U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao

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As Delivered

Womens’ Entrepreneurship in the 21^st Century Summit
Tampa, Florida
September 23, 2003

Thank you, Lt. Gov. Jennings. You are doing a great job for Florida!

I’d also like to thank Hector Barreto, Administrator of the Small Business Administration, our co-sponsor today and our partner for these women’s entrepreneurship summits, the local organizing committee and to all the great women who made this event possible.

We’ve planned an exciting agenda for you and I hope you are having a good time. There are some great speakers here today:

We have Tami Longaberger, President and CEO of The Longaberger Company, based in Newark, Ohio. It is a family owned business started by her father and carried on by Tami and her sister. They make beautiful handmade baskets; you’ve got to see one!

We also have Cinda Hallman, CEO of Spherion. Kellyanne Conway, President and CEO of The Polling Company. And, Suzy DeFrancis, Deputy Assistant to the President for Communications. I also want to thank Terry Neese, President and CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy and Susan Phillips Bari, President of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

Our country needs the entrepreneurial energy, creativity and dreams of women entrepreneurs. On top of all that you do, you create hope and opportunity and jobs for so many people.

Women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms, employing over 9 million workers and generating more than a trillion dollars annually in revenue.

And women-owned businesses are not only growing in number, they’re growing in strength. From 1997 to 2000, women-owned businesses with $1 million or more in revenue grew 31 percent, while their male-owned counterparts grew by just 19 percent.

Many of the new women-owned businesses are in so-called non-traditional industries, such as construction, finance and transportation. In fact, several of our breakout sessions this afternoon feature women who run construction and paving companies.

They are proof that nothing is off-limits to the limitless talents of women in Florida!

Today, I’d like to talk about what this Administration is doing to help you grow your businesses and achieve your dreams.

But first, let me say that we are very focused on improving the economic recovery. If you recall, the stock market peaked in March 2000; manufacturing went into the doldrums in August 2000, and this Administration took office when our country was already in a recession. We were coming out of the recession when the devastating attacks of September 11^th dealt serious setbacks to our economy. Florida’s travel and tourism industry suffered, although it’s coming back.

That’s why passage of the President’s first tax cut was important. It made the recession shorter and shallower. Though the economy is recovering, we are not satisfied with its pace. To get the economy moving faster, the President fought hard for the jobs and growth plan that he signed this year.

Many of the features of the President’s plan were specifically designed to help small businesses, such as increasing the equipment expense allowance, slashing your overall tax burden, and reducing the tax on dividend income in order to create more investment capital. As a result of the President’s Jobs and Growth plan, we are seeing encouraging signs of growth.

The economy grew at a much stronger rate in the second quarter than expected. And analysts predict we are on track to double that growth rate in the third and fourth quarters of this year.

Retail sales are trending up. Housing starts are at a 17-year high. Interest rates are at a 40-year low. Productivity growth is at an astounding 6.8 percent annualized rate. And even the much-battered high-tech sector is making a comeback.

But this Administration will not be satisfied until every worker who wants a job can find one.

For entrepreneurs, recently improved economic indicators spell greater opportunity. We want to help you access the capital you need, so you can grow your businesses and create more jobs. That’s why the President has a 6-point plan, a full agenda for the creation of jobs in America, to ensure a full economic recovery that leaves no one behind.

It includes:

• Making health care costs more affordable.
• Reducing the lawsuit burden on your businesses and our economy.
• Ensuring an affordable, reliable energy supply.
• Streamlining government regulations, especially for small businesses.
• Opening up new markets for American products.
• Enabling families and businesses to plan for the future by making the temporary tax cuts permanent.

Let me highlight a few of these initiatives that are especially relevant to you as small business owners.

First, the rising cost of health care insurance has hit many employers and working families hard. But nowhere is this more apparent than for America’s small businesses. That’s why this Administration has made Association Health Plans (AHP) a top priority.

As you know, AHP’s would allow small-businesses to band together nationally, pool your resources and purchase health insurance at more affordable rates. Studies show that AHP’s could save subscribers as much as 25 percent on health insurance costs and help as many as eight million uninsured Americans obtain coverage.

AHP’s would reduce many of the barriers that currently prevent small businesses from offering health insurance, while ensuring that consumer protections are strongly enforced.

The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would pave the way for AHP’s and the President is a strong supporter. The last piece left to fall in place is Senate action and we are working hard to achieve this affordable care break through for you and your employees.

You can count on this Administration to find other ways to help women succeed, as well.

President George W. Bush issued an Executive Order mandating competition in government services and contracts. It calls for the unbundling large federal contracts whenever possible.

At the Department of Labor, we’re ahead of the curve—we do not bundle procurements. In fact, last December we established a new procedure in advance of the federal regulations on bundling to prevent it from happening in the first place. We are committed to ensuring that your businesses have a level playing field to compete for these lucrative opportunities.

I’m also very proud of the fact that the Labor Department has surpassed the congressional mandate and last year awarded more than five percent of its $1.64 billion procurement dollars to women-owned small businesses. That’s $84 million in new contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses. You can learn about federal procurement opportunities at this conference or by contacting the Labor Department’s Office of Small Business Programs through our women-21.gov website.

The Labor Department and the Small Business Administration jointly launched this website. It is specifically designed for women entrepreneurs like you. It is a one-stop-shopping portal for information on procurement, access to capital, health insurance and retirement security.

An important resource on this portal is a new interactive web-based tool—the First Step Employment Law Advisor. It will help entrepreneurs like you understand our nation’s more than 180 employment laws. By clicking onto this tool and answering a few questions, you can learn which of the major employment laws apply to you and how to comply with them.

This is part of our commitment to streamline government regulations and reduce the burden of lawsuits that are hampering your ability to grow.

In that respect, I’d like to touch upon one area of legal reform that has gotten a lot of attention lately—the Department’s proposal to modernize the regulations determining which white collar workers must be paid overtime. There are many overtime regulations—this is not one of the main regulations governing overtime. This regulation concerns white-collar workers only.

This issue is important to you. If your business has two or more employees and revenues of over $500,000—or if your activities involve interstate commerce—you are impacted by these regulations.

You should know, however, that these regulations haven’t been updated in more than 50 years. They describe a workplace populated by “straw bosses,” keypunch operators and “legmen”—all jobs that no longer exist.

The regulations are so confusing and unclear that it’s easy to make honest mistakes when trying to apply them. Even large corporations, which can afford to hire the best legal talent, often spend years in litigation over this issue. These outdated regulations are the main reason why class action law suits regarding overtime now outnumber class action discrimination lawsuits in the workplace.

The Department has proposed changes that update and clarify the white-collar overtime regulations so that they can be easier to understand and comply. You, as employers, would know your responsibilities upfront. Employees will get their overtime immediately, without having to go to the courts, or to the government, where recourse and recovery take a long time.

Unfortunately, these much-needed reforms have been subjected to a massive disinformation campaign—including television attack ads—funded by advocacy groups.

They falsely claim that nurses, firefighters, policemen, first responders and other would lose their overtime. These workers would not lose overtime. In addition, anyone who is a union member would not be affected by these changes because their wages and benefits are determined through collective bargaining. And 1.3 million low-wage, vulnerable workers would gain overtime protections under the Department’s proposals.

Attempts have been made to stop the Department’s effort to clarify these regulations. We prevailed in the House but lost in the Senate. But the story is not over yet—we will continue to fight for these important reforms for America’s workforce.

You need to know about these outdated regulations because the lawsuits they invite affect small, as well as large, businesses.

Our proposals to modernize outdated laws and regulations, curb law suit abuse, stimulate new investment capital and create affordable health care options are just a few of the ways in which this Administration is working with you.

This Administration is committed to helping women entrepreneurs access new opportunities, grow your businesses and create more jobs. That commitment is reflected not only in the initiatives we pursue, but in the record number of women the President has appointed to key positions in his Administration.

The President appointed the first American women of Asian descent in our country’s history to serve in the cabinet. I have two women colleagues in the cabinet—Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Agriculture Secretary Ann Venneman. And of course, national Security Advisor Dr. Condoleeza Rice is one of the President’s top advisors, as well as Margaret Spellings, Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy.

At the Department of Labor, a full 50% of the top leadership is women—this gender parity is more than any other cabinet department in the administration and a record in the history of our country.

We don’t just talk about women’s progress—we make it happen!

The gains that women have made—in our economy and in public life—could not have been achieved without hard work and sacrifice and the paths that women before us blazed. Today, you’ll hear from other successful women, the lessons they have learned and how we can help one another.

You are part of the powerful engine of growth of the American economy. But, more than what you contribute monetarily to our economy, you create hope, opportunity and empowerment for millions of other men and women.

And, we thank you! Please enjoy the conference. God bless you and God bless America!

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