Executive Director, Women Contractors Association
Susan Mitchell Repka has served as a champion for small businesses in the Houston area for more than 15 years. During this time she has had an opportunity to interview hundreds of women business owners about their successes, challenges and even their failures.
The hours spent interviewing and brainstorming with entrepreneurs assisted Repka in providing advice and resources to start-up businesses and those that are ready to take it to the next level.
One resource is The Houston Galveston Women’s Business Center, founded in 2010 by the WBEA, while Repka served as the Executive Director. Repka found that entrepreneurs, who had a strong foundation at the startup phase of their businesses, were usually more successful. HGWBC provides the consultants and workshops for business owners to build that foundation.
In 2013, Repka joined The Women Contractors Association (WCA), which is an advocate for women in the construction industry. WCA was instrumental in the reinstatement of WBE goals in the City of Houston construction contracts. WCA worked closely with Houston City Council and the Office of Business Opportunity for more than five years to ensure that women contractors had the opportunity to bid on all of the construction happening in Houston.
Repka has been hearing impaired since 2008; however, has not let that handicap stop her continued fight for small businesses. She believes that it is small businesses that are the backbone of our economy. She currently serves on the GPC Planning Committee and is a strong supporter of Small Business Saturday.
In 2010, Repka was named one of Houston’s Most Influential Women by the Houston Woman Magazine and one of the Top 25 Women of Houston by rollingout.com. She is a graduate of Leadership Houston, Class XXXI.
Repka currently resides in Hempstead, Texas. She is married with two grown children and six grandchildren.
