Save the Date! FirmUp Weekend March 22nd-24th + $20 Off!

SAVE the DATE!
MARCH 22nd - 24th
http://firmupweekend.com
What is FirmUp Weekend?

FirmUp WeekendT is a CLE pending program and the product of a group brainstorm and inspiration from Startup Weekend presented by Benjamin's Desk (http://benjaminsdesk.com)   (http://benjaminsdesk.com/index.php) and Hire an Esquire (https://hireanesquire.com) .

During FirmUp WeekendT, lawyers will exercise their entrepreneurial and collaborative muscles while further sharpening the traditional legal skills of advocacy, case building and thinking on their feet before judges. Of course there's an asterisk. Lawyers performing open arguments will be convincing other lawyers to join their law firm -- which must be a novel concept that tackles an unorthodox new market of makes legal services accessible. Over the course of the weekend, lawyers will learn practice management basics to further shape and build the case for their firm before convincing a panel of judges of its merits.
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WEEKEND AGENDA

Friday 6PM: Opening Reception & Team Draft
Saturday 8:30AM-4:30PM: Workshop Day & CLE Program
Pending 6 credit hours. 5 hours of substantive credit and 1 hour of ethics credit.
Sunday 10AM-11:30AM: Brunch, Firm Pitches & Cross Argument

REGISTER NOW! (http://firmupweekend.com)
Take $20 off through 3/16
Space is limited
Meet our FirmUp Judges!

Justice Jane Cutler Greenspan

Justice Jane Cutler Greenspan currently works for JAMS. She served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 2008-2009, 20 years as a Judge in the Trial Division of the Court of Common Pleas, and more than 10 years as an Assistant District Attorney where she served as Chief of the Domestic Violence Unit and Chief of Superior Court Appeals.

Michael B. Hayes

Michael B. Hayes is a partner in the Litigation Department and co-chair of MMWR's Electronic Discovery practice.  Mr. Hayes' practice concentrates on commercial litigation, government and corporate investigations with a particular focus in the area of pharmaceuticals and related life sciences.  Mr. Hayes is frequently called upon by clients and colleagues to provide legal expertise, consultation and recommendations concerning electronic discovery issues.  He is a frequent speaker and writer on cutting-edge legal issues and technologies in electronic discovery, and takes great pride in safely and successfully navigating clients through the discovery process.

Lenny Kravets

Lenny is a patent attorney at Panitch, Schwarze, Belisario and Nadel, LLP in Philadelphia, PA. He focuses his practice on patent prosecution and intellectual property transactional law, including the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, preparing patentability and infringement opinions, conducting intellectual property due diligence investigations and providing litigation support for patent cases.

Lenny is active in the Philadelphia tech and start-up communities and has been a founder and an advisor to numerous technology startups and entrepreneurs. He is also an inventor on numerous patents and pending patent applications.

Think you have what it takes?
REGISTER HERE NOW (http://firmupweekend.com)

TAKE $20 OFF THROUGH 3/16!
Space is limited

Get more information and register at www.firmupweekend.com (http://firmupweekend.com)
To request additional information, sponsorship opportunities or questions email firmup@benjaminsdesk.com(mailto:firmup@benjaminsdesk.com?subject=RSVP)  or call 267.765.2070

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Women's History Month: A Bright Future For Women-Owned Small Businesses

By: Karen Mills, SBA Administrator

Today, women-owned businesses are the fastest-growing segment of new businesses in our economy.

In fact, an analysis by American Express suggests that the number of women-owned businesses has risen by 200,000 over the past year alone, which is equivalent to just under 550 new women-owned firms created each day.

Regardless of how you slice the data, we know that this trend is growing and that women are over-indexing in entrepreneurship.

As Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), I travel all around the country meeting with small business owners and entrepreneurs. I see how their businesses are transforming their industries and rebuilding their communities following the economic downturn.

These are businesses like UEC Electronics in South Carolina. Rebecca Ufkes, an engineer and the company's president, is laser focused on growing her successful electronics manufacturing business. She is supplying products to major manufacturers, such as Boeing, Cummins Engine Co, as well as the U.S. Marines and Air Force. And she is creating good American manufacturing jobs in the process.

UEC employs 194 workers, an increase of 49 percent since August 2011. And Rebecca is part of a growing American supply chain of innovative small businesses that is driving large multinational manufacturers to bring more production back to the U.S.

However, today, many women-owned entrepreneurs face what we call the "missing middle."

For example, take my home state of Maine. According to the most recent census data, men owned 54 percent of businesses in Maine and women owned 26 percent of businesses in the state (the remaining were co-owned). However, when you look at the receipts of these businesses, women-owned businesses lagged behind, capturing only 7 percent of receipts, compared to 78 percent of receipts earned by men-owned firms. There is a similar trend occurring in states across the country.

Clearly, women-owned firms are growing greater in numbers, but challenges persist in scaling their operations and garnering market share.

At the SBA, we have the proven tools needed to bridge that missing middle. And to ensure that all entrepreneurs have the tools they need to grow their businesses, reach new markets and realize their full potential.

Access to Capital

According to the Urban Institute, SBA loans are 3 to 5 times more likely to go to women and minority owned businesses than conventional loans. And since President Obama took office, SBA has supported more than $12 billion in lending through more than 35,000 SBA loans to women-owned businesses.

Contracting

At the SBA, one of our priorities is making sure that more qualified women-owned, veteran-owned and minority-owned small businesses have access to government and commercial supply chain opportunities. That's why we put into place the Women's Contracting Rule, which means that for the first time federal agencies can set aside contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses in over 300 industries where women are underrepresented. Congress gave SBA this authority in 2000, but it was never implemented. Under President Obama's leadership, we have made it a priority-and have gotten it done. And recently we expanded the limits to ensure that women-owned businesses are eligible for larger government contracts.

Counseling

Our Office of Women's Business Ownership oversees a national network of 106 Women's Business Centers (WBCs) that support women who want to start or grow their business.  We're connecting with more women every day and, in FY 2012 alone, we counseled and trained more than 136,000 women entrepreneurs.

This month, as part of Women's History Month, we're excited to announce another new counseling resource called "Encore Entrepreneurship for Women: An Introduction to Starting Your Own Business." It is designed specifically for female "encore entrepreneurs," who are over the age of 50 and ready to start a business as the next chapter of their careers.

We are committed to helping women entrepreneurs because we know how much potential they have to contribute to America's economic growth. To learn more about how SBA can help your business, visit  www.sba.gov.

About the Author

Karen Gordon Mills is the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBA helps both Main Street and high-growth small businesses get access to capital, counseling, federal contracts, disaster assistance and more.

For a direct link to the original article, click here.