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30 31 continue to learn about business. They did not have a place where they could learn what they needed to accelerate their growth, to enhance their competi- tiveness, and to promote economic secu- rity for themselves, their employees, and their families. They needed access to this business education and did not have it.” BVM: How did the WPO evolve over the years and what is its current mem- bership status? Firestone: “We have changed over the years, in that more and more of our 2,000 members have reached reve- nue levels that were not there in 1997. We have three levels of membership: at Chapter Level, you have to have $1 million in revenues, or $2 million if you’re product-based. Then there is the Platinum Level and the minimum re- quirement for that group is $10 million, with average revenues of $44 million. We also have the Zenith Level, which is for women whose businesses gross over $50 million and average revenues are $150 million. So what has transpired is that the businesses are now larger than they were in 1997. And 25 percent, maybe even 30 percent of our mem- THEWOMEN PRESIDENTS’ ORGANIZATION bers, now are at the over $10 million level.We’ve grown the number of members, chapters, and lo- cations.We’re a global organization–20 percent of our members are international.” BVM: Outside of member dues, are there any other revenue streams that support the WPO? Firestone: “We have 15 major corporations who have supported us over the years because they believe in what the organization is doing.” BVM: How big is the WPO staff, and what are their main priorities? Firestone: “Our staff is about ten. Their main priorities are membership - making sure that our members receive the proper treatment and that we care about them. The major program is a once a month chapter meeting. Each chapter, with a maximum of 20 in it, meets to talk about ideas, operational issues, strategic issues, and to learn from one another. And that helps them to contin- ue to grow their company, or to sell their compa- ny. One of our members from Seattle just closed a deal for her company for $105 million.We love those kinds of stories because they represent what we’re about.” BVM: What’s on the top of your current agenda? Firestone: “Every year, we do a search for the 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Compa- nies.We’ve been doing this for ten years and this year’s search is underway. From the many appli- cations we receive, we select the top 50. Then we announce them at our annual conference, which