SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS TO TAKE PART IN INTERACTIVE SATELLITE BROADCAST FROM WASHINGTON GEARED TO BUSINESS WOMEN ACROSS THE COUNTRY

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Susan Collins will take part in a major national conference on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Center in Washington, D.C. aimed at helping women launch and grow their own businesses. Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century is an interactive, satellite, town-hall broadcast originating in Washington, D.C. with audiences participating from four remote locations at the Husson Center for Family Business in Bangor, Maine; Orlando, Florida; Little Rock, Arkansas; and St. Louis, Missouri. Senator Collins was able to secure the participation of the Husson College Center for Family Business. The conference will open at each location at 8:00 a.m. EST, and the broadcast will begin at 9: 00 a.m. EST.

Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Small Business Administration, The Public Forum Institute, and the Center for Family Business. Women from across the state will be attending the event at Husson College. The event is free of charge.

"As someone who has spent my entire professional life advocating for small business, I am eager to take part in this remarkable, interactive conference," said Senator Collins. "I'm especially excited at the idea of women empowering themselves to be their own bosses and launch their own businesses. Access to a conference such as this is so valuable to women, and I commend the Husson Center for Family Business for making this happen."

Before her election to the Senate, Susan Collins served as the founding director of the Center for Family Business. She also held the position of New England Administrator for the Small Business Administration. Senator Collins also served a term as Maine's Commissioner of Professional and Business Regulation. Senator Collins will be joined on a Congressional panel in discussing women entrepreneurship by Senators Christopher Bond (R-MO) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). Labor Secretary Elaine Chao will address the conference as well as Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

President George W. Bush is expected to close out the conference with an address on small business concerns for women in the 21st century.

For information on attending the event at Husson, please contact Cheryl Russell, Executive Director of the Center for Family Business at russellc@husson.edu, 207 973 1052.