This April, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the ChallengeHER Campaign. The campaign is an exciting new initiative that leverages the resources of SBA, Women Impacting Public Policy, and American Express OPEN to promote the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program and bring more women-owned firms into the federal government’s supply chain.

Women owned small business are invited to join us on May 23 in Washington D.C. for a ChallengeHER summit. At this event, the federal government will share resources for small business owners and connect women-owned small businesses with the decision-makers and contract opportunities housed by our federal partners, both at the national level and in their local communities.  And by increasing our family of women-owned small businesses, government contracting officers will have a broader base to consider when making their purchasing decisions.

We’ll also be training women-owned small businesses on how to register in the System for Award Management, which serves as our government contracting portal for all small business owners that want to do business with the federal government, and learn about eligibility requirements for the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program, which allows contract set asides for women-owned small businesses in certain industries.

A robust supply chain of innovative small businesses makes our country more globally competitive, encourages more corporations to bring production back to the U.S., and helps create jobs here at home. Our goal, and the goal of the ChallengeHER Campaign, is to ensure that women-owned small businesses across the country have the access and opportunity they need to succeed.

Register today for the May 23 ChallengeHER event at the U.S. Department of Energy.