WPEO DC ANNOUNCES CONTINUED UPTICK IN BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISES

This annual event showcases winners of the Done Deals™ Challenge -- representing contracts completed with certified women’s business enterprises from April 2018 through March 2019. Ten of the 37 corporations reported Done Deals worth over $184 million dollars. These awards help measure the impact WPEO has achieved in increasing business opportunities and contracting activity -- between WBEs doing business with each other, as well as with WBEs and WPEO’s Corporate Members.

Being officially certified as a woman-owned supplier can result in opportunities previously inaccessible to women’s business enterprises (WBEs). WPEO provides WBENC certification, the most widely-recognized and respected third-party national certification for WBEs in the U.S. WPEO serves two northeast regions: WPEO-DC (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia) and WPEO-NY (New York State, Northern and Central New Jersey -- through Trenton -- and counties on the Southern Connecticut shoreline – including Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex and New London).

The 2019 Done Deals Award Winners are:

• Corporate Opportunity Award – Dominion Energy
• Corporate Opportunity Award – Sodexo, Inc.
• Corporate Champion Award – Freddie Mac
• Done Deals Champion – Soft Stuff Distributors
• Done Deals Connection – 12POINTFIVE
• Public Sector Award - Montgomery County

“Moving an enterprise into the digital era requires a new, disruptive way of thinking, driven by the application of cutting-edge technologies. Customer data and analytics are key enablers of disruption. To effectively monetize datasets collected we need to understand how enterprises create and consume data and what insights can be gained to create differentiation and innovation,” said Eliseo T. Rojas, CEO and Founder, ETR Business Solutions, Inc., and Board Chair, Women Presidents’ Educational Organization.

“The digital era is not just about improving productivity, doing more with less and reducing costs. Women entrepreneurs need to look at new business models and sources of revenue. They also need to forge new relationships with their customers and competitors, with a laser focus on data as one of the key drivers of success,” said Dr. Marsha Firestone, President & Founder, WPEO.

About the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization
The Women Presidents' Educational Organization (WPEO) is a regional affiliate of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation's premier third-party certification organization for women-owned businesses. According to Sandra Eberhard, Executive Director, WPEO DC, “The mission of the WPEO is to create increased access to business opportunities for WBEs. Its programs develop skills and knowledge of WBEs, advocate in the public and private sectors, foster relationships between WBEs, corporations and the government, and provide certification services.”

WPEO provides full-service third-party certification to women entrepreneurs in the New York, Northern New Jersey, Southern Connecticut and the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas. WPEO is incorporated in the state of New York and is recognized as a 501(c) (3) organization. For more information please visit www.wpeo.us.

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