Group seeks nominations for new honor
CONWAY — Shenel Sandidge, newly elected president of the Conway chapter of Business and Professional Women, is asking people to submit names for the inaugural Career Woman of the Year honor.
“The first thing I’m implementing is Career Woman of the Year; that’s a new thing for us to get — to open the membership and to recognize other women,” Sandidge said. “We have a lot of women who are under the radar; they don’t get recognition for doing extraordinary things.”
Women can be nominated for the award by corporations, businesses, friends, families or churches, Sandidge said. It should be “someone they think exemplifies professional business and is helping other people. It’s not just about advancing their careers; it’s about what they’re doing for the community — it’s about what they’re doing for others,” she said.
The deadline for nominations is Sept. 30, and the award will be announced in October, she said.
Applications can be obtained by emailing
Sandidge at conwaybpw@att.net. She said she is creating a website, which will have the applications on it.
Sue Jackson, vice president of the organization, said the honor is for “someone who makes a positive difference in her community and in her employment.”
“There are so many women who deserve recognition in so many ways,” Jackson said.
Sandidge said the Conway Business and Professional Women’s chapter is going into its 77th year, but membership has dwindled to about 10 active members.
“We want to grow the membership,” she said. Sandidge said she has been a member of the group for four years, and in the past, membership has been as high as 50 or more.
“A lot of people don’t know about it,” she said. “It’s networking with women who are in the workforce. We have guest speakers every month on different topics, telling us what they do. Maybe we have young
girls just started out of college and getting into the business world. We can network and maybe become mentors,” she said.
The chapter gives two annual scholarships to working women older than 30 who are going back to school, Sandidge said.
At a banquet in October, the scholarship recipient will be announced, as well as the Career Woman of the Year.
Sandidge said the chapter will also choose an Employer of the Year to honor — a business that “addresses women’s
issues” and makes an effort to see that women receive pay that is equal to men’s and are promoted.
BPW chapter meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month at different restaurants. All business and professional women, including those who are retired, are invited, Sandidge said.
“We have four retired women in our group right now,” she said.
Jackson lives in Greenbrier but works at TriTechne Inc., a new telecommunications engineering company, in Conway.
“It really has helped me in all those areas,” Jackson said. “It has educated me a lot, and it has let me know there are a lot of sources out there to get more involved [politically], if I chose to. Personally and professionally, it’s definitely helped me grow.”
In addition to serving as president of the Conway chapter of Business and Professional Women, Sandidge is executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County and is a board member and served as interim director of Stand, a nonprofit ministry for homeless women and children. A graduate of the University of Central Arkansas, she is minister of music for the Greater Fellowship Christian Church in Conway.
In addition to Sandidge and Jackson, the 2016-17 Conway BPW officers are Marge Harney, secretary, and Bobbye Harper, treasurer. Member Tracy Eichenberger is the Arkansas Business and Professional Women president.