Government Executive, December 7, 2021, Coronavirus Roundup: More Republican Opposition to Vaccine Rules; HHS Touts High Employee Vaccination Rates
Last week, a pop-up shop, featuring goods from local women-owned small businesses, funded through a CARES Act grant from the Small Business Administration, opened in Union Station in Washington, D.C. This is a collaboration between the D.C. Women’s Business Center, Maryland Women’s Business Center, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, SBA, Union Station and Ashkenazy Realty.
“All the data has shown that women have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Women have been leaving the labor force at the highest rates since 1988,” Natalie Madeira Cofield, assistant administrator for SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership, told Government Executive at the event.
But that also means it “creates an opportunity for women with the proper support to walk into the doors of entrepreneurship. And that’s why we’ve been aggressively expanding the women’s business center network.” She is the first Black woman to lead the office and is also the co-chair of SBA’s Equity Task Force.
