As members of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners bestow yearly awards next week, they’ll also celebrate passage of a 30-year-old federal law that has enabled countless women to start or expand their own businesses.
Today’s NAWBO members are surprised to learn that the law eliminated state laws requiring women to have a male relative or husband co-sign a business loan, said Mary Quist-Newins, a NAWBO-MN past president and president and founder of Moneyweave, a Minneapolis-based independent financial planning company.
They’re also surprised, Quist-Newins said, that the change didn’t come about until 1988, when President Ronald Reagan signed the Women’s Business Ownership Act, or H.R. 5050, into law.
The legislation came about from the efforts of NAWBO members and other women business owners “who saw disparities and inequities with regards to loans, access to loans and being able to achieve a loan without having a male co-signer, even a minor son,” Quist-Newins said. “Nineteen eighty-eight is not that far back.”
Minnesota chapter founder Marlene Johnson, a former state lieutenant governor, was among those pushing for the change, said Mary Nutting, the current president of NAWBO-MN. NAWBO was founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C., and has produced an H.R. 5050 white paper. The Minnesota chapter, the first and today the largest with 130 members, was founded in 1977.
Despite the law’s passage, women business owners still face hurdles in seeking capital, Quist-Newins said. Just 14 percent of U.S. Small Business Administration Loans went to women-owned businesses, representing only 4 percent of the money lent, she said. The numbers are similar for conventional bank loans and only 2 percent of venture capital dollars go to women business owners.
“Access to capital still remains a barrier,” Quist-Newins said, noting that women are majority owners of 10 million to 13 million U.S. businesses.
The Women’s Business Ownership Act also created the National Women’s Business Council, which researches policies to expand and improve opportunities for women business owners, Quist-Newins said.
Nutting, owner and president of CorTalent, a Minnetonka-based recruitment and retention consulting company, said the chapter this year created the Marlene Johnson Award to celebrate the 30th anniversary of H.R. 5050’s passage.
“It’s a great time to reflect on where the organization has come from and where we are today,” Nutting said.
The Marlene Johnson Award winner is Marnie Ochs-Raleigh, CEO of Evolve Systems, a branding, design, digital marketing and website development company based in St. Paul. Ochs-Raleigh, past president of the state NAWBO chapter, expanded membership and sponsorship and “has done a lot to bring NAWBO to that next level,” Nutting said.
NAWBO-MN is focusing on working women business owners who are in the growth and expansion stage, Nutting said. One goal is to attract more owners whose companies have yearly gross revenue of more than $1 million. Some 60 percent of owners do now, while the chapter average nationally is 5 percent, she said.
NAWBO members “help each other whether it’s doing business with one another, bringing each other into our clients’ organizations or just being there as a sounding board,” Nutting said.
One difference from other organizations is that NAWBO also pursues public policy issues, such as the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act, Nutting said.
“We’re bipartisan but it’s all about getting women in Congress and women business owners in Congress to support laws and areas that will help propel our businesses and eventually the economy,” Nutting said.
This year’s winners of NAWBO-MN’s Achieve! Awards are:
- Women Business Owner of the Year: Kasey Worrell Hatzung, principal and owner, Fusion Hill, Minneapolis.
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Jo Reinhardt, CEO and president, Industrial Louvers Inc., Delano.
- Marlene Johnson Legacy Award: Marnie Ochs-Raleigh, CEO, Evolve Systems, St. Paul.
- Disrupter of the Year: Lori Bauer, president, Climate Makers Inc., Brooklyn Center.
- Advocate Award: Amalia Moreno-Damgaard, author, culinary consultant and speaker, Amalia LLC, Minneapolis.
- Established Woman Business Owner: Heide Olson, founder and CEO, All in One Accounting, Eagan.
- Founder of the Year: Alexis Walsko, founder, CEO, Lola Red PR, Minneapolis.
- Generational Award: Heidi Gesell, president and CEO, BankCherokee, St. Paul.
- Innovation Award: Maia Haag, co-founder and president, I See Me!, Eden Prairie.
- Emerging Women Business Owner: Nicole Anthony, CEO, TheSiteEdge, Minneapolis.
- Member of the Year: Mary Albright, founder, Mary Albright Consulting, Circle Pines.
- Partner of the Year: Sunrise Banks, St. Paul.
The NAWBO Achieve! Gala
When: Tuesday, Oct. 23. Reception, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.; “Toast with Winners,” 6:15 p.m.; dinner and program, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: Midpoint Event Center, St. Paul.
Details: Tickets for the event are available at https://nawbomn.regfox.com/achieve-awards-102318
