FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:  Goran Gligorovic - Omega World Travel - ggligorovic@owt.net

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2005 Enterprising Women of the Year Award Winners Named

ARY, NC:  Enterprising Women Magazine inducted five remarkable women into the Enterprising Women Hall of Fame and recognize 13 outstanding women entrepreneurs at the third annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Celebration.  A gala reception was held on Friday, Feb. 11 to honor the winners at the American Adventure Rotunda at Disney's Epcot in Florida.  The winners, as well as 14 finalists were recognized at a breakfast in their honor on Saturday, Feb. 12 at Disney's Grand Floridian Hotel & Spa.  The Walt Disney World Company was the premiere event sponsor.  United Parcel Service and Merrill Lynch were platinum event sponsors.

Winners were chosen from hundreds of entries, which were submitted via fax, mail and the magazine's Web site, www.enterprisingwomen.com.  They were chosen based on the growth and profitability of the enterprise, the leadership characteristics of the owner, the nominees outreach and mentoring of other women-owned firms, and the owner's vision for the future of her business.

"Because of the overwhelming response to this year's call for nominations, our judges have chosen 13 award winners representing different revenue levels.  We are honoring three women entrepreneurs with annual revenues of over $10 million, three winners with revenues more than $5 million and up to $10 million, four winners with revenues over $1 million and up to $5 million, and three winners with revenues under $1 million," according to Monica S. Smiley, Publisher and CEO of Enterprising Women.

The winners represent a diverse range of businesses, from the manufacturer of forced-entry/ballistic resistant buildings in Louisiana to a leading lumber supplier in the Northeast. 

Five outstanding women were inducted into the Enterprising Women Hall of Fame, recognizing their outstanding lifetime accomplishments and the significant contributions they have made to advancing the growth and development of women-owned enterprises.

For the first time, the publication also honored seven outstanding women with the 2005 Enterprising Women Advocacy Award.  Winners included government leaders who have provided vision and strong outreach to the women business owners' community; and others who have built associations or networking organizations that are helping women entrepreneurs connect and grow their businesses.

Enterprising Women's most prestigious award, induction into the magazine's Hall of Fame, include five outstanding inductees for 2005:

Gloria Bohan, the founder of Omega World Travel, who transformed a one-person travel agency into one of the largest travel management companies in the United States, with sales in excess of $1 billion, more than 1,000 employees, and 200 wholly-owned offices worldwide.
v Myra M. Hart, Professor of Management, Harvard Business School, whose research and teaching focuses on entrepreneurship. She is a member of the Diana Group, a research team of five professors investigating the unique challenges and opportunities that women entrepreneurs encounter as they search for the human and financial capital necessary to launch high growth ventures.

Maria de Lourdes "Lulu" Sobrino, founder of Lulu's Dessert Corporation, ranked among the largest and fastest growing Hispanic businesses in the United States and affectionately called the "queen of ready-to-eat gelatin."  She is considered a leader in building bridges between U.S. and Mexican women entrepreneurs.

Pat Parker, co-founder of Native American Management Services, a management consulting business started in 1989.  A member of the Choctaw Nation, Pat's firm bridges the gap between the federal government and the governments of American Indians and Alaska natives.  She has made a lifelong commitment to mentoring and supporting Native American women entrepreneurs.

Millie Robbins Leet, founder of the Trickle Up program, which has funded thousands of micro-enterprises for women all over the world.  Ms. Leet is the first international award recipient designated jointly by the Global Summit of Women and Enterprising Women.

Winners of the 2005 Enterprising Women of the Year Award for businesses with over $10 million in annual revenues are:

Nancy J. Connolly of Lasertone Corporation and Smart Page Technologies, a Littleton, MA-based manufacturer and provider of laser printer products, services, and maintenance programs.

Alta Baker of Safe Haven Enterprises, Inc., a Jennings, LA-based custom fabricator of forced-entry/ballistic resistant and blast resistant buildings and doors to protect personnel and property.

Sue Romanos of CAREERXCHANGE, a Pembroke Pines, FL-based independent staffing company.  

Winners of the 2005 Enterprising Women of the Year Award for businesses with over $5 million and up to $10 million in annual revenues are:

Faye E. Coleman, Ph.D of Westover Consultants, Inc., a Silver Springs, MD-based professional and technical services management consulting and government contracting firm.

Lita Abele of US Lumber Inc., a Woodbury, NJ-based leading supplier of lumber throughout the Northeast.

Lorri Keenum of Midwest Trenching & Excavating, Inc., a St. Louis, MO-based provider of excavation solutions to the industrial and commercial construction market.

Winners of the 2005 Enterprising Women of the Year Award for businesses with more than $1 million and up to $5 million in annual revenues are:

Denise Kay Baker of D.R.B. Electric, Inc., an Albuquerque, NM-based electrical contracting business specializing in commercial, industrial, business/residential service, and voice and data.

Betsy Mordecai of MorSports & Events, Inc., a Denver, CO-based event planning and special events company that has carved a niche in the sports industry handling the Olympics, World Cup Soccer, and other world class sports events for corporate sponsors.

Roberta Borsella Farnum of Home Instead Senior Care, a Charlotte, NC-based company that provides non-medical caregivers to help seniors remain safe and comfortable in their homes for as long as possible and offer respite for family caregivers.

Sheila Brooks of SRB Productions Inc., a Washington, DC-based full-service communications firm that offers high-quality television and video productions, an in-house post-production facility, streaming and interactive media, audio/visual systems installation and maintenance, and other marketing services.

Winners of the 2005 Enterprising Women of the Year Award for businesses with up to $1 million in annual revenues are:

Donna H. Myers of DHM Group, Inc., a Colts Neck, NJ-based full-service marketing communications firm that has carved a niche as the spokesperson for the barbecue industry for over 30 years with more than 500 media interviews a year.

Jean M. Gianfagna of Gianfagna Marketing, Inc., a Cleveland, OH-based direct marketing and advertising firm. Peggy T. Hill of Adjusting Entries, a Valencia, PA-based business specializing in record keeping and financial analysis services from order entry through financial and cost analysis.

International Enterprising Women of the Year Award winner is Neveen El-Tahri, the first woman to hold a seat on the Egyptian stock exchange.  Her award was jointly presented by the Global Summit of Women and Enterprising Women.

Enterprising Women also named 14 finalists that had outstanding entries.  They included: 

Peggy Swords of Excalibur Exhibits, Houston, TX; Lois Clearman Stephenson of Building Blocks Child Care & Development Centers, Clayton, NC; Karen Macumber of Fugent Media Group, Inc., Boston, MA; Beverly J. Prior of Beverly Prior Architects, San Francisco, CA;  Patricia Owen of Faces DaySpa, Hilton Head Island, SC;  Susan Silvano of Career Management International, Inc., Houston, TX;  Darcy Ann Flanders of Baseline Design, New York, NY; Nancy Denker of Focus Ink, Inc., Albuquerque, NM; Deborah A. Bailey of Bailey Design and Advertising, Honesdale, PA; Michelle Fama, Kim Villanueva and Patti Spahn of Core Pilates NYC, New York, NY;  Sue Kozel of SK Visions, Cream Ridge, NJ;  Ruth Corcoran of Corcoran Communications, Wilkes-Barre, PA; Kathy Chavez Napoli of Napri, Inc., Santa Clara, CA; and Wendy Kaufman of Balancing Life's Issues, Inc., Ossining, NY.

Winners of the 2005 Enterprising Women Advocacy Award included:

LezLee Westine and Cynthia Williams of the Office of Public Liaison, for providing communication, outreach and advocacy for the women business owners' community. Patty Forbes, Chief of Staff, Senate Small Business Committee, for advocacy on behalf of the women business owners' community.

Gelly Borromeo, president of the National Council of Asian American Business Associations, for actively promoting minority, disadvantaged and women-owned enterprises. Leslie Grossman and Andrea March, founders of the Women's Leadership Exchange, for helping to provide women entrepreneurs access to the tools and connections that drive business growth.

Liz Ryan, creator of WorldWIT, the largest online networking organization for women in business and technology.  WorldWIT conversations now take place in English, Russian, Polish, French, German and Italian.

Molly Barker, founder of the non-profit organization, Girls on the Run. Her program to build self-worth and self-esteem in 8 to 13 year-old girls has grown from 13 girls in Charlotte, NC to 40,000 girls in 110 U.S. and Canadian cities.

The Enterprising Women National Advisory Board hosted a Saturday morning breakfast at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa to honor the award winners and provide a networking opportunity with the country's top women entrepreneurs.  Top women executives from The Walt Disney Company, and corporate executives from Fortune 500 companies with strong women's initiatives attended the breakfast gathering.

Enterprising Women is a national magazine based in Cary, NC, that chronicles the growing political, economic and social influence and power of entrepreneurial women.  The magazine provides a friendly meeting place, a public forum, and a national stage for the critical issues confronting women's businesses and daily lives from the unique perspectives and experiences of entrepreneurial women.

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About Omega World Travel
Omega World Travel is a woman-owned, diversity supplier, and one of the largest travel management companies in the US. With worldwide headquarters in Fairfax, VA, Omega serves corporate, government, meeting, and leisure clients throughout the US., Europe, and the Middle East. Omega World Travel also owns Cruise.com, one of the largest sellers of cruises on the Internet, and TravTech, a software development company and Omega Meetings and Conference services.