To assist with growing women and minority owned businesses, MBECA has created a business center program focused on women and minorities, particularly focused on African American and Hispanic women business owners. The program deploys technical assistance and specialized training programs in addition to programming geared toward assisting women in overcoming barriers in specific industries such as heavy industry, manufacturing, transportation, and construction; all growth industries in Ascension Parish. The programs will feature on unique components such as bonding, certification, training, procurement, and licensure required to perform in contracting and sub—contracting roles. Additionally, MBECA aims to partner with other resource partners such as the United States Small Business Administration to bring further focus to the effort of engaging women business owners in the region. The highlight of the MBECA Women’s Business Center is its annual Superwoman Conference, a day of learning, empowerment, networking, peer learning, mentoring, and problem solving dealing with the daily challenges faces by women business owners who juggle multiple tasks such as time management, child care, image building, authoritative language, and achieving success, and numerous other topics. In addition, the conference features and business expo and experiential exercises that are focused on women including relaxation techniques, dressing for success, yoga, massage therapy, selling, the language of assessing and assisting male-driven industries, and healthy lifestyles through weight management and exercise.