Thank you for your interest in joining the KC-CWBO. For more information please contact the Co-Founder and Director, Nancy Zurbuchen. (816-452-4700 or nancyz@motional.com.) You can make arrangements to attend activities or events as a guest, and you may also want to sign up for our quarterly newsletter so you can keep up with what's going on with the organization. CLICK HERE FOR THE KC-CWBO MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION.

Not only are the mission and activities of KC-CWBO different, our membership structure is very unusual.

First, the member criteria ensures that our focus remains on meeting the needs of, and creating opportunities specifically for, women who own and run the larger businesses in the KC metro area.

Membership criteria for the KC-CWBO includes meeting at least two of the following:

• Owning* a business for at least five years
• The equivalent of 15 full-time employees or equivalent (can include part time and contract labor)
• Annual revenue of $2M or more ($1M for service businesses) 

* You do not have to be the majority owner of the business; you do have to have control of the business, be involved in the day-to-day operations, and have final decision making (strategic and financial).

Why join KC-CWBO?

As a member of Kansas City Council of Women Business Owners (KC-CWBO), you are supporting the efforts of the only organization wholly devoted to women business owners who own and run larger businesses. Women owners at this level simply have different business needs, desires, resources, and interests compared to what other organizations provide for start-ups and smaller businesses.

Goals of KC-CWBO

KC-CWBO was founded in 2001 specifically for seasoned women business owners in Kansas City, giving them the opportunity to meet, get to know, and do business with other women who also own larger businesses. We created a forum to capitalize on members' collective expertise, contacts, and influence.

Organizational goals include: 

• Promoting women-owned businesses as vendors to corporate purchasing agents as well as government procurement officers;
• Working to change the status quo of government and corporate purchasing practices to be more favorable to women-owned vendors;
• Facilitating women doing business with women;
• Influencing better representation by women on corporate boards and influential appointments;
  Providing public policy awareness, training, and advocacy at federal, state and local levels, on issues that impact women-owned businesses;
• Being the collective voice for women-owned businesses to city government, KS and MO, in the local business arena, and in the media.

The results of such efforts are bettering the business climate not only for our own members, but for all women business owners. 

What We Do

We are entrepreneurial . . .  so activities and issues change every year! Keeping the momentum and interest up for high-performance business owners requires that we do things differently than other organizations. For instance, we don't have regular monthly meetings, and each year the members decide on what the activities and priorities will be. This format has come about because the organization is made up of entrepreneurs who are accustomed to reacting to changing environments and needs. While keeping our focal point on our strategic goals, our activities have had a wide range. Examples include: 

A series of New Business Roundtables in which our members had one-on-one access to corporate buyers.
Hot Leads Warm Referrals: a high-energy, positive atmosphere where our members take advantage of one another’s connections for new business.

Protégé for a Day, high-energy, “live auction-style” event at which a select group of leading Kansas City entrepreneurial individuals have agreed to donate a day of his or her time to be awarded to the highest bidder. This fun event was designed to provide opportunity for one-on-one access to some of the most successful business owners in the area.

Collaboration with Boardroom Bound organization; half-day seminar designed to raise awareness and interest getting women on paid corporate boards.

A task force with a single mission:  to convince state of MO that they should accept third-party WBE certification. Two-year mission was accomplished in 2002, which benefits all women business owners in MO. (We are currently working with the state of KS, Unified KCK.)

Each year we bring in subject matter experts to enlighten us on why public policy is important to women business owners, and how it affects us on a daily basis, how we can change the status quo, and education on specific issues. Speakers included Terry Neese, the founder of Women Impacting Public Policy; Linda Bolliger, founder of Boardroom Bound for women, Melanie Sabelhaus, #2 person at the SBA; Ann Sullivan, the top lobbyist for women business owners in Washington DC; representatives from the National Women's Business Council and the Center for Women’s Business Research in Washington, DC. In addition, numerous local politicians and policy-makers have also participated.

Numerous policy briefings and communications about areas of interest and direct impact on women business owners, both national, state and local.

When we have meetings, we make sure you time is well-spent. Currently and through the end of the year, we are planning to meet about every 6 weeks at a member's home or place of business. These meetings will be expressly be about each member and her company – understanding one another's  businesses, lead generation, providing connections, sharing contacts and resources . . . women doing business with women.

Our Collaborative Approach

Over the years, the KC-CWBO has built a reputation of collaboration and communication with other organizations, both locally and across the state. We have helped create an environment in which the other women, minority, and business organizations come together for a common purpose. When advocating for issues in either Topeka or Jefferson City, so much more can be accomplished through coordination with other organizations.

Some of the organizations we have worked directly with over the years are:
National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) both Kansas City and St. Louis chapters
KS Women’s Business Center
MO Women’s Business Center
Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)
Women Construction Owners and Executives (WCOE)
National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)
MidAmerica Minority Business Council (MAMBDC)
St. Louis Minority Business Council (SLMBC)
Topeka IBSA, Inc. (Minority business development)
Kansas City Hispanic
Contractors (KCHACE)
Hispanic Chamber
Hispanic Contractors Association (HCA)
Asian Chamber

The membership cycle is for TWO years.

Why? Because we take a different view a long term view. While there are many benefits that members realize in the short term (for instance, the New Business Roundtables), we also understand that it takes time to accomplish some of our stated goals. Our agenda is not focused on programming with speakers addressing "how to" issues of business management there are several other organizations that already provide that service (for instance, NAWBO; the KS and MO Women's Business Centers.) By contrast, our mission is "to better the business climate for women business owners by making changes to the system," and our focus is in these areas:  Promoting an agenda of women building solid business relationships with one another and in the business community at large; promoting women businesses to corporations as vendors; raising women's representation on paid corporate boards; and promoting women to political appointments such as city and state boards. In the public policy arena, our efforts continue to focus on WBE certification; evaluating procurement practices by both public and private entities; working with government entities to create vendor programs that include women business owners; educating ourselves and others about how public policy affects our bottom line; and advocating for issues that affect women business owners. Obviously, these are long term goals that have a positive effect not only for our own members, but for every woman who owns a business.

Membership Dues

Membership dues are for a 2 year commitment at $3200.00

Print out the application, fill it in, and fax or mail it. Once received, Nancy Zurbuchen, the Director, will contact you for payment arrangements if a check is not enclosed. Make check payable to KC Council of Women Business Owners. We also now accept Visa and Mastercard payment.
Our fax number is 816-452-5550.
Mail to KC-CWBO, Nancy Zurbuchen, 209 N.W. 44th Street, Kansas City, MO 64116
Questions? Call Nancy at 816-452-4700.

CLICK HERE FOR THE KC-CWBO MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION This is a Microsoft Word document that will open in a new browser window, or you can download it to your hard drive.