mark the beginning a long-term alliance between the magazine and the Island's business women, the advocate behind the move said.

WorkingWoman, a New York-based publication with a readership of 3.5 million people, will provide a significant networking opportunity for Bermuda business women, women's rights advocate Valerie Akinstall said.

Ms Akinstall, founder of Akinstall Foundation, an organisation dedicated to the research and development of women's issues, invited Ms Armstrong to come to Bermuda to explore business development and discuss women's issues.

Forging this relationship makes good business sense as many US businesses have subsidiaries in Bermuda, she said.

Ms Akinstall, Bermuda's non-governmental representative at the United Nations Fourth World Conference, said that business women "are becoming a new economic force in Bermuda.'' The form the alliance will take is unknown but it is believed that the magazine will provide a conduit for business women to access the knowledge, resources, issues and business relationships that WorkingWoman has created over its 20 year history.

This alliance will initially afford Ms Armstrong an opportunity to meet key women in Bermuda's business community, Ms Akinstall said.

"We are hoping to introduce WorkingWoman -- beyond the magazine -- to Bermuda,'' Ms Akinstall said.

"We are looking at being very innovative and setting up a long term relationship.'' Bermuda presents and opportunity for new contacts and growth in readership and revenue, Ms Armstrong said.

"We're hoping what we have learned can benefit Bermuda,'' she said.

"One of the amazing economic trends in the US is the growth of women-owned businesses,'' Ms Armstrong, WorkingWoman associate publisher since December 1994, said.

About 7.7 million women in the US own their own business, a 43 percent increase over the past five years, and by the year 2000, women will own half of all US business and occupy half of all management positions, the National Foundation for Women Business Owners said.

"We've dramatically increased our coverage on small business, driven by our readers,'' she said.

While in Bermuda, her official agenda includes a breakfast meeting on Thursday covering women's issues. At that meeting, a business agenda of women's issues will be unveiled.

On Saturday, she will attend a luncheon on work and family programmes in corporate America. Ms Armstrong will be introduced by Justice Norma Wade.

Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation general manager Michelle Khaldun and ACE Ltd. human resources manager Pandora Wright are slated to speak.

Both functions will be at the Sonesta Beach Hotel.

WorkingWoman, published monthly, has 750,000 subscribers and will celebrate its 20th anniversary in November.

The July/August issue features the 25 hottest careers for women. It is an annual in-depth report on which jobs have the most opportunities for women.

The August issue will feature the Working Woman health report targeting stress management.

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