Secretary of Labor: ‘Montana women rock’

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao came to a simple conclusion Thursday after she attended the Montana Women 2004 conference in Somers.

"Montana women rock," she said.

By Camden Easterling
The Daily Inter Lake

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/NewsEngine/SelectStory_AD.tpl?command=search&db=news.db&eqskudata=99-815391-14

Plenty of women turned out for the conference, Chao noted as a ballroom full of women settled in to listen to her keynote speech.

Chao commended Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., who has sponsored the conferences for several years, for his efforts to bring women across the state together to talk about the issues they face both in the workplace and in their personal lives.

Burns also addressed the crowd at the White Oak Grand Hotel, as did Gov. Judy Martz.

Burns jokingly set the tone for the conference, which attendees said was largely motivational rather than political.

"I was going to speak about legislation," Burns said. "But who wants to hear about legislation?"

Burns, Martz and Chao made a few political comments in their addresses, but they were mostly made in passing or were lighthearted jokes.

Workshops throughout the day centered around topics that translate to both personal and work situations and have little to do with politics.

In Chao’s keynote speech, she told about the opportunities and programs the Department of Labor has to offer under the Bush administration, which she said has been exemplary in its placement of women in top government roles.

"I am proud to work for a president who has put so many women in our government," Chao said.

She pointed out that under the current administration, women hold 50 percent of the top leadership positions in her department. The department also has sponsored several summits in the last two years that focused on issues women encounter in entrepreneurial efforts.

The Department of Labor has a distinct Women’s Bureau that offers programs and projects that help women succeed, Chao said. One such program is an online mentoring program that teaches women about financial security and managing money.

"There are so many resources available," she said.

Information about those programs and projects may be found online at the department’s Web site, http://www.dol.gov

Chao, the former United Way chief executive officer and director of the Peace Corps, is the first woman of Asian descent to be named to a Cabinet position. She commended Martz for her election as Montana’s first woman governor.

Martz welcomed the women to the one-day conference. She encouraged attendees to spend the day thinking about whether or not they suffer from the "grass is greener" syndrome. People often fall prey to the syndrome, focusing on the problem rather than the solution, she said.

"The truth is, the grass is only greener if you take care of it," Martz said.

She challenged women to ask themselves, "Are you doing what you want to be doing?" If not, do something about it, she advised listeners.

That theme carried over into a number of workshops held throughout the day.

During the workshops, such as "Finding 100 Percent of Yourself," speakers helped women explore what drives them and how that connects to what they want to do.

Sheila Bowen, executive director of the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce, attended the conference. She said she enjoyed the humor that speakers added to their workshops.

"It was just fun to go to a session and laugh," she said.

Bowen said that though her summer has been busy, she’s glad she fit the conference into her schedule because it served as a motivational pick-me-up.

Ralene Sliter, who works with her husband at Sliters Ace Hardware, said the information she learned in the "Calming Cranky People" workshop will come in handy in the workplace and in her personal life.

The key to soothing crabby people is to analyze their personalities and try to work around their issues, she said.

Reporter Camden Easterling may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at [email protected]