Monday Linkblogging

• Here's an article with the basics on microenterprise and how to access government programs. Don't know where the article comes from, but it points to a resources newsletter for microentrepreneurs.

• Newsday.com reports unenthusiastically that New York will be doing another study on women and minority contractors.

During the Cuomo administration, the state issued a report that found, among other things, that companies owned by black women obtained less than 1 percent of state contracts, one of the lowest percentages of any group. As a result, in 1994 a group of black entrepreneurs established Black Women Enterprises in Hempstead, a technical-support group for black women in businesses.

But 13 years later, the problem of unequal access still exists, Black Women Enterprises president Gina Slater-Parker said in an interview.

"The resources are not really out there to promote access," she said. "And we have seen them dwindle over the years." She said she puts the blame on the larger prime contractors who obtain the state work and then fail to give equal treatment to women and minority subcontractors.

"They can do a study every year, and there will not be any new results," she said. "The bottom line is that you have to put teeth in contract enforcement."

• If you're a woman business owner in Jacksonville, you might want to check this out:

The Jacksonville AthenaPowerLink program is accepting applications through the end of the month from female entrepreneurs who want to be in the program. The program, which was started in Pittsburgh in 1992, connects women business owners with a panel of unpaid advisers who work with the owner for a year to meet business goals.
The business must be at least two years old and past startup problems, have at least two employees and have annual revenue of at least $250,000 for retail or manufacturing businesses or $100,000 for service businesses. Applications are available at the Jacksonville Women's Business Center.

• WaPo reports that online check and credit card fraud has become a huge problem for small biz owners, especially since they must rely so heavily on internet sales. 25% of survey respondent reported that they had been victims of fraud. The most interesting item of the survey was reported without comment:

Of the 500 southeastern small business owners surveyed, men were significantly more likely than women to report that their business has been the victim of fraud.

• And finally, for November's Women in Business Month, Women at Light Speed will be podcasting interviews with women business leaders.