Largest
Women-Owned Firms Have
Increasing Economic Power
The
expansion in the number of women-owned businesses with 100 or more employees,
as well as those with $1 million or more in revenues, is outpacing the
growth rate of all businesses of the same size, according to a new study
from Center for Womens Business Research (founded as the National
Foundation for Women Business Owners). The study also documents that
women-owned businesses are as financially robust and creditworthy as
all businesses, regardless of size.
The study,
Removing the Boundaries: The Continued Progress and Achievement
of Women-Owned Enterprises takes an in-depth look at the characteristics
of commercially active women-owned firms in the United States between
December 1997 and December 2000, focusing on growth and financial
strength.
Women-owned
businesses are exhibiting a tremendous momentum in growth and are
expanding rapidly as a percent of the U.S. business economy,
said Nina McLemore, chair of Center for Womens Business Research
and president of Regent Capital.
The study
found that the number of women-owned firms with 100 or more employees
increased by 43.9 percent, which was 68 percent faster than all businesses breaking
the 100 employee mark during the 1997 to 2000 period.
The ranks of women-owned firms with 500 or more employees are expanding
even faster. The number of these firms increased by 124.3 percent over the
same period, nearly triple the growth rate among all firms of this
size.
Further,
the number of women-owned firms with revenues of $10 million or more
grew by 36.8 percent, more than three times the rate of comparably-sized
firms.
The study
also reaffirms that women-owned businesses are just as financially
robust and creditworthy as the average U.S. firm. This new and
compelling information demonstrates women-owned firms continuing
vitality and growth, said John Guy, Small Business Segment executive
for Wachovia. There are no differences between the scores registered
by women-owned firms and the scores of the average U.S. firm in three
key measures — bill payment, financial stress and overall creditworthiness.
On a five-point scale of financial stress, the vast majority of women-owned
and all firms are at the low end of the scale, with 74.3 percent of women-owned
and 70.6 percent of all firms under very low levels of financial stress.
In addition, when assessing overall creditworthiness, 65.7 percent of women-owned
firms have a low to moderate credit risk rating, compared to 62.9 percent
of all firms.
The age
profile of women-owned businesses is moving toward that of all firms,
although women-owned firms are still somewhat younger than the average
U.S. firm. There is significant growth in the number of early stage
growth women-owned firms — more than one-third (37.7 percent) of women-owned
firms are from three to 11 years old, compared to 29.6 percent of all U.S.
firms.
Click
here for more information at the Center for Womens Business
Research website.
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