06/26/2012
With 17 years experience as a federal government contractor, NAWBO® member and The Management Edge Owner/President Gayle Waldron is familiar with the difficulties and inequities women-owned small businesses still face today. Through her work with NAWBO® and Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), Gayle has been instrumental in helping both the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Congress understand underlying issues and develop strategies to combat these inequities.
After experiencing feelings of frustration and isolation while starting her own company, Gayle gained an interest in tackling the challenges women in business encounter. Gayle became involved in NAWBO®, serving as her chapter’s public policy chair and a member of the Procurement Task Force. In the latter position, she contributed to the 2006 Task Force Report, which summarized the state of women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) and provided recommendations for reform. She is also on the board of WIPP and served as co-chair of their first Procurement Committee. Altogether, Gayle spent the past 10 years striving to attain government equity in procurement for women business owners.
Gayle has been particularly involved in the SBA's program to attain equity for WOSBs since its initial proposal. “It deviated significantly from the intent of the original law and added an onerous burden to the agencies which might implement it,” Gayle explains. The plan also failed to properly address disparities between businesses owned by men and women. She wanted to ensure that the program confronted the realities of federal procurement for WOSBs. According to Gayle, “NAWBO® and WIPP were instrumental in rallying support from women business owners to comment on the plan and with Congress to find ways to block the implementation.”
Gayle and fellow supporters dedicated more than a decade of work to create the final program, which takes steps in “leveling the playing field” for WOSBs. It allows businesses that are 51 percent owned and controlled by women a slight advantage in obtaining federal contracts. Requests for proposals can now be set aside for those who qualify to even out competition. Pricing advantages also give certified businesses a boost. While registering through sba.gov can be daunting, Gayle recommends consulting the resources NAWBO® and WIPP provide to facilitate the process.
Despite the long journey, she believes the new strategy will supply greater opportunities and compensate for disadvantages. It enables women to locate, qualify for and secure federal contracts with greater ease. It also educates government contracting officers on rectifying inequities and maintaining goals of allotting 5 percent of contracts to WOSBs. Gayle helped create a win-win situation: Women have greater access to business-boosting capital, and the government benefits from oft overlooked women expertise.
“The success should prove there are many fully competent WOSBs that can handle large and complicated contracts and deliver expertise and skills needed by our government,” she explains. Gayle hopes this success will encourage expansion into other programs, increase the amount set aside past 5 percent and eventually reach a point where contracts are inherently equitable and no mandates are needed.
Gayle believes joining organizations that support WOSBs, such as NAWBO® and WIPP, is the best method to overcome challenges such as procuring federal contracts, accessing health insurance and managing a work-life balance. “Women need the support of other women who are or have been struggling with the same issues in running a business, especially since we tend to be in charge of our households, as well.”
To Gayle, the resources these organizations offer are invaluable. The educational forum not only guides women, but also gives them the continued confidence to achieve their goals. “Opportunities are wonderful, but if you do not have the conviction and confidence that you can do what is required, you may not take advantage of the opportunities,” Gayle says.
Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. In addition to being honored recently at a luncheon commemorating the SBA’s Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program, she has won a Minority Enterprise Advocate magazine award as one of the 50 Women of Influence and Power in 2011, an Enterprising Women magazine award and several awards from Diversity Business.
Gayle finds it gratifying to help women condense the long learning process she endured to reach the success she has found today. “I am very proud of the contributions I have made to increase the chances women have to achieve their potential, including, of course, working to create an acceptable SBA implementation plan to further equity in contracting for women.”
