Traci Williams, president and CEO of Crescent Construction Services LLC in Salisbury, has been named the Small Business Administration’s 2012 North Carolina Women in Business Champion of the Year.
This award honors Williams for her commitment to the advancement of women’s business ownership. She was nominated by Tara Olsen, co-CEO of Allpoints Research in Winston-Salem.
The award recognizes Williams for her active support to help small businesses, efforts to increase business and financial opportunities for women, volunteer efforts to strengthen the role of women business owners within the community and other accomplishments demonstrating effectiveness in improving the environment for women in business.
“The SBA serves an important role in the recognition and support of small businesses,” said Williams. “I am honored and humbled to receive this award.”
Williams’ efforts to support women business owners include serving as the Board of Directors’ secretary for the Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC), a certifying partner for the Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). GWBC’s mission is to increase the competitive advantage of women in business through certification of Women Business Enterprises (WBE). GWBC also provides education and development programs and opportunities for networking and events for WBEs.
In addition to serving as secretary of the GWBC, Williams also serves as the N.C. Chair of the Voice Committee. The Voice Forum Committee’s mission is to promote, translate and advocate the needs, issues and benefits of the certified WBEs. Their goal is to facilitate business opportunities and education for all qualified certified participants of the Greater Women’s Business Council.
Through Williams involvement with GWBC, she has helped to establish local programming in N.C. designed to educate and empower women business owners across the state. These events, called PACE (Personal Achievement through Continuing Education), bring women business owners together to discuss relevant business issues from public policy to access to capital. They also partner with corporate members of the GWBC to provide procurement education and opportunities.
Crescent is a commercial construction inspection and survey firm. Williams is also CEO of ToraLab, LLC. ToraLab is a division of Crescent that specializes in developing mobile applications for the construction industry.