The adage that “the whole is
bigger than the sum of its parts”
has never been more relevant than
in today’s business landscape. The
worlds of corporations, government agencies, minority and
women’s business enterprises (M/
WBEs) are humming with innovation and eagerness to work
together toward creating a more
robust economy.
T h e Women’s Business
Enterprise National Council
(WBENC) stands at the intersection of corporate and govern- Pamela Prince-Eason
ment buyers and WBE suppliers. We play a vital
role in identifying and preparing WBEs to compete
for corporate and government business: we vet these
businesses as 51 percent women-owned and operated. We facilitate their development as sophisticated providers of valuable goods and services. And
we provide them with vital access to the corporate
and government marketplaces.
WBENC brings our corporate and government
members together with our WBENC-certified
WBEs to do business in productive and collaborative ways. This
goal inspires the theme for our
organization’s work—to “Join
Forces. Succeed Together.”
To do this, WBENC makes it
a priority to understand what the
buyers—our members—are looking for. We are actively engaged
in strategic conversations with
them and have assembled a Chief
Procurement Officer Advisory
Board to help us understand their
needs: What are their business
imperatives? How can M/WBE
suppliers help them offer superior products, respond
to changing customer demand, and enhance their
efficiencies?
Our corporate and government members want
to be engaged in strategic, innovative collaboration. They know that by working together—with
WBENC and with our certified WBEs—that
they can create new sources of revenues and new
solutions to their business challenges. The result is
to enhance our members’ reach and impact, and to
MBE
May/June 2013
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