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Pioneering women in Utah to be honored at organizations' fundraiser(Salt Lake Tribune, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 24--Constance Lundberg was the first woman to be named a partner in a major Utah law firm. Stella Allen has helped build 26 homes for low-income families. JoAnn Seghini, mayor of Midvale City, was the first woman elected to a public office in Midvale. These women and seven others will be honored Wednesday for their leadership and ingenuity by the Women's Business Center and The Renaissance Society. The organizations also hope the fancy event -- the High [Profile] Tea -- will provide some needed funding for programs that serve future "Renaissance Women." Marilyn Tang, president and chief executive of Salt Lake City- based Certified Handling Systems, launched The Renaissance Society last year to support The Women's Business Center. She asked women who joined to donate $500 each year to the organization, which is affiliated with the Salt Lake Chamber and receives funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Ten women, in addition to Tang, have joined. "When I first started in business, there was no place for me to go. ... I felt like I was on a desert island," says Tang. When she started her company in 1967, she was unable to secure bank financing because she was told her husband needed to sign for the loan. Unmarried, she borrowed instead from her boyfriend and parents, paying them back within 60 days from money she earned in the new business. The Women's Business Center "is a place where women can go and divulge what their problems are and get assistance," Tang says. The center serves 400 to 500 women each year, offering one-on-one counseling and business education classes. Many of its services are provided free of charge. This year its SBA grant, for which the center has to raise matching funds, was cut from $127,000 to $97,500. Next year, the group won't receive a grant unless new legislation is passed by Congress. The center's operating budget is about $300,000, says Nancy Mitchell, director of the Women's Business Center. Mitchell hopes the high tea raises at least $15,000 for the center. Attendees will be served teas, tiny sandwiches, lemon curd and dainty cakes. The event's featured speaker is Jennifer Jordan, author of Savage Summit: The True Stories of the First Five Women Who Climbed K2. Attendees will also have a chance to bid in a silent auction on items such as a Hair Mechanic tool box, two nights at the Crystal Inn in St. George with gas money and a $1,000 laser cosmetics package. In addition to honoring winners of the Renaissance Women Awards, also recognized will be Utah recipients of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, a national award given by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. These companies have implemented measures such as telecommuting, flexible work hours and compressed workweeks that accommodate the personal lives of employees and have been touted as especially beneficial to working mothers. One winner, Salt Lake City architecture firm Cooper Roberts Simonsen Associates, converted a file room to a secluded, breast-pumping station after a few of its employees became mothers. Lundberg, one of the event's "Renaissance Women," was one of only three women in the University of Utah law school's largest graduating class -- 157 people -- in 1972. When she applied for jobs at local laws firms, she was told in one interview the firm did not hire women attorneys and asked in another interview if she could cook for clients. She landed a job at Parsons Behle and Latimer, which made her a partner in 1977. Discrimination isn't as overt as it was then, but Lundberg says women still need support such as that offered by the Women's Business Center. "There are barriers. Glass ceilings are real," Lundberg says. "It seems like a really exciting enterprise to encourage and help women develop businesses. ... I'm very honored" to be recognized by these groups. HIGH [PROFILE] TEA: --What: A fancy, British high tea honoring "Renaissance Women" and businesses with workplace flexibility --Hosts: The Women's Business Center and The Renaissance Society --When: Silent auction and registration, 3-4 p.m.; tea service and program, 4-6 p.m., Wednesday --Where: Grand America Hotel, 555 S. Main St., Salt Lake City --Cost: $50 per person; $1,500 to sponsor a table --Reservations: The deadline is Friday. Visit www.saltlakechamber.org or call 801-957-2031 RENAISSANCE WOMEN AWARD WINNERS: --Anne Burkholder, chief executive officer, Salt Lake City YWCA --Catherine J. Wheeler, gynecologist and founding partner of Millcreek Women's Center --Constance Lundberg, attorney Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough --Holly Mullen, Salt Lake Tribune columnist --JoAnn Seghini, mayor of Midvale --Lynda Coleman, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage --Linda Kruze, director of human resources, MHTN Architects --Nancy Tessman, director of Salt Lake City Public Library --Stella Allen, Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity --Theresa Martinez, associate professor of sociology and assistant vice president for outreach at the University of Utah ALFRED P. SLOAN AWARDS: 2006 recipients for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility: --Carter & Burgess Inc. --Cooper Roberts Simonsen Associates --Creative Expressions --Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough --McKinnon-Mulherin Inc. --Stayner, Bates & Jensen --Utah Food Services HONORABLE MENTION: --ARUP Laboratories --Enterprise Rent-A-Car To see more of The Salt Lake Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sltrib.com. Copyright (c) 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |