Kathy White isn’t just in the business of selling office furniture.  She helps companies make a great first impression, whether they are Fortune 500 enterprises with branches all over the country, or local firms where everyone is on a first-name basis.  Her company, Business Interiors, has been making impressions and providing solutions for nearly 40 years.

White’s mother, Joan Miller, started the company in 1970 at the urging of friends who recognized her talent for interior design.  "I was brought up in a very entrepreneurial household, and I had a great role model in my mother," says White.  Although Miller had three children, she worked on drawings in the evenings and later hired a part-time bookkeeper and then a designer to help her expand the business.  Today, Miller is chair of the board, and White has been president and chief executive officer for the past eight years.

White grew up in the business, helping in accounting, with inventories, and on other projects.  When she officially came on board, it was after earning a degree in business from the University of Colorado and then working in public accounting, finance, and information technology with KPMG in Denver and Miller Business Systems in Arlington, TX.  Over time, she became the chief financial officer for Business Interiors and was able to provide leadership in her area of expertise—finance—and oversee the company’s transition to a new computer system.

Her WBE certification has helped her not only to gain access to new customers, but also to find sources of support and advice as her business has grown and taken on new challenges.

Cynthia Johnson, member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Women's Business Development Center and 2005 recipient of the Star Award says, "WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council) is a national member organization of major corporations and certified women-owned businesses, that has a goal of fostering business opportunities."

We congratulate Kathy White, for this special honor.