The Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce appointed Sandy Bartow executive director of the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center in the fall of 2004.  Prior to arriving in Jacksonville, Sandy was co-founder and executive director of the Kansas Women’s Business Center.  In 2007, Sandy was appointed as Executive Director of the Chamber’s Small Business Center in addition to her duties with the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center.  A well-respected expert in the field of small business, she was born into an entrepreneurial family, and continues to espouse entrepreneurship in her many roles. These have included twenty-plus years of business ownership; consulting with small business owners, and teaching small business classes for Wayne State University. Working with thousands of business owners, she says working as the executive director of the business centers has marked the culmination of her professional life as an entrepreneur, business consultant, and instructor for small businesses.
 
Sandy has won awards, appointments and honors, too numerous to mention here, in both Kansas and Jacksonville as well as on a national level.  Most recently her honors include being selected as a Jacksonville Business Journal 2006 Women of Influence Honoree and the individual mentor award at the Jacksonville Business Journal’s Mosaic Awards.  She was recently appointed to a three-year, federal term on the National Women’s Business Council, a bi-partisan group who advise the President of the United States, Congress, and the Small Business Administration on women’s business issues.   While in Kansas City she won the Small Business Administration’s National Women in Business Advocate Award for the Year 2002; was named Women’s Business Advocate of the Year for the State of Kansas, and was honored by Wayne State University in Michigan as national Business Instructor of the Year in 2001.   In addition to her many awards, Sandy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with concentrations in Business and Literature from Vermont College and a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from the University of Florida.  Happily married to Terry Bartow, Head of School for Jacksonville Country Day School, Mrs. Bartow enjoys time with her two adult sons, Bill and Bryon, and their families, along with her four amazing stepchildren, Elliott, Tim, Katie and Samantha, ages 21 to 15.