Business Briefs

The National Association of Women Business Owners will hold its Central Jersey Business Conference & S.E.E.D. Competition 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 21 at Excelsior Caterers, 355 Route 9 south, Manalapan. Guest speaker will be Susan D. Wigenton, U.S. district judge who sits in Newark and hears civil and criminal matters. Her awards include Women Lawyers in Monmouth Achievement Award, and the Long Branch NAACP Presidential Award. The one-day business conference luncheon will feature workshops designed to benefit all businesses of central New Jersey. Tickets for both members and nonmembers are $80 before April 14 and $90 thereafter. Sponsorships and ad journal entries are still available. For more information and to register for the event, visit www.nawbocentraljersey.org.

The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Central Jersey Chapter will celebrate Women's History Month with the launch of its "Power NAWBO Annual Membership Drive." New members join by April 30 will save $25 off the national dues in all membership categories. In addition, existing members can earn points for new members they bring into the organization during the drive. For more information, visitwww.nawbocentraljersey.org.

The Provident Bank is hosting an essay contest for New Jersey students to commemorate the bank's 170th anniversary. Entry deadline is April 28. Students may pick a favorite president or invention and write an essay about why. The president must have held office or the invention must have been made within the last 170 years. Entries will be sorted into grades five through eight, and grades nine through 12, and one winner will be chosen from each group. Four first-place winners will receive an iPod Touch and a $500 donation to their school's media center or library. Winning essays will be posted on www.ProvidentNJ.com. Four second-place winners will receive an iPod Shuffle and a $50 savings bond, and eight third-place winnerswill receive a $50 savings bond. For contest details, visit www.ProvidentNJ.com/essaycontest.