The Women's Business Enterprise National Council and WEConnect International Introduce the Women Owned Business Logo

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), WEConnect International and Walmart have joined forces to establish a unique logo for retail packaging of products from women-owned businesses.  This new logo will bring consumer recognition of products provided by women-owned businesses on store shelves both in the US and international markets.  Women-owned businesses that are WBENC and/or WEConnect International certified will be eligible to display the logo on their product packaging.  Walmart's  collaboration with WBENC and WEConnect International on the new logo is aligned with their overall strategy and focus on women-owned businesses.

In September 2011, Walmart launched its Global Women's Economic Empowerment initiative, using its unique size and scale to lift women around the world. As a part of this initiative, Walmart has committed to source $20 billion from women for the US business and to double sourcing from women internationally by the end of 2016. In further support, Walmart has collaborated with the Women's Business Enterprise National Council and WEConnect International to establish a logo to help consumers easily recognize products from women-owned businesses in stores.

Women-owned businesses contribute over $1.3 trillion dollars to the US economy and women are responsible for over 80 percent of the consumer decisions globally.  Creating awareness of these products can result in sales growth, increased consumer knowledge and loyalty.  Both WBENC and WEConnect International focus on women's business growth, which will be a natural outcome of the visibility and promotion of this logo.

"At Walmart we are committed to empowering women and impacting women-owned businesses from around the world—and so are our customers. In fact, we recently conducted a survey that found 90 percent of female customers in the US would go out of their way to purchase products from women, believing they would offer higher quality," stated MiKaela Wardlaw Lemmon, senior director of Women's Economic Empowerment at Walmart. "We hope our collaboration with Women's Business Enterprise National Council and WEConnect International will make customers around the world more aware of great products from women-owned businesses, and help these women continue to grow their businesses."

Pamela Prince-Eason, president and CEO of WBENC and Elizabeth A. Vazquez, CEO and Co-Founder of WEConnect International, recognize the leadership and innovation that Walmart has brought by helping to develop the symbol as well as providing the research to support the launch and selection of the logo.  Walmart will have products on their store shelves with the new women-owned business logo by September 2014.  They look forward to seeing many retail companies stocking their shelves with these branded products in the near future.

http://womenownedlogo.com

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140625/121426

SOURCE Women's Business Enterprise National Council