Sandy Clitter, a Media businesswoman, serves on the Advocacy Committee for the National Association of Women Business Owners. (COURTESY OF SANDY CLITTER)
A Media businesswoman who started her own company 25 years ago has risen to take a seat at the national level.
Sandy Clitter, founder, owner and operator of Your Tech Tamer, has assumed a seat on the Advocacy Committee of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) after a thorough vetting process as she plans to advocate for Main Street businesses while encouraging women to join the ranks.
A longtime member of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of NAWBO, Clitter said, “This year, I accepted the invitation to become a member of the national board.”
Founded in 1975 in Washington, NAWBO was created when a group of businesswomen came together and shared information about federal contracts, access to capital and more.
They advocated for the passage of HR 5050 in 1987, creating the Women in Business Act that allowed women to apply for a business loan without a male co-signer. They continue to advocate on behalf of 13 million women business owners today.
Clitter’s role on NAWBO’s Advocacy Committee is a two-year term through June 2026.
To get on it, first she had to own her own business, something she did when she created Your Tech Tamer 25 years ago.
“Your Tech Tamer, it serves small- to midsize companies and helps them reach their data in a more efficient fashion,” she said, explaining Tech Tamer manages and develops websites and computer and database systems.
“Small companies gather a lot of information but they don’t know how to access it or utilize it,” Clitter said, adding that her business helps them better manage it and grow. “The need has not gone away. The need has gotten bigger.”
That’s in part due to big data.
“What is a Main Street business going to do with big data?” Clitter asked. “It’s overwhelming. They need the information they need to better serve their communities, support their families.”
She gave an example of a landscaper, who’s awesome about understanding what to grow in the shade and what to grow in sunny spots, what looks beautiful in a backyard and other landscaping issues.
“They don’t know how to run their business,” Clitter said. “Most small business owners are in something they are passionate about.”
So, her business helps other businesses sort through their data to run more effectively.
Take the landscaper example. If they have one lawn mower with a vision of trucks serving the five-county area not just one neighborhood, they have to understand their data, their market and their clients.
She shared how NAWBO became a part of her success.
“What I found in NAWBO was this community across the country who wanted to help me build my business,” she said. “Business owners have a difficult time talking to their friends about it. When you’re the CEO of your own company, you have all different kinds of problems. NAWBO provides this community of women that will be there for you.”
Next year, NAWBO national turns 50 years old and Clitter does not forget that it was started by 12 women at a time when none of them could walk into a bank and get a business loan without a male co-signer.
“NAWBO was founded in advocating,” Clitter noted, adding that what benefits women businesses typically affects all disadvantaged groups from veterans to race. “Women small businesses are small businesses.”
Today, NAWBO continues its support and advocacy for women business owners, especially small- and micro-business owners. Microbusinesses are those with fewer than 50 employees and less than $5 million in annual revenue.
A small business as defined by the U.S. Small Business Administration is a business with fewer than 500 employees.
In Delaware County, there are more than 12,000 small businesses and 74% of those have fewer than 10 employees.
Right now, Clitter said, NAWBO is focused on finding Republican and Democratic support to get the definition of microbusiness enacted into law since NAWBO is a bipartisan organization and won’t move forward unless legislation has support from both parties.
“Look at the mom and pop shops along State Street,” Clitter said. “How many of them can relate to 500 employees? We want people to truly understand that a microbusiness and a small business are two different things.”
That’s why they’re advocating for a definition of microbusiness as 50 employees or fewer with $5 million or less in annual revenues.
Having that definition would allow Congress to carve out exceptions for these types of businesses in different policies and legislation. And, she said, they’re also asking for a pilot loan program in the Small Business Administration.
“We need to help, support, protect Main Street businesses across the board,” she said. “Small business is absolutely critical … I think it’s really critical to the economic health of the area, of the part of Pennsylvania in which we live.”
Of the process to get on the national board, Clitter said it started in October and ended by late spring.
“It’s not for the faint of heart,” she said, adding, “I’m blessed in my career that I can make the space to giving my all to being able to do this as well.”
She shared some of the NAWBO goals she has.
“First of all, I’m hoping I am able to get the word out that NAWBO exists for every women business owner everywhere,” she said. “I understand you are busy as all get out. You don’t have another second in your day to breathe.”
She said NAWBO serves as your eyes, ears and voice and watches your back.
“If you need some place to go for some help, don’t you want a safe space in which to do it?” she asked.
Plus, she said NAWBO wants to help these business owners grow.
“I want more women to understand the support, the love, the joy that comes with all of that,” she said. “My hope is that I can use this higher profile position to help more women learn about the resources and that NAWBO is there.”
NAWBO is a dues-based nonpartisan advocacy organization with dues starting at $359 a year. For more information, visit nawbo.org.
Read More
