Members of the Council are selected by the Administrator after receiving the recommendations from the Council's Chairperson and the Ranking Members of the Committees on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Four members must be small business owners that are members of the same political party as the President and four must be small business owners that are not members of the same political party as the President. Six members must be representatives of women's business organizations.

There are many women's business organizations and associations you might consider joining, depending on your needs and goals. See the "Links" section, which lists many of these organizations.

Alternatively, you can visit the Online Women's Business Center at www.onlinewbc.gov , which offers resources and support to women entrepreneurs, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Supported by the SBA's network of women's business centers, this free, interactive Web site provides business training and assistance, market research, financial information and resources, worldwide networking, chats and bulletin boards, links to countless business resources and related sites, mentoring and individual counseling.

Each SBA district office also has a women's business ownership representative who helps women entrepreneurs access the SBA's programs and services. They work closely with the Office of Women's Business Ownership and the women's business centers. As needed, they also refer clients to SBA resource partners and often know about local programs to assist entrepreneurs. To locate the OWBO representative nearest you, visit www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/ .

Finally, the SBA's Small Business Development Centers, nearly 1,100 nationwide, provide management and technical assistance, counseling, and training to current and prospective small business owners. The development centers are a cooperative effort of the private sector, the educational community, and federal, state, and local governments to help small businesses start and grow. To locate the SBDC nearest you, visit www.sba.gov/sbdc .

The National Women's Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC) is another private certification organization. NWBOC has launched a national certification program for women-owned and controlled businesses as an alternative to the multiple state and local certifications required by many public and private-sector agencies or prime contractors. Visit www.nwboc.org for more information about this program.

Additionally, there are several federal certification programs that can help women-owned businesses receive federal contracts or subcontracts. See question 6 for more information about these programs.

The 8(a) Program
The 8(a) Program is the first and best known of the SBA's contracting-related certification programs. This nine-year program provides business development assistance to all its participants. Some of the participants also receive federal contracts reserved for the 8(a) program through sole source or limited competition awards. Each year, millions of dollars in 8(a) contracts are awarded to program participants.

To learn more about or apply for the 8(a) program, visit http://www.sba.gov/8abd/ or call your nearest SBA district office. You can locate this office by calling the SBA's Answer Desk at 1-800-827-5722. Almost all SBA district offices also have regularly scheduled presentations about applying to the 8(a) program.

The SDB Program
The SDB Program is a related SBA program, though it is much newer than the 8(a) program. Being certified in this three-year program is easier than in the 8(a) program. (Firms certified as 8(a) participants are automatically also certified immediately as SDB firms.) The SDB program is open to many startup businesses because there is no requirement that a firm first establish a "potential for success." There is no business development provided by the SBA to participants in the SDB program and there are no set-aside contracts.

However, there are some very real contracting benefits for SDB certified firms. Most of the benefits go to the SDB firms in about 50 industries in which minority small businesses have been historically under-represented in government contracting. In full and open procurements, SDB firms, when bidding as primes, also receive a price evaluation adjustment.

To learn about other benefits of the SDB program and how to apply, visit the program's Web site at www.sba.gov/sdb .

The Department of Defense's (DOD) Procurement Technical Assistance Cooperative Centers (PTAC)
The Department of Defense's (DOD) Procurement Technical Assistance Cooperative Centers (PTAC) provide assistance to businesses in marketing goods and/or services to the Federal, state and local governments. You can learn more about this program by visiting the PTAC Web site at www.dla.mil/db .

The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Certification Program Offered by the Department of Transportation
The Department of Transportation (DOT) certifies all eligible women and minority owned firms. Women-owned firms do not have to be determined to be socially disadvantaged to be eligible. There are a number of benefits from this certification if the applicant firm can act as a prime or subcontractor to DOT. There are, however, more than 500 certifying organizations for DOT. The certification program is administered through individual state organizations and other local organizations.

To learn more about this program and how to apply, visit http://osdbuweb.dot.gov/business/dbe/ , or phone 202-366-4754 or 202-366-4070 for more information.

The HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program
The HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program is a place-based Federal contracting program. This relatively new program has been designed to bring contracting dollars into areas of low income or high unemployment. The term HUBZones is derived from "Historically Under-utilized Business." Only those businesses that are in one of the many HUBZones around the country and meet the other program criteria qualify.

To learn more about this program and how to apply, visit www.sba.gov/hubzone , email HUBZone@sba.gov , or phone 202-205-8885.

We first suggest you visit www.womenbiz.gov, a gateway for women-owned businesses selling to the federal government. Whether you are just starting to think about bidding on your first government contract or you are submitting your tenth proposal, there are key pieces of information about selling to the federal government that can be useful to you at any stage of your business. Womenbiz.gov is hosted and maintained by the National Women's Business Council and is organized to target the five specific stages that a woman business owner should go through as she begins to explore whether the federal government is the right customer for her business.

You might also visit www.FirstGov.gov , an easy-to-search Web site designed to give you a centralized place to find information from U.S. local, state and federal government agency Web sites. FirstGov also offers a powerful search engine and an index of Web-accessible government information and services to help you find what you need. You should also visit the "Links to Other Resources" page on our Web site, as it includes this site and other helpful sites in the procurement section.

Finally, the SBA recently unveiled a new Internet gateway to help small businesses find, understand and comply with laws and regulations. Business.gov ( www.business.gov ) offers several innovative, interactive features that allow businesses to complete online transactions with federal, state, and local governments.

There are several organizations and government agencies collecting research and information on women business owners in addition to the facts and statistics you will find on this Web site. In particular, we suggest you visit:

• Center for Women's Business Research ( www.womensbusinessresearch.org )
• U.S. Census Bureau: The Survey of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises - 1997 ( www.census.gov/csd/mwb/ )
• The U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, ( www.sba.gov/advo )

For a list of other informative sources, visit the " Links" section of our Web site and click on "Research/Statistics."

There are many ways you can be involved in making an impact for women business owners. Consider joining a women's business organization that focuses on public policy initiatives and recommendations for women's entrepreneurship, such as Women Entrepreneurs, Inc. ( www.we-inc.org or 202-785-0238) or Women Impacting Public Policy (www.wipp.org or 1-888-368-5759). You might also contact the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) to find your local NAWBO chapter ( www.nawbo.org or 703-506-3268).

Also remember to visit our Web site frequently for updates on legislative activities in women's entrepreneurship and/or the small business arena. And most importantly, contact us anytime with your feedback and input on how we can best continue to advocate for women business owners across the country.