|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Mary Schnack Media Services
800-529-9599; mary@prworks.ms
Women-Owned Businesses Thrive in California
California is experiencing rapid expansion in the number
of women-owned businesses, as well as significant increases
in employment and revenues generated, according to a 2002
analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released by the Center
for Women's Business Research and Wells Fargo. This report
updates a 1999 Wells Fargo study and documents that women-owned
businesses are continuing to grow faster than the economy
in these leading areas.
Titled "Women-Owned Businesses in 2002: Trends in the
U.S. and the 50 States," the report shows that the number
of women-owned businesses in California increased 36 percent
during the past six years. At the same time, women-owned firms
employ more than 1.4 million people and generate nearly $195.7
billion in sales. California leads the country as the state
with the most women-owned businesses based on the number of
firms, number of employees and sales generated.
"The increasing number of women-owned businesses and
their growing economic impact are changing the business landscape,"
said Cristi Cristich, President of the California Chapter
of NAWBO and owner of Cristek Interconnects, Inc. in Anaheim.
"Women entrepreneurs are active in the business marketplace
- accessing capital, buying technology, using the Internet
to expand their businesses, and establishing retirement plans
in much the same way as their male counterparts."
While the largest share of women-owned firms are in the service
sector, the greatest growth in the number of women-owned firms
continues to be in "non-traditional" industries.
In California, as in the nation as a whole, most women-owned
firms are in services and retail trade. From 1997 to 2002,
the greatest growth in the number of women-owned firms in
California was seen in construction (36 percent); agricultural
services (27 percent); transportation, communications and
public utilities (24 percent) and finance, insurance and real
estate (14 percent), according to the Center's report.
The report is based on estimates that are derived by using
growth rates specially provided by the U.S. Bureau of the
Census. Due to changes in the way the Census Bureau defined
a woman-owned business, the "1997 Survey of Women-Owned
Business Enterprises" does not count some firms that
were included in the past - those in which a woman owns 50%
of the business and publicly traded women-owned firms. Since
the agency is now counting only privately-held, majority-owned
firms, the data was not directly comparable to data gathered
previously. Thus, the Census Bureau reconfigured the 1992
data based on the 1997 definition, and provided growth rates
during that span of time for women-owned firms and all firms
(including sole proprietorships, partnerships, and subchapter
S corporations).
The Center for Women's Business Research, founded as the National
Foundation for Women Business Owners, is a nonprofit research
and leadership development institute. Corporations, policy
makers, financial institutions and the media recognize CWBR
as the premier source of information and intelligence on women
business owners and their enterprises. CWBR is affiliated
with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).
NAWBO California is a consortium of nine metro NAWBO chapters
throughout the state.
Contact the Center at 202-638-3060 for details, or visit
their web site at www.womensbusinessresearch.org.
NAWBO California can be reached at 1-888-NAW-BOCA (888-629-2622).
###
For interviews with local women business
owners,
please call Mary Schnack Media Services at 800-529-7599.
|
