President Bush has nominated Air Force Secretary James Roche to replace Army Secretary Thomas White, who was fired April 25.

New Mexico oilman Colin McMillan was nominated to be the Navy secretary.

Published reports say Barbara Barrett, an Arizona Republican and former Federal Aviation Administration official, is a leading candidate to be Navy secretary, although no announcement has been made.

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The Defense Department is considering policy changes related to government property in the possession of contractors. DOD said the changes relate to item marking and valuing (providing cost information) for tangible items such as contractor acquired property and tangible item deliverables. A public meeting to discuss the potential changes is scheduled for May 28 at the Logistics Management Institute in McLean, VA. For directions to the site, go to http://www.lmi.org.

To pre-register, contact Claudia Low by telephone at 703- 917-7264; by fax at 703-917-7066; or by e-mail at clow@lmi.org.

Written comments may be submitted until June 9 to Michael.Canales@osd.mil.

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The General Services Administration has signed a Partnering Charter with the National Organization of Minority Architects to help ensure that minority architects are aware of and encouraged to seek GSA projects.

The objectives of the partnership are to establish ongoing lines of communication and the productive exchange of information, particularly as it relates to industry and government best practices and state-of-the-art design practices.

GSA has Partnering Charters with many major professional design organizations.

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Businesses owned or co-owned by women account for 46% of the nation’s privately held firms, according to a report commissioned by the Center for Women’s Business Research.

There are 10.1 million of those businesses, meaning one out of every 11 women is a business owner, the center said.

“By adding the privately held businesses that are 50% women-owned to the privately held majority women-owned firms, we get a more complete picture of the economic vitality of women’s entrepreneurship,” said the center’s chair, Myra Hart, a Harvard Business School professor.

The Census Bureau counts a business as woman-owned only if a woman owns more than 50% of the equity.

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SBA has established the E-Business Institute, an online virtual classroom of business courses, workshops, information resources, learning tools and counseling assistance.

There are 16 training categories with more than 70 interactive courses and electronic guides to provide educational tools and resources on entrepreneurship. Many of the courses include audio sound bytes, quizzes and feedback. They can be accessed online at www.sba.gov/training.

The site also features a virtual library with more than 200 free E-books and publications, links to the top business magazines and national newspapers, direct links to colleges and universities that offer online business courses and programs, and a section for young entrepreneurs.

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SBA has named 12 members to its Advisory Committee on Veterans Affairs.

The group’s mission is to advise the agency on programs that affect veteran-owned businesses. Three other members will be appointed shortly, SBA said.

The committee will be composed of eight veterans who are owners of small businesses and seven representatives of veterans’ organizations. The members announced so far are: James E. Altmeyer of Wheeling, WV; Bob J. Archuleta of Los Angeles; James G. Blair of San Diego, CA; L. Jerry Caton of Dublin, CA; Dennis DeMolet of Dayton, OH; David W. Haughey of Salt Lake City, UT; Samuel Metters of McLean, VA; Ron Miller of Dawsonville, GA; John M. O’Brien of Coronado, CA; Elvin Clarence Toppin of Edenton, NC; Shane Edward Walsh of Pearland, TX; and Joe Wyant of Gainesville, GA.

The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce noted that all those appointees are men. It urged its members to write SBA to push for the inclusion of women on the panel.