The Small Business Administration this week named a former senior manager to lead efforts to meet federal small-business contracting goals and enforce size standards.

Fay Ott, who as a senior advisor has reviewed policy and budgets at the agency since 2004, becomes the SBA’s associate administrator for the Office of Government Contracting and Business Development.

The job includes helping federal agencies meet their small-business contracting goals, which have fallen short in recent years.

More information on how small businesses can do business with the government is on this blog.  Click here

In this article about Joss Stone the brilliant singer from the UK they talk about her unwillingness to “listen” to her managers.  From what it sounds like to me there might be some issues with “trust.”  Establishing trust and letting go of the control of the “issue” is where there appears to be a breakdown. 

Joss is young and this is just a small blip on the journey of life, probably more frustrating to the people who want to help her than she herself.  I can remember not listening at her age, heck sometimes I still don’t listen, but I am working on it.

I saw this post in RealtyTimes.com and as sometimes we try to become perfect the real learning is in making mistakes, and this is one thing I can personally say I am a professional at.  But Claudia has some insights for the Real Estate Sales executive.

Dear Dan: We’re a small, women-owned company that supplies operations and maintenance services to larger institutions. We’re interested in seeking a piece of some federal government contracts, but I’m not sure if this is a good time or how to go about it. Any suggestions? - Opportunity Seeker Dear Opportunity Seeker: There’s never been a better time than right now for small businesses looking to sell products and services to the federal government. A backlash over the federal government’s reliance on sole-source (no-bid) contracts with big companies in Iraq and the Hurricane Katrina cleanup has produced a major and growing multibillion-dollar bonanza for small companies. And the opportunities are particularly abundant for small firms owned by vets, women and minorities.

Executives at three key firms involved daily with small and large federal contractors all see a long and fast-growing list of federal contracting opportunities becoming available to small businesses. The Washington, D.C.-area firms are Synchris Inc., which supplies bid management software; epipeline, a Web site that lists contracting opportunities; and Set-Aside Alert, a contracting information service for small, minority and women-owned businesses.

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This is a podcast about women in business. Vicki is a power player in the women’s business communities and women’s entrepreneurial and worlds. Vicki is not only a successful business person she is an entrepreneur who built her own profitable publishing business then sold it to the Boston Herald in 2005 and she still continues on as their current publisher.

Vicki happens to be very passionate about giving women a voice in the business world. Vicki demonstrates that women are 52% of the population and over 50% of the entrepreneurs starting new businesses and women are 65% of the consumer purchasing power in the home and business. Women are 65% of the graduates with graduates’ degrees. 16% of women are in congress. Women’s are only making 76 cents on the dollar in the pay area in the USA. There is a lot of room for improvement in several areas when it comes to women’s recognition and compensation.

Vicki shares a couple of women’s business success stories. Women’s Business has a hall of fame of women businesses and Circles is a $45 million company started by two Harvard Business School Graduates the #1 concierge company for businesses including travel plans and laundry. This is a company that has taken the services business to the next level. She shares that they had to go through the grueling process of funding and many other challenges that entrepreneurs face.

Judy Niche of Niche Engineering is an example of a successful woman in the construction business all over the world. Yes, this is not a typo, women do run construction businesses. They started out as a small firm and she has learned how to play with the big contractors and even landed a few contracts with Boston’s Big Dig Project.

Vicki has founded several women’s associations. She found that there was a need when she went to several chamber meeting and the guys wanted to talk about sports and she wanted to talk about business. She said that it is important to not only join but be “involved” with the organization. Vicki is a person of action which is a common theme among successful entrepreneurs.

Vicki not only takes networking to the next level she knocks the cover off the ball and is involved with about 40-50 networking programs and associations. Vicki demonstrates that there is a wealth of entrepreneurship and small business resources available for anyone who wants them. She expands on the fact that entrepreneurs have to have great legal and accounting advice, and it will pay off down the line for any business owner. Her mentor turned out to be her father who advised her that she can learn from everyone. She goes through life with a great attitude of being open and willing to learn from anyone.

Vicki talks about family being priority number one and suggests and we (USA) need to have a strong family leave plan and she is a proponent of men taking a more active role in child rearing. She has written a new book to be published in 2007 called “Her Turn, Why It Is Time for Women to Lead America” by Vicki Donlan that addresses many of the issues and opportunities women are facing today in the business world.