Nation’s top small business official to visit northern RI
Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon will give keynote talk at Chamber of Commerce
LINCOLN – U.S. Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, a former executive with the World Wrestling Entertainment empire and former GOP Senate candidate from Connecticut, will be the keynote speaker at the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce annual dinner in February.
“As one of the state’s leading advocates for small business and a longtime partner of the local Small Business Administration, we are excited and honored to have Administrator McMahon as our keynote speaker,” said John C. Gregory, the chamber’s president and CEO.
The 25th administrator of the SBA and a member of President Trump’s cabinet, McMahon advocates on behalf of 30 million small businesses in America.
As an entrepreneur, McMahon is perhaps best known as the former chief executive officer of WWE, which she and her husband helped grow from a 13-person regional operation based in Stamford, Conn., to a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees in offices worldwide.
McMahon has been a longtime advocate for women in leadership and business and has been widely recognized as one of the country’s top female executives, according to Gregory. McMahon left the WWE in 2009 to run as a Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat from Connecticut, but she was not successful. She lost a second time after mounting a campaign for another open Senate seat in Connecticut in 2012.
President- elect Trump announced in December 2016 that he intended to nominate McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration, an appointment that was confirmed by the Senate in February 2017.
In addition to showcasing a high-profile business leader, the annual dinner is an opportunity for the chamber to recognize local stars of the politics and community service with the Burlingame Award and the Ben G. Mondor Award. The Burlingame award was established in 2003 in the name of late
f Barbara Burlingame – a former tstate representative from Woonsocket and chamber vice president – to honor an elected official for his ror her contributions to the business community. The award recognizes individuals who exhibit the highest standards of excellence, dedication, and accomplishment in the public service arena, the chamber says.
The Ben G. Mondor award was established in 2011 to honor the former owner of the Pawtucket Red Sox, who lifted the team’s pro- file and profitability after an era of struggle. This award is given in honor of Mondor’s legacy of community philanthropy.
The dinner will be held on Feb. 8 at the Twin River Events Center. Tickets are $100 for Chamber members and $150 for non-members. Sponsorships are available. For ad- ditional information and to register, call the chamber at 334-1000 or visit www.nrichamber.com.
The Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of businesses located in Burrillville, Central Falls, Cumberland, Foster, Glocester, Johnston, Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Scituate, Smithfield and Woonsocket. The NRI Chamber also leads the state Chamber of Commerce Coalition, representing 9 area chambers of commerce.