When comparing Indiana’s business climate with other Midwestern states, we must admit we’re doing better.
On Oct. 14, Secretary of Commerce Mitch Roob noted that in a national site selection magazine that we’re ranked sixth in the U.S. for places to do business.
This is great news for business, but we shouldn’t be willing to settle at that point. Just this year, we found that the growth of women-owned businesses, the fastest growing ownership group in the U.S., continues to lag here in Indiana.
Based on results of the 2007 Survey of Business Owners completed by the Census Bureau, the number of women-owned businesses in Indiana increased only 9 percent from 2002 to 2007, half the national average.
Having a low growth rate in an area where the rest of the U.S. is ramping up efforts and putting in place programs to increase the success rate for this group could allow millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to go to other states.
In May, the subject was highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, which noted revenues of majority women-owned businesses were only 2 percent behind their majority male-owned counterparts. Moreover, employment by women-owned firms increased by 2 percent while their male counterparts decreased by 1 percent.
“Although it is encouraging to see women-owned businesses growing nationally, these numbers represent 2007 numbers, which was prior to the recession’s greatest impact. We know that to continue to achieve, we need to advance our focus on developing women-owned businesses,” said Barb Johnson, program director for Women’s Enterprise, a program of the Women’s Bureau. “While the number of women-owned businesses continues to grow, they are still smaller in size and scale compared to traditional male firms.”
Local business owner Stacey Smith attributes the disparity in large part to inadequate access to capital, exposure to technology developments that lead to high revenue businesses and the continued cultural responsibilities associated with family.
“One of the items noted within the Wall Street Journal article was that when men start firms, they have a goal for them to grow quickly and be very large,” Smith said. “Women tend to start businesses to be professionally challenged and to integrate work and family. They additionally want to stay at a size where they manage all aspects of the business.
“Small business development programs favor the male model by focusing almost exclusively on start-up planning, marketing advice and budget planning with the goal of getting a business ‘up and running.’ We need to put as much emphasis on planning for future growth, mentoring for acquisition and merger training, and on growing the middle tier of business.”
To continue to add that level of training and access, the Women’s Enterprise program has recently penned an agreement with the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center to integrate their programs as the two entities consider a co-location plan.
By more closely aligning their programs, Women’s Enterprise will be able to continue to serve its core constituents while offering the NIIC’s resources when the clients are ready to move to the next level.
An economic recovery might well be fueled by nurturing women-owned businesses. The number of women-owned businesses increased by 46 percent to 5.8 million from 2002 to 2007, more than twice the national rate of all U.S. businesses, according to the Census Bureau.
“The future is bright,” Johnson said. “Women’s Enterprise is committed to making sure the growth and competitiveness of women-owned businesses continues so that we move toward economic parity in northeast Indiana and throughout the nation. Our ultimate goal is to create a healthier, wealthier nation overall.”
Jeanette Dillon is the chief external officer for the Fort Wayne Women’s Bureau. She wrote this for The Journal Gazette.