Seated behind a desk in her Mandeville office, Maura Donahue wrinkled her nose and stared intently, concentrating on the question just asked. She answered simply.

"I have an opinion and I like my opinion to be heard."

That, said Donahue, is how she knows she's ready for the challenge that awaits her.

Indeed, Donahue, who will make history in June when she becomes chairwoman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has a lot to say. She is in training for a yearlong journey as head of an organization she termed the "voice of the business community."

Donahue, 54, will become the first woman, the first Louisianian and the first small-business operator to chair the U.S. Chamber. She is president of DonahueFavret Holding Corp. and vice president of the Mandeville-based DonahueFavret Contractors Inc., a company her husband, Jack, founded in 1979.

Donahue serves on the boards of GNO Inc., the St. Tammany Parish Economic Development Foundation and Resource Bank. Donahue also has served on the board of Louisiana's Republican State Central Committee and was chairwoman of the board of the St. Tammany Parish Chamber of Commerce.

The New Orleans native and Covington resident is the seventh of eight children born to a city employee and USDA clerk. She is a graduate of the Academy of the Sacred Heart and what is now the University of Louisiana where she earned a degree in sociology.

She began work with the U.S. Chamber seven years ago, and now is vice chairwoman of the organization, which is based in Washington. Among other things, the U.S. Chamber tracks legislative and regulatory issues that affect businesses profits.

The Chamber represents 3 million businesses, including Fortune 500 firms and one-person operations.

Most in that community, about 96 percent, are small businesses, with 100 or fewer employees. Donahue said she will focus much of her one-year term assisting them.

"The agenda for all business is in sync with small businesses," she said.

She plans to tackle three main issues during her term: health care, legal changes and tax policies. But others -- -- infrastructure improvements, free trade and fighting bureaucratic red tape -- -- are also important to her.

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Jaquetta White
jwhite@timespicayune.com