Prepared by the National Women’s Business Council December 2002

 Issue in Brief

Support for Women’s Enterprise in the 

United States: Lessons Learned 

“Never doubt that that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. 

Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead, anthropologist 

Support for women business owners and their enterprises 

in the United States, while frequently considered a role 

model for other nations, is a relatively recent phenomenon. 

Only over the past decade have several disparate elements 

of activity coalesced into what some may call a movement, 

but what is, in reality, a loose confederation of public and 

private sector efforts that have resulted in: 

1) increased public awareness of the contributions and 

challenges of women business owners and their 

enterprises; 

2) significantly greater public and private sector support 

for women’s enterprise development; 

3) a proliferation of non-governmental organizations 

supporting women’s enterprises, and 

4) growth in the number, diversity and impact of 

women’s business associations. 

Planting the Seeds 

Women have started, owned and inherited businesses 

in the United States since the founding of the country, yet 

official recognition and support for women’s enterprise 

development has been in existence only for the past 25 

years. The groundswell that seems to have begun in the 

mid to late 1970’s may have been sparked by a number of 

concurrent events: the women’s movement for equal rights 

in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s; the Equal Credit 

Opportunity Act of 1974, which forbade credit 

discrimination on the basis of gender; the formation of the 

National Association of Women Business Owners in 1975; 

and the expansion of government business census 

programs to include an analysis of gender, which occurred 

first in the 1977 census. 

The first Federal government program to assist 

women’s business enterprises came as the direct result of 

lobbying from women business owners. Due to their 

efforts not only in lobbying the Federal government but in 

urging the appointment of women in key agency positions, 

an interagency government task force was created, and a 

research study was conducted to review the status of 

women-owned firms in the U.S. The resulting report, “The 

Bottom Line: Unequal Enterprise in America,” 

documented some of the barriers that women faced in 

starting and growing their businesses. In response to the 

report, President Jimmy Carter issued an executive order in 

1979 establishing an Office of Women’s Business 

Ownership within the U.S. Small Business Administration. 

Shortly thereafter, a pilot loan program was 

established, the office began working with Federal 

procurement officials to get more women-owned 

businesses involved in selling goods and services to the 

government, and began reaching out to the women’s 

business community through speeches, conferences, and 

news releases. 

Moving Forward 

Although the establishment of a Federal office for 

women’s business enterprise was an important first step, 

women business owners felt that more action was needed. 

As a result of their continued efforts, the U.S. Congress 

passed the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 

(also known as House Resolution 5050), which gave the 

Office of Women’s Business Ownership programmatic 

responsibilities – most notably the “Women’s 

Demonstration Project,” which has burgeoned into 

support for over 80 women’s business centers around the 

country as of 2002. 

This landmark legislation also established the National 

Women’s Business Council, a public policy advisory body 

comprised of women business owners and women’s 

business association representatives. Its mission is to 

promote initiatives, policies and programs designed to 

support women’s business enterprises at all stages of 

development, and to serve as an independent source of 

advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the 

U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of 

importance to women business owners. The Council thus 

409 3rd Street, SW, Suite 210  Washington, DC 20024  202-205-3850 (p)  202-205-6825 (f)  www.nwbc.gov
 

serves a needed role as the public policy voice for women 

business owners in the Federal government. 

At this same time, a private sector organization was 

formed which has also played a critical role in women’s 

enterprise development in the U.S. Established in 1989, 

the National Foundation for Women Business Owners – 

now known as the Center for Women’s Business Research 

– has amassed an unparalleled body of research-based 

knowledge about women business owners and their 

enterprises. Through its efforts, the Center has raised 

public awareness of important trends in women’s business 

ownership, highlighted the challenges being faced, and 

provided facts and figures for use in public education and 

advocacy efforts. 

What We Know Now 

The current state of women’s business ownership in 

the United States is very strong. The number of womenowned businesses continues to grow at twice the rate of all 

U.S. firms, and these firms are increasing in economic 

clout. Between 1997 and 2002, the number of womenowned firms grew by 14%, the number of firms with 

employees grew by 37%, the number of those employed in 

women-owned firms increased by 30%, and firm revenues 

rose by 40%. There are now 6.2 million majority-owned, 

privately held women-owned firms in the U.S., accounting 

for 28% of all businesses, employing 9.2 million workers 

and generating nearly $1.2 trillion USD in revenues. If 

jointly-owned and publicly-traded firms are included in the 

population, the numbers are even more impressive: 9.1 

million women-owned firms, accounting for 38% of all 

businesses, employing 27.5 million workers and generating 

$3.6 trillion in revenues. 

 Women-owned businesses are also becoming 

increasingly diverse. As strong as the growth of womenowned firms is overall, the number and growth of firms 

owned by women of color is even stronger – twice the rate 

of all women-owned firms and four times the rate of all 

U.S. firms. Further, women are expanding into nontraditional industries, such as construction, manufacturing, 

agribusiness, and transportation. 

 Despite this impressive growth, we still know that 

women in business continue to face challenges. Primary 

among them are: access to capital, access to markets, 

access to training and technical assistance, access to 

networks, and the need for legitimacy – to be taken 

seriously as business owners, employers, and contributors 

to economic growth. Research has shown these to be key 

challenges for women business owners around the world. 

To address these challenges, the United States is 

blessed with a wide range of public and private sector 

groups that are working to increase economic 

opportunities for women. There are a growing number of 

women’s business associations organized by geography, 

industry, and level of achievement. Corporations have 

substantially increased their efforts to market to and 

purchase from women-owned businesses. Foundations 

focused on entrepreneurship support are becoming more 

visible and active. And there are many state and local 

government initiatives in the area of women’s business 

development in addition to the Federal efforts summarized 

here. 

Lessons Learned 

What lessons can be learned from the U.S. experience? 

I would suggest that there are three important universal 

truths to share: 

1) Ideally, the impetus for action and implementation 

should come from the women business owner 

community. Neither public sector agencies nor nongovernmental supporting organizations have the drive, 

the enthusiasm, or the sustained commitment 

necessary to persist through changes in political 

leadership. 

2) Sustainable support for women’s business 

development, however, can only be achieved if there is 

active involvement not only from women business 

owners and their organizations but from government 

AND from non-governmental organizations 

supporting enterprise development. These key groups 

form a “three-legged stool” of support for women’s 

business development; the absence of any one of them 

will significantly lessen the ability to achieve sustained 

change. 

3) Having accurate, reliable and timely research-based 

information is a critical component in making the case 

for policy action and for monitoring progress (or lack 

thereof). Gender disaggregated government business 

information is extremely important, as is survey 

research information on the characteristics and 

challenges of women (and men) business owners. 

Research is a vitally important tool for both program 

development and public policy action. 

By Julie R. Weeks 

Executive Director, NWBC 

julie.weeks@sba.gov. 

The National Women’s Business Council is a bi-partisan 

Federal advisory council created to serve as an independent 

source of advice and policy recommendations to the President, 

Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on 

economic matters of importance to women business owners. 

The Council is committed to conducting research on issues 

of importance to women business owners; communicating these 

findings widely; connecting the women’s business community to 

public policy makers; and instigating change to expand and 

improve opportunities for women business owners.