Southeast Missouri State University alumna and the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Scrubs & Beyond L.L.C. Karla Bakersmith will be the main speaker at this year's fourth annual Power of Women luncheon and expo.

Bakersmith is a 1981 Southeast graduate and has become a successful local business owner with a chain of 30 stores. She was also named the recipient of the St. Louis Business Journal's Most Influential Business Woman award in 2004.

The Power of Women luncheon will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday at the Show Me Center and will focus on outstanding women of the Southeast community, entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Southeast Alumni Association President Vicki Boren will present the Power of Women scholarships during the event.

"This is our fourth year that there were three of us that felt there was a need to celebrate the women we have had on campus and in history," Director of Planned Giving Trudy Lee said. "We are excited we can celebrate awards of scholarships and be able to feature the recipients. We are featuring the students who had received the awards in a video, too.

"The extra proceeds from this event will go to towards the scholarships. We are thankful we can add to the scholarship opportunities. The sponsors will be accessible, available and present. Some of the sponsors are Edward Jones, River Radio and Saint Francis Medical Center."

According to the Southeast website, the Power of Women scholarship is awarded to full-time students who have completed at least 30 hours with a minimum of a 2.75 grade point average. First preference is a female student, and it requires a personal essay and a reference from a non-family member.

The expo is designed for local businesses, campus organizations and community groups to come and communicate with students about their opportunities during and after college.

"The main goal of this is to provide opportunities for our students here at Southeast to connect with women on campus, in the community and in the region to encourage them to pursue their goals, whether it be to connect with mentors, business people or to just get support in scholarships," Lee said.

According to Alumni Event Coordinator Chloe Tubbs, the expo will feature businesses like travel companies, the campus foundation and the company Jamberry.

"This is my first year being able to help with this," Tubbs said. "I am very excited to see how it is done. This is a great opportunity for students to see what all is actually available to them. There will be students attending this in addition to local businesses, businesses from St. Louis, staff and faculty and other representatives. This is actually not just for women, it is to network with local and new businesses. How it works is that there will be businesses at a table and at each table there will be two student ambassadors. The businesses buy the tables and students will be put at a table with the companies. We will pair them up by their interest, which will allow them to communicate opportunities."

This event is free for students who pick up a ticket at the University Center in the Campus Life and Event Services office.

"Students have to pick up a ticket at the UC, room 414," Lee said. "Thanks to student government, we are able to allow students to have free admission. It is open to any student. Students can also help and volunteer for this event and will be given a seat for a table."