6th ANNUAL WOMEN IN BUSINESS CONFERENCE AND TRADESHOW RETURNS

Business Plan Competition for Women Entrepreneurs Announced

Rockville, Maryland (January 4, 2005) – Women business owners, managers, professionals and entrepreneurs from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. will converge again for this year’s Women in Business Conference and Tradeshow on March 11, 2005 at the Montgomery County Conference Center, 10200 Rockville Pike, in Rockville.

Now in its sixth year, the event is designed to provide women professionals and entrepreneurs with the necessary skills and strategies for developing a successful business, while offering an opportunity for women to interact with decision makers. Sponsored by the Rockville Chamber of Commerce, the conference will feature business seminars, a networking session, and a trade and information exhibition with more than 100 exhibitors. An estimated 400 attendees will participate in this year’s conference.

The day-long event begins at 8 a.m. at the Montgomery County Conference Center, 10200 Rockville Pike, in Rockville, Maryland and continues through 4:30 p.m. Admission to the conference is $149; the tradeshow is free with a business card. The conference also includes a Keynote Luncheon Program. Tickets to the luncheon only are $65 per person.

This year’s conference will feature keynote speaker Martha Barletta, President of Chicago-based The TrendSight Group, a marketing-to-women consulting and training firm. Barletta is an internationally recognized expert and consultant on successful marketing to women, selling to women and women in the workplace. She is the author of Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach and Increase Your Share of the Largest Market Segment.

Returning to this year’s conference is the StartRight! business plan competition for businesses that are at least 51% women-owned, active and in operation for two years or less, and qualified to do business in Maryland, the District of Columbia or Virginia. The business plan competition is designed to accelerate the start-up process for women-owned businesses in the region.

Winners will receive cash prizes, publicity, supplies and services from sponsors, and a review and support from an experienced panel of judges. Interested applicants can submit entries through February 9, 2005 and are not required to participate in the writing seminars. Executive summaries and a $25 application fee are due February 4. Detailed information is available at www.RockvilleREDI.org.

Women in Business Conference and Tradeshow

Rockville Chamber of Commerce presents the sixth annual Women in Business Conference and Tradeshow, March 11, 2005, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Montgomery County Conference Center, 10200 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. All-day admission to the conference is $149; the Tradeshow is free with a business card; the Keynote Luncheon only is $65. For further information on the conference and the StartRight! Business Plan Competition call (301) 424-9300, email at Rockville@RockvilleChamber.org, or visit www.women-in-business.org.

Sponsored by Rockville Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery County Department of Economic Development, Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI), 2005 Women in Business Conference and Tradeshow in partnership with D.C. Women’s Business Center, and Montgomery County Commission for Women.