STEVE INSKEEP, host:
And today's last word in business is for women entrepreneurs across the country who want a government contract. And the word is cabinetmaking.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
The Small Business Administration has issued a new proposal for contracts going to firms owned by women. The agency designated four industries in which women-owned businesses are underrepresented, and they're therefore eligible for contracts set aside just for women.
INSKEEP: In addition to cabinetmaking, there is also engraving, intelligence, and certain motor vehicle sales. Women business owners are furious at this plan because they say women-owned firms are disadvantaged in many other areas, not just those four.
MONTAGNE: Take munitions, for example. Norma Byron runs the only woman-run munitions design firm in the country. She told the Washington Post she faces gender bias despite her extensive background in firearms and ammunition. Most people, she says, think her husband is the real owner of the firm. But he is just a photographer.