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Washington Watch
April 9, 2003
NASE Board Member Gives Tips on Balancing Work and
Home
Entrepreneur, business owner, author, speaker and
mother Shonda Parker talked to other women
micro-business owners about balancing work and family
life at the Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century
conference in Philadelphia, Pa., last week. Parker
gave advice and tips that have helped her juggle her
nutrition consulting business and seven children,
ranging in age from 15 to three months.
“Discovering ways to blend work and family leads to a
happier mom, which leads to a happier family, which
leads to overall stress reduction, improved
productivity in both worlds, and a wider business
market and generational vision,” said Parker, who
resides in Monroe, La.
Parker, also a member of the Board of Directors for
the National Association for the Self-Employed, gave
these tips:
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Establish boundaries for work and home by making time
guidelines for clients and family and sticking to
them, following through with family and clients, and
reserving a workspace just for work.
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Create an “Entrepreneurial Greenhouse” for the
children by sharing work with them, involving them in
business decisions and introducing them to fellow
entrepreneurs.
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Give and receive by connecting with other
entrepreneurs, helping others’ businesses grow and
going beyond mutual “back scratching” business
relationships.
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“I don’t feel good when I miss important moments in
our family life,” Parker told the conference
attendees, “yet I worry about dropping the ball with
my clients when I take time off for the family.” These
tips and guidelines can help establish enough of a
separation between work and family even when your
office is located in your home, she said. According to
the National Women’s Business Center and Women’s
Business Network, women own approximately 66 percent
of all home-based businesses. An estimated 6.2 million
women-owned firms in the U.S. employ 9.2 million
people and generate $1.15 trillion in sales.
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The
Department of Labor and
Small
Business Administration hosted the Women
Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century conference on
April 3, and the NASE was a sponsor. Over 2,000 women
from the Philadelphia area attended the event,
networked and attended panel discussions such as
Parker’s.
Magazine Names Rep. Velazquez Hispanic Woman of the Year
Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), ranking
member of the House Small Business Committee, was named Woman of
the Year by Hispanic Business Magazine. The magazine’s award
recognizes Congresswoman Velázquez for her national influence in
both the political and business sectors and for her longtime
support of minority enterprise.
“One of my top priorities in Congress is to ensure that the
voice of small business, including minority-owned businesses, is
heard,” Rep. Velázquez said. “They are the backbone of the
American economy, and women, especially Latinas, are opening
businesses in record numbers today. There is still much work to
be done, but I know that they are our future and I will continue
to fight for them.”
In 1992, Rep. Velázquez was the first Puerto Rican woman elected
to the U.S. House of Representatives and has numerous
small-business legislative priorities, encompassing the areas of
tax regulations, access to capital, federal contracting
opportunities, trade, technology, health care and pension
reform, among others.
For more information on the Hispanic Business Magazine award, or
to view the 80 Elite Hispanic Women also honored, visit
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/.
House Small Business Committee Minority Web site
Legislative Updates
Section 179 Expensing:
The
House Small Business Committee Subcommittee on Tax, Finance and
Exports held a hearing last week on Internal Revenue Code
Section 179, expensing for small businesses. Currently, Section
179 allows small businesses to expense $25,000 in equipment
costs for purchases up to $200,000 a year. President Bush’s
economic stimulus plan proposes increasing the expensing limit
to $75,000 and the threshold limit to $375,000 a year.
Subcommittee chairman Pat Toomey (R-PA), supports the increase.
“Increasing these limits will provide small businesses greater
incentive to invest in and grow their businesses,” Toomey said.
Tell the NASE how an increase in
expensing would help your business.
AHP Bill Markup
The Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee of the
House Education and the Workforce Committee marked up the
Association Health Plan bill proposed in February. The mark up
process allows the Democrats and Republicans on the subcommittee
to work out differences before sending the bill to the full
committee for a vote. The bill,
H.R. 660, would allow groups to band together to purchase
health coverage across state lines. This would increase
purchasing clout and competition in the small group insurance
market, and therefore lower costs and administrative
inefficiencies for the self-employed and micro-businesses. Urge
your member of Congress to support AHPs at
http://advocacy.nase.org.
Click here to share your
health care horror stories with the NASE.
SBDC Regulatory Help Pilot Program
The House of
Representatives passed H.R. 205 this week, a bill that would
establish regulatory help pilot programs in 20
Small
Business Development Centers across the country. The
National Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act, proposed by
Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY), would set up regulatory compliance
assistance at SBDCs, encourage Federal agencies to increase
outreach efforts to small businesses and provide a feedback
mechanism to those agencies. Urge your Senator to support the
Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act at
http://advocacy.nase.org/.
Tell the NASE your regulatory compliance problems
here.
Postal Service Rates
The House of Representatives is expected to vote to change the
way the U.S.
Postal Service calculates employees’ retirement benefits.
While H.R. 735 does not seem to affect small businesses at first
glance, it actually will have a huge impact on the cost of doing
business. The bill directs the USPS to use money saved in the
retirement recalculations to refrain from raising mailing rates
until 2006. The Senate already passed the Postal Civil Service
Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003 (under bill number
S. 380), which will help the self-employed and micro-businesses
save money on marketing and shipping costs.
Scam Alert! Solicitors Who Imply Links With SBA
The
U.S. Small
Business Administration cautions small businesses to be wary
of telephone callers who imply that they are connected with the
agency and ask for financial or personal data or for fees for
products or membership. If you are contacted by anyone claiming
to represent a private entity identified as “SBA,” or an entity
with a name suggestive of the Small Business Administration,
please contact the SBA Office of Inspector General and provide
that office with the details of any such contact. Contact SBA,
Office of Inspector General, 409 Third Street, S.W., 7th Floor,
Washington, D.C. 20416; (202) 205-6586 (phone); (202) 205- 7382
(fax); oig@sba.gov.
Do any of these issues
affect you? Do you want to be proactive in helping the
micro-business community? Visit the NASE Legislative
Action Center and be a
Small
Business Crusader. Members of Congress appreciate
hearing from their constituents. Letting your members
know how you feel on an issue puts strength behind the
NASE’s legislative agenda.
For more information about any of the articles in
Washington Watch, contact Maureen Petron, NASE public
affairs manager, at (202) 466-2100 or
mpetron@nase.org.
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