Women-Owned Firms

in Federal Procurement:

A Comparative Analysis

Prepared for

The National Women’s Business Council

Prepared by

The National Foundation

for Women Business Owners

© NFWBO, April 1999

1411 K Street, NW, Suite 1350

Washington, DC 20005-3407

(202) 638-3060

Fax (202) 638-3064

E-mail: info@NFWBO.org

Home page: http://www.nfwbo.org
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Introduction .......................................................... 1

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Women-Owned Firms in Federal Procurement .............................. 5

The Leading Female Federal Contractors .................................. 6

A Comparative Analysis of Women-Owned Firms in Federal Procurement ......... 7

Geographic Location ........................................ 7

Industry Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Other Firm Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Conclusions and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Summary of Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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In its 1998 annual report to Congress, the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC)

reported on a statistical study it had undertaken concerning women-owned firms in Federal

contracting. This analysis showed that the participation of women-owned firms in Federal

contracting had grown from $3.2 billion in fiscal year 1987 to $5.2 billion in 1997. In FY1997,

some 5,722 women-owned businesses were involved in 446,332 prime contract actions

amounting to $3.3 billion. Another $2.3 billion was awarded to women-owned enterprises in

subcontract actions. 

During the course of that study, the NWBC obtained some detailed information on many of the

individual contract actions performed by women-owned firms in 1997, including the amount of

awards, the industry category of the awards, and the location of the businesses. This report is

an analysis of that ground-breaking new database. It is hoped that this first-ever, in-depth

review of the characteristics of women-owned firms in Federal contracting — and a comparison

of those characteristics with those of all women-owned firms — will enable public policy makers,

government procurement officials, women business owners themselves, and other interested

parties to gain a greater understanding of the tenacious women entrepreneurs who are

providing over $5 billion in products and services to Federal government agencies. This

knowledge may be used by public policy makers to develop more effective policies governing

Federal procurement, by service providers to develop programs to better reach these women

and to encourage other women-owned firms to become involved in selling their products and

services to Federal government agencies.
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n fiscal year 1997, women-owned businesses comprised 8.3% of Federal prime contractors.

These businesses were involved in 4.1% of the prime contract actions, and received 2.1% of

Federal prime contract awards.



The top 20 women-owned prime Federal contractors received over $519 million in contract

awards in FY1997 — 15% of the awards summarized in the database. The products and

services they provided to Federal agencies ranged from building maintenance and data

processing to construction and computer-related services, including guidance systems

research.



When comparing the distribution of women-owned Federal contractors with the distribution

of all women-owned businesses in the U.S., the following states are found to be more

likely than average to be home to women-owned Federal contractors: Virginia, Maryland,

District of Columbia, Alabama, Alaska, New Mexico, Oregon, Hawaii, and Idaho. Conversely,

these states are under-represented in terms of the share of women-owned Federal contractors

compared to the distribution of all women-owned firms: New York, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana,

Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa.



Contract dollars are flowing in a geographically disproportionate manner as well. Womenowned federal contractors in the following states were awarded, on average, over $1 million

per firm in fiscal year 1997, well above the $700,000 average contract award: Pennsylvania,

Maryland, Alabama, Oklahoma, District of Columbia, Texas, and Virginia. The states with the
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lowest average awards, receiving less than $250,000, were: Vermont, Iowa, Rhode Island,

Arkansas, Maine, West Virginia, and Washington.



Federal purchases are most likely to be in the areas of durable manufactured goods,

engineering/management services or construction. Two-thirds of all awards in FY1997 were

made in those three industry categories. Not surprisingly, then, women who were awarded

contracts in the industries of construction, durable manufacturing and engineering/management

services were those most likely to be engaged in Federal contracting. At the other end of the

spectrum, women who provided retail trade and personal services were the least likely to be

awarded Federal contracts in FY1997.



Looking at the ‘market penetration’ of women-owned firms by industry finds that 24% of the

Federal prime contract awards in the retail trade industry were made to women-owned firms,

as were 12.5% of the personal services contract awards. At the other end of the spectrum,

women-owned firms were awarded only 0.5% of the awards in mining, and just 0.6% in durable

manufacturing. In just four industries — retail trade (24%), personal services (12.5%),

agriculture/forestry (9.5%), and business services (5%) — was the share of contract awards

going to women-owned firms significantly higher than the 2.1% average for awards in all

industries.


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Women-owned firms that are involved in Federal procurement have a similar age profile as

all women-owned firms in the U.S. One in five (20%) of Federal contractors had been in

business for 20 years or more, as had 19% of all women-owned firms.



Although their companies have been in business for a similar period of time, women-owned

Federal contractors own much more substantial enterprises than the typical woman-owned

firm. The average number of employees in women-owned Federal contractor firms was 52.2,

compared to 2.3 among all full-time women-owned firms. The average annual revenues of

women-owned Federal contractors were $5.3 million, compared to under $300,000 for all fulltime women-owned businesses. Thus, women-owned firms that are involved in Federal

procurement have, on average, 1,742% higher sales and employ 23 times more employees

than the average woman-owned firm.



The economic impact that involvement in Federal procurement may provide is highest for

women-owned firms in the finance/insurance/real estate (FIRE) or services sectors. The

women-owned businesses that provide those services to the federal government are

significantly larger in terms of both employment and sales than women-owned firms in general

in those industries. Women-owned Federal prime contractors in FIRE average $4.5 million in

sales and employ 109 people on average, compared to $387,000 in sales and an average 2

employees for all women-owned firms in the sector. For women-owned firms in services, sales

and employment are 6,181% and 4,702% larger, respectively, compared to all women-owned

firms in the sector. Even in industries where the impact is lowest (manufacturing and wholesale

trade), women-owned firms involved in Federal procurement show 100% to 500% higher sales

and employment than the averages for women-owned firms in those industries.


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In FY1997, Women-Owned Firms...

comprised 8.3% of 

Federal prime contractors,

were involved in 4.1% of 

contract actions, and

received 2.1% of Federal 

prime contract awards.

8.3

4.1

2.1

Contractors

Actions

Awards

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Percent of Total

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners

(c) 1999, NFWBO

	



	





According to Federal government procurement records, in fiscal year 1997, a total of 68,838

companies were awarded prime contracts — meaning contracts directly between a

government agency and that enterprise, not involving an intermediary company or award.

These “prime contractors” were involved in a total of 10.8 million separate contract actions

amounting to $157 billion.

Counted among these companies were 5,722 women-owned firms. These businesses were

involved in 446,332 separate contract actions amounting to $3.3 billion. In fiscal year 1997,

women-owned businesses

comprised 8.3% of

Federal prime contractors.

These businesses were

involved in 4.1% of the

prime contract actions,

and received 2.1% of

Federal prime contract

awards.

Who are these womenowned firms? How do the

characteristics of these

businesses compare with

the characteristics of all

8.5 million women-owned businesses in the country? This analysis will answer those questions. 
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*	+

	





Who are the leading women-owned prime Federal contractors? The top 20 women-owned

prime contractors in the NWBC database received over $519 million in contract awards in

FY1997 — 15% of the total awards summarized in the database. The products and services

they provided to Federal agencies ranged from building maintenance and data processing to

construction and computer-related services, including guidance systems research. Here is a

summary of the leading women-owned Federal contractors in fiscal year 1997.

Top 20 Women-Owned Federal Contractors in FY1997

Name of Company State

Nature of Procured

Products/Services

# of

Awards

Total Awards,

FY1997 ($000)

I-Net, Inc.*

Mevatec Corporation

Sytel, Inc.

Presidio Corporation

Research Analysis and

Maintenance

MD

AL

MD

MD

TX

info. systems management

commercial physical

research

computer software,

programming

computer-related services

computer-related services

41

12

13

16

4

$87,220

40,720

34,281

32,556

30,452

Furniture by Thurston, Inc.

R&D Maintenance Services 

JW Holding Group & Associates*

Alexanders Moving and Storage

Computer Systems Technology

CA

OK

IN

MD

AL

draperies, furniture

facilities support services

food, groceries

warehousing

commercial physical

research, computer-related

services

7

6

5

5

14

26,696

24,605

23,070

21,691

21,388

Dynamac Corporation

Aliron International

Pat Mathis Construction Co

Business Control Systems

Arist Corporation*

MD

DC

GA

TX

VA

data processing, business

services

health services

construction

computer programming

computer, mgmnt services

9

7

4

3

13

20,129

19,739

19,317

18,120

17,293
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Top 20 Women-Owned Federal Contractors in FY1997

Name of Company State

Nature of Procured

Products/Services

# of

Awards

Total Awards,

FY1997 ($000)

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Infopro, Inc

LB&B Associates, Inc.

Choice Construction Co, Inc.

Fuentez Systems Concepts

Advanced Management

Technology

MD

MD

OH

SC

DC

computer-related services

testing, electronics, data

processing

street, utility construction

engineering services

engineering, management

services

6

25

6

4

4

17,026

17,017

16,798

15,849

15,187

* No longer woman-owned, but was in FY1997.

It should be noted that the database provided by Eagle Eye Publishers, like any other large

database, has its shortcomings. When verifying the top businesses in the database, it was

discovered that three are no longer woman-owned. In addition, four of those called had never

been woman-owned (and are thus not listed above), and seven could not be reached by

telephone (phone disconnected or no answer). Nonetheless, the vast majority of those called

for verification are now, and were in 1997, independently operated, women-owned businesses.






	



	





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Women-owned firms involved in Federal procurement, like all women-owned firms, are located

in every state in the country. However, women-owned firms involved in Federal procurement

have a much different geographic distribution than the total population of women-owned firms.

Overall, half of women-owned businesses are located in the nine most populous states:

California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey.

Yet, half of the women-owned prime Federal contractors listed in the NWBC database are

located in these eight states: California, Virginia, Maryland, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia,
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1

 It is important to note that the geographic distribution of Federal contractors refers their

headquarters’ locations, not the states in which they won awards or performed services.

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Comparing the Distribution of 

All Women-Owned Firms and 

Women-Owned Prime Contractors

District of Columbia

More contractors

than average

Fewer contractors

than average

Proportionally

representative

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners

(c) 1999, NFWBO

and Illinois.1 Comparing the distribution of women-owned Federal contractors with the

distribution of all women-owned businesses in the U.S. finds that the following states are more

likely than average to be home to women-owned Federal contractors:

 Virginia

 Maryland

 District of Columbia

 Alabama

 Alaska

 New

Mexico

 Oregon

 Hawaii

 Idaho

Conversely, these states

are under-represented in

terms of the share of

women-owned Federal

contractors compared to

the distribution of all

women-owned firms:

 New York

 Michigan

 Illinois

 Indiana

 Ohio

 Pennsylvania

 Minnesota

 Wisconsin

 Texas

 Nebraska

 Missouri

 Iowa

Not only are some states home to a greater share of women-owned Federal contractors than

average, contract dollars are flowing in a disproportionate manner as well. The chart below
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Average Contract Award Per Business 

by State, FY1997

District of Columbia

$1M+

<$500,000

$500,000 -

$999,999

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners

(c) 1999, NFWBO

shows that women-owned federal contractors in six states, plus the District of Columbia, were

awarded, on average, over $1 million per firm in fiscal year 1997, well above the $700,000

average contract award. These states, in descending order of average award, were:

Pennsylvania, Maryland, Alabama, Oklahoma, District of Columbia, Texas, and Virginia. It

should be noted that a handful of firms accounts for the majority of the Federal contract dollars

flowing to some of these top-producing states, especially in Alabama, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania

and Texas.

At the other end of the

spectrum, women-owned

firms in 32 states received

less than $500,000 in

Federal contract awards in

FY1997. The states with

the lowest average

awards, receiving less

than $250,000, were:

Vermont, Iowa, Rhode

Island, Arkansas, Maine,

West Virginia, and

Washington.

Thus, women-owned businesses in the Washington, DC metropolitan area (including the

District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia) and in Alabama were more likely than average to

be Federal prime contractors in fiscal year 1997, and also received above average contract

awards. Women-owned firms in Pennsylvania and Texas, though less likely than average to be

involved in Federal procurement, received among the largest awards when they did receive

contracts. (Again, this high average is held up by high awards to just a few firms.) Womenowned firms in other highly populated states — most notably California, Florida and New York

— were less likely than average to be involved in Federal procurement activity. Finally, women-
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2 Note that with respect to procurement, industry refers to the type of services performed, not

necessarily the primary SIC code of the business.

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Prime Contractors Most Likely to be in 

Construction, Durable Manufacturing

Industry

All WomenOwned Firms*Prime 

Contractors Difference

Agriculture/Forestry 1.40% 2.3% 0.90

Mining 0.63 0.3 -0.33

Construction 3.12 21.0 17.88

Non-Dur Manufacturing 1.56 3.5 1.94

Durable Manufacturing 1.03 17.7 16.67

TCPU 2.40 3.6 1.20

Wholesale Trade 2.62 4.4 1.78

Retail Trade 18.57 0.9 -17.67

FIRE 10.24 1.8 -8.44

Business Services 13.59 13.3 -0.29

Personal Services 11.12 0.6 -10.60

Health services 5.52 8.5 2.98

Educational services 2.22 1.2 -1.02

Social services 7.25 1.4 -5.85

Engineering/Mgmnt svcs 6.75 12.8 6.05

All other 11.94 6.6 -5.34

TOTAL 100% 100%

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners *1992 US Census data, no C Corps. included.

(c) 1999, NFWBO; Note: TCPU=Transportation, Communications, Pub. Utlilities, FIRE=Finance, Insurance, Real Estate

owned firms in the Midwest, especially the Great Lakes states, are located in the region most

apt to have missed out on Federal government procurement opportunities in FY1997.

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Not only are women-owned firms located in certain states more likely to have been involved in

Federal contracting, so, too, were women-owned firms in certain industries.2

 Two-thirds of

prime Federal contract

purchases in FY1997

were for durable products,

engineering/ management

services, or construction.

It is thus not surprising to

find that, when comparing

the distribution of all

women-owned businesses

by industry with the

distribution of womenowned Federal

contractors in the NWBC

database, women who

won awards in

construction, durable manufacturing and engineering/management services were those most

likely to be engaged in Federal contracting. At the other end of the spectrum, women who

provided retail trade and personal services to agencies were the least likely to be engaged in

Federal procurement in FY1997.

When looking at the distribution of the level of Federal contract awards by industry, though, it is

the women-owned firms who provided retail trade services and non-durable manufactured

products that received the largest awards in FY1997 (see chart on page 11). One hundred and
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Retail Trade, N-D Manufacturing, 

Engin/Mgmnt Services Receive 

Largest Average Awards

Industry # Companies Total Amount Avg. Amount

Above/Below 

Avg.

Agriculture/Forestry 112 $29,037,000 $259,260 --

Mining 13 10,672,000 820,920 +

Construction 1,045 572,942,000 548,270 0

Non-Durable Manufacturing 176 322,344,000 1,831,500 ++

Durable Manufacturing 881 360,089,000 408,730 -

TCPU 180 135,844,000 754,690 0

Wholesale Trade 218 178,674,000 819,610 +

Retail Trade 47 136,675,000 2,907,980 ++

FIRE 90 31,874,000 354,160 --

Business Services 663 604,451,000 911,690 +

Personal Services 31 12,157,000 392,160 --

Health Services 424 96,147,000 226,760 --

Educational Services 58 16,336,000 281,660 --

Social Services 69 9,462,000 137,160 --

Engineering/Mgmnt svcs 635 859,698,000 1,353,860 ++

All other 317 123,953,000 379,061 --

TOTAL 4,969 $3.5 Billion $704,439

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners

(c) 1999, NFWBO; Note: TCPU=Transportation, Communications, Pub. Utlilities, FIRE=Finance, Insurance, Real Estate

Women-Owned Firms Garner Largest 

Share of Awards in Retail Trade, Smallest 

in Mining, Durable Manufacturing

Industry All Firms Women-Owned

% Share 

Women-Owned

Agriculture/Forestry $304,729,000 $29,037,000 9.5%

Mining 2,009,413,000 10,672,000 0.5

Construction 15,167,231,000 572,942,000 3.8

Non-Durable Manufacturing 8,840,382,000 322,344,000 3.6

Durable Manufacturing 63,807,396,000 360,089,000 0.6

TCPU 10,660,533,000 135,844,000 1.3

Wholesale Trade 4,193,158,000 178,674,000 4.3

Retail Trade 569,805,000 136,675,000 24.0

FIRE 2,231,148,000 31,874,000 1.4

Business Services 12,028,566,000 604,451,000 5.0

Personal Services 97,426,000 12,157,000 12.5

Health Services 3,588,700,000 96,147,000 2.7

Educational Services 1,679,049,000 16,336,000 1.0

Social Services 465,671,000 9,462,000 2.0

Engineering/Mgmnt svcs 45,510,841,000 859,698,000 1.9

All other 7,793,087,000 123,953,000 1.6

TOTAL $157 Billion $3.5 Billion 2.1%

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners

(c) 1999, NFWBO; Note: TCPU=Transportation, Communications, Pub. Utlilities, FIRE=Finance, Insurance, Real Estate

seventy-six (176) womenowned firms in nondurable manufacturing

won a total of $322 million

in Federal contract awards

in FY1997, for an average

of $1.8 million per firm.

Forty-seven (47) womenowned retail trade

businesses listed in the

NWBC database won just

under $137 million in

Federal contracts, for an

average of $2.9 million per

firm.

The lowest amounts awarded to women-owned businesses went to firms in the social services,

personal services, and

educational services

industries. The 158

women-owned firms in the

NWBC database that

were in these industries

were awarded $38 million

— just 1% of the dollars

awarded in FY1997.

Earlier, it was pointed out

that just 2.1% of Federal

prime contracts were

awarded to women-owned
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3 A Duns number is a unique business identification code developed by Dun & Bradstreet. It is

used both in business and government.

4

 The latter is derived from a nationally-representative survey which was conducted by NFWBO in

the summer of 1998 among 800 women business owners.

5

 The 1998 NFWBO survey used names from Dun & Bradstreet’s Dun’s Market Identifier file as

the sampling frame. These businesses in this file are likely to be full-time, commercially active firms.

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firms. What about the share of awards to women-owned firms by industry? An industry analysis

of all Federal prime contract awards with those awarded to women-owned firms shows that

24% of the Federal prime contract awards in the retail trade industry were made to womenowned firms, as were 12.5% of the personal services contract awards. (See chart on page 11.)

At the other end of the spectrum, women-owned firms were awarded only 0.5% of the awards

in mining, and just 0.6% in durable manufacturing. In just four industries — retail trade (24%),

personal services (12.5%), agriculture/forestry (9.5%), and business services (5%) — was the

share of contract awards going to women-owned firms significantly higher than the 2.1%

average for awards in all industries.

2WKHU )LUP &KDUDFWHULVWLFV

Additional information received from a Duns number3

 matching of the NWBC database allows

further analysis of three additional demographic characteristics — the age of the business,

annual revenues, and total employment. Again, the distribution of these characteristics among

women-owned Federal contractors is compared with the distribution among all women-owned

firms.4

Age of Firm: Women-owned firms that are involved in Federal procurement have a similar age

profile as all women-owned firms in the U.S. Among the firms in the NWBC database, 14% had

been in business for less than five years, 28% for five to nine years, 38% had been in business

for 10 to 19 years, and 20% were in business for 20 years or more. When looking at all

commercially active women-owned businesses5

, a similar 19% have been in business for 20 or

more years, though a larger 26% have been in business for less than five years.
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Women-Owned Federal Prime 

Contractors Have Similar Age Profile as 

All Women-Owned Firms in U.S.

14%

28%

38%

20%

Prime Contractors

26%

25%

29%

19%

All Women-owned Firms

<5 5-9 10-19 20+

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners

Years in Business

(c) 1999, NFWBO

Women-Owned Federal Contractors 

Have More Employees Than the 

Average Woman-Owned Firm

65

17

11

5

2

31

19

23

19

8

<5 5-9 10-24 25-99 100+

Number of Employees

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Percent

Federal contractors

All women-owned firms

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners

(c) 1999, NFWBO

Employment: Womenowned firms involved in

Federal procurement are

likely to employ more

workers than the average

woman-owned firm. Over

one-quarter (27%) of

women-owned Federal

contractors have 25 or

more employees,

compared to 7% of all

women-owned firms. 

And, while one-third (31%)

of Federal contractors

have fewer than 5

employees, fully two-thirds

(65%) of all womenowned firms are found in

this size category.

Average employment

among the women-owned

Federal contractors in the

NWBC database was

52.2. Among all womenowned firms in the

NFWBO comparative

sample, it was 12.5, and

among all U.S. women-owned firms, average employment is 2.3 employees per firm.
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6

 Based on NFWBO estimates using data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

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Women-Owned Firms in FIRE, Services 

Most Positively Impacted by Federal 

Procurement 

923

580 430 292 572 480 617

6041

4703

2170

695

1194

601

176

558 422

707

6169 6181

1742

Ag/Forestry

Mining

Construction

Manufacturing

TCPU

W Trade

R Trade

FIRE

Services

Total

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Thousands

% Difference, WOBs in Procurement-All WOBs

Mean Sales Mean Employment

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners, (c) 1999 NFWBO

Note: TCPU=Transportation/Communications/Public Utilities; FIRE=Finance/Insurance/Real Estate

Women-Owned Federal Contractors 

Have Significantly Higher Sales Than 

the Average Woman-Owned Firm

21

14

17 15

8 6 6

0.3

3

6

12 11 13

45

<$25K

$25-49.9K

$50-99.9K

$100-249.9K

$250-499.9K

$500-999.9K

$1,000,000+

Annual Revenues

0

10

20

30

40

50

Percent

Federal contractors All women-owned firms

Prepared for NWBC by National Foundation for Women Business Owners

(c) 1999, NFWBO

Revenues: Even more

striking than the

difference in employment

is the difference in

revenues between

women-owned Federal

contractors and all

women-owned firms. The

median revenues of the

average woman-owned

firm are just under

$300,0006

; among all

women-owned Federal

contractors in the NWBC

database, median

revenue was $5.3 million.

Just 6% of women-owned

firms in the NFWBO

sample of all womenowned firms had

revenues in excess of $1

million, compared to 45%

of the women-owned

Federal contractors in the

NWBC database.

Conversely, 35% of all

women-owned firms had

revenues of less than

$50,000, compared to just 3% of the women-owned Federal contractors. 
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The economic impact that involvement in Federal procurement may provide is highest for

women-owned firms in the finance/insurance/real estate (FIRE) or services sectors. The

women-owned businesses that provide those services to the federal government are

significantly larger in terms of both employment and sales than women-owned firms in general.

(See table on next page for detailed information by industry.) Women-owned Federal prime

contractors in FIRE average $4.5 million in sales and employ 109 people on average, compared

to $387,000 in sales and an average 2 employees for all women-owned firms in the sector. For

women-owned firms in services, sales and employment are 6,181% and 4,702% larger,

respectively, compared to all women-owned firms in services. Even in industries where the

impact is lowest (manufacturing and wholesale trade), women-owned firms involved in Federal

procurement show 100% to 500% higher sales and employment than the averages for womenowned firms in those industries.

Comparison of Mean Sales and Employment by Industry: 

All Women-Owned Firms and Those Engaged in Federal Procurement

Industry

Mean Revenues ($000) Mean Employment

All

WOBs

Prime

Federal

Contractors

%

Difference

All

WOBs

Prime

Federal

Contractors

%

Difference

Agriculture/Forestry

Mining

Construction

Manufacturing

TCPU

Wholesale Trade

Retail Trade

FIRE

Services

ALL INDUSTRIES

$102

386

402

2,222

651

1,584

253

387

72

288

$813

4,990

2,823

6,122

4,289

8,264

2,044

24,259

4,507

5,300

695%

1,194

601

176

558

422

707

6,169

6,181

1,742

1.4

2.0

3.3

13.2

6.3

5.1

2.7

1.8

1.4

2.3

14.0

13.6

17.2

51.8

42.4

29.4

19.4

109.3

66.8

52.2

923%

580

430

292

572

480

617

6,041

4,703

2,170

Note: TCPU=Transportation/Communications/Public Utilities, FIRE=Finance/Insurance/Real Estate
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,	

Women-owned businesses are making an important contribution to Federal government

agencies, providing over $5 billion in products and services through prime contracts and

subcontracts in fiscal year 1997. We have learned in this analysis that women-owned Federal

contractors:

 are more likely than average to reside in the Washington DC area or in Alabama,

Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, or Oregon; and much less likely than the average

woman-owned firm to be located in the Midwest, New York or Texas; 

 are more likely than average to be providing construction, durable manufacturing or

engineering/management services, and much less likely than average to be providing

retail trade or personal services; 

 are receiving the largest share of Federal prime contract awards for retail trade and

personal services contracts, but less than 1% share of mining and durable

manufacturing awards; and

 own larger, more substantial businesses as defined by employment and revenues.

Within every industry sector, women-owned prime contractors employ from 3 to 50

times more people than the average woman-owned enterprise, and generate from 175%

to nearly 6,200% more revenues. 

What this analysis does not tell us, however, is how these women entered the Federal

procurement arena, what barriers they encountered along the way, what their plans, goals and

expectations are, and what advice they would give to others who might be considering a similar

path. Such information would be very valuable to procurement program officers, policy makers,

business educators and assistance providers, and women business owners themselves.
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The detailed information obtained by the National Women’s Business Council from Eagle Eye

Publishers is a valuable resource, and an excellent research database. The National

Foundation for Women Business Owners therefore recommends that NWBC consider utilizing

this unique database to conduct further research among the women-owned firms identified as

Federal government contractors.

If qualitative focus groups are considered, NFWBO would recommend holding them in two or

more locations. The first location should be suburban Washington, DC, most probably in

Montgomery or Prince Georges County, Maryland. Fully 17% of the NWBC database (832

businesses) are firms located in either Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia.

Since firms in and around the Washington Beltway are likely to provide a much different range

of products and services than women-owned contractors located in other regions of the country,

we would recommend holding at least one other focus group discussion in another location.

The prime candidates for additional groups would be: California (13% of database), Texas

(6%), or Florida (6%). Further discussions and analysis would be required to choose a

metropolitan area with a large enough concentration of contractors for focus group recruiting.

Another research option would be a quantitative research study. However, issues and topics

are likely to be uncovered in focus group discussions, since little is currently known about the

women who are leading enterprises involved in Federal procurement. Therefore, it is

recommended that focus groups be held prior to the development of a quantitative research

study.
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)


-
)


The data on women-owned firms in Federal contracting were obtained by the National

Women’s Business Council from Eagle Eye Publishers, Inc. The information provided by

Eagle Eye to the NWBC included company name, location, industry (SIC code) of procurement

action, Duns number, description of type of contract action, and total dollars awarded in

FY1997. A total of 9,581 contract actions involving 4,969 businesses identified as womenowned were included in the database. NFWBO would like to acknowledge the assistance of

Eagle Eye, particularly Paul Murphy, in providing additional data and information during the

course of this analysis.

Initial analysis of the data provided by Eagle Eye found that the database included 4,946

businesses with valid Duns numbers. Three-quarters (78%) of the business records included

address information, and only 32% included telephone numbers. To supplement the information

provided by Eagle Eye — both for the geographic analysis contained in this report and for

possible future research activities — the NFWBO sent the Duns numbers contained in the

NWBC database to Dun & Bradstreet for enhanced information. This information included not

only complete address and contact information, but the number of employees in the business,

total company revenues, and the year the business was started.

The information obtained on women-owned firms in Federal procurement was compared to all

women-owned firms using three data sources: 1) data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census (the

1992 Survey of Women-Owned Business Enterprises, used for detailed industry comparison in

chart on page 10); 2) NFWBO estimates based on Census Bureau statistics (1996 Facts on

Women-Owned Businesses: State Trends), published in 1996 and updated in 1997 (used for

geographic and all other industry comparisons); and 3) survey data copyrighted to the NFWBO

from a nationally-representative survey of full-time commercially active women-owned firms

conducted in 1998 (used for demographic comparisons).