HOUSTON, TX (January 24th, 2010) - Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance (WBEA) has supported women-owned businesses since 1995 when only a handful of women business owners and corporate supporters formed the organization. Today, on the 15th anniversary since they began, WBEA has been responsible for the advancement of over 700 women-owned businesses within the Texas region by providing national-certification and increasing opportunities for women to do business amongst themselves and with government and corporate entities.

“Being a part of the WBEA Board of Directors for the last 5 years has been an incredible experience for me personally, and as a representative of Shell the organization has been critical to our corporation’s continued success in supplier diversity,” says WBEA Board President, Bill McCauley of the Shell Oil Company. “Our involvement has allowed us to build meaningful relationships with women who are not only business owners and community leaders, but qualified suppliers in a broad array of service and material commodity areas.”

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the WBEA serves over 94 counties with scholarship and mentoring programs, networking activities, and educational opportunities in addition to preparing members for certification to become a women-owned business enterprise- a designation that is recognized by most corporations and governmental agencies.

WBEA will celebrate their 15th anniversary December 2, 2010 at their annual gala that will support the Houston Food Bank.

“When I joined WBEA, at the encouragement of friends who were members, I had no idea the benefits I would glean. The rewards have been incredible, creating relationships with corporations and women business owners in diverse industries,” says WBE Vice-President Sue Pistone of Sue Pistone & Associates. “The WBEA staff and volunteers are focused and dedicated to making our mission and vision a reality. Both our member corporations and women business owners and their staff can benefit from their hard work monetarily, intellectually and emotionally which is an incredible bottom line result.”

To find out more about WBEA, their programs, and upcoming events visit http://www.wbea-texas.org.