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What do women business owners really want? Networking opportunities and professional education are high on the list, say members of the Central Iowa chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

According to a survey of the chapter’s 55 members conducted in February, 77 percent said the ability to strengthen networking and referrals was the top benefit the organization offered, followed by education, information and resources (53 percent) and professional and personal development (47 percent).

“For the last three years, we have decided that we really wanted to focus on education resources for our members,” said Cherish Anderson, president of the Central Iowa chapter, who said the chapter’s membership has increased by 42 percent in the past year.

Among those educational opportunities have been monthly lunch meetings on subjects requested by the members, such as this month’s discussion of project planning.

Last year, the chapter organized an inaugural Women Mean Business Summit, which will be held again this year on May 26. The keynote speaker at the event will be Marilee Adams, founder and president of the New Jersey-based Inquiry Institute and author of “Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 10 Powerful Tools for Life and Work.”

Adams, who teaches at several top universities, among them the Key Executive Leadership Program at American University’s School of Public Affairs, has found that asking the right questions can provide a foundation for success for businesswomen.

“We came upon her studies through a fellow member who moved here from New Jersey,” Anderson said. “Her message is really about the economy, what women need to do to survive in the new economy. … In our survey of our membership, her message just really resonated with our members.”

The summit will also serve as a vehicle for recognizing achievement by women business owners, Anderson said. Two newly created awards – the Connie Wimer Spirit Award and the Aspiring Women Business Owner Award – will be presented during the event. Wimer, chairman of Business Publications LLC, publisher of the Business Record, will receive the first Spirit Award, and will also participate in a panel discussion during the summit, “Conversations With Women Extraordinaire: Leaps of Faith in Jumping to the Next Level.”

Networking opportunities are also available through the chapter’s informal coffee meetings, which are held twice a month at coffeehouses around Greater Des Moines.

Though one-third of the chapter’s members have five or fewer employees and more than half the members are sole proprietors, the organization also has a few members whose businesses exceed $1 million in annual sales.

“We would like to attract some of the larger women-owned businesses in Des Moines and have a better representation,” Anderson said, “which we feel will help the smaller businesses to learn secrets to sustain and grow.”

For a schedule of upcoming events, visit www.nawbo-ci.org.