We can participate in the recession, or we can participate in growth and take our country back”.

To jump start the campaign, Innoventum is donating approximately $200,000 worth of business training and coaching products in the form of scholarships to 250 businesses spanning all 50 states, 50 of which will be brand new businesses started from scratch.

The business training products being donated include Innoventum’s newly-released BizFast training course on starting and operating a business, their soon-to-be-released BizCert training course on obtaining and leveraging minority, woman, and veteran-owned business certifications, and their soon-to-be-released BizMarketing training course. Existing and new business owners are encouraged to apply for the “Jobs for Millions” scholarships online at www.innoventum.com/scholarships.html.

Ms. Gosnell and Ms. Berkshire recognize the economic challenges squeezing the nation, but they also recognize the “power of one”. “Every American citizen and every American company can do at least ‘one thing’ to help another person or company in their community,” Ms. Berkshire adds. “With just a tiny bit of effort from everyone, we can create 500,000 new companies and help 500,000 existing companies grow and prosper.”

Along these lines, “Jobs for Millions” is asking each American citizen and American business to follow their lead and help stimulate the economy in any of the following ways:

Successful Businesses: Thriving businesses can add at least one new job that they had not otherwise planned on adding. If unable to afford to add a new job to their company, they can give away some of their products or services for free to one or more people, or offer some free training to their industry.
People with Existing Jobs: Current employees can give their employer or another business some extra work that they are not paid for. They can also donate time to a charity or talents to train others in their community. Or, they can start a business and work towards generating revenue and creating even more jobs.
Struggling Businesses: Companies that are struggling can still find a way to help others by giving away one or more of their products or services for free, or by providing free training in their industry.
Unemployed Workers: Unemployed workers can spend some part time hours helping another entity in their community who needs help but cannot afford to pay anyone. This can still be accomplished while seeking another job.
Senior Citizens or College Students: Those on fixed incomes can also help by donating time or talent to charities, homeless shelters, food banks, hospitals, or nursing homes.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that both the number of unemployed persons (10.3 million) and the unemployment rate (6.7 percent) continued to increase in November. Those numbers are expected to rise dramatically with the looming automotive industry bankruptcy. In fact, according to research conducted by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., bankruptcy for one or more U.S. auto-makers would result in the loss of up to 3.3 million jobs in the U.S. within the next year. Michigan alone could lose over 400,000 jobs. Production shutdown could impact as many as 147,000 jobs in Indiana (where Innoventum is headquartered). The report lists possible job losses in each state and the District of Columbia.

About Innoventum, Inc.

Frustrated by the lack of free and affordable resources for business owners and people looking to start and grow businesses, Innoventum, Inc. was founded in 2007 by two attorneys, Denise Gosnell and Jynell Berkshire. They founded Innoventum with the mission of creating the best business start up and growth products and services on the planet earth. Visit http://www.innoventum.com for more information.

Contact:
Denise Gosnell, President & CEO
Jynell Berkshire, Vice President
Innoventum, Inc.
888.579.9922
http://www.innoventum.com

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The link below for the business blueprint has changed. You can now get it and a lot of other goodies on our main page at:
http://www.innoventum.com

We are setting up a new film studio at our offices where we will regularly record great business content. We will start talking about them here too.

Let us know what type of stuff would be useful in your business or the growth of a brand new one!

-Denise

This is the very first post to our new Innoventum blog.