If I can conquer the outdoors filled with grizzly bears it helps me with stepping into the unknown. Susan P. Strommer is postitioning herself to catch a wave. Women First Capital Fund is managed by women and will focus on companies whose products and services target women as consumers or are owned or managed by women. Investment criteria call for targeting East Coast companies capable of generating annual returns of at least 500 percent. There is a mismatch between available capital and women-owned firms that need it.
Women are ready, but they just haven t been in the room.
We re going to change that. Women purchase 81 percent of all products and services and own nearly 40 percent of all businesses in the United States, according to statistics compiled by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners. During the past 12 years, the number of women-owned firms has grown by 103 percent, their number of employees has increased by 320 percent and their sales have increased by 436 percent. We have a shared history with many of these women, and we think we can better identify who is going to be a good management team as well as identify products and services that are going to win in the market with women and girls. She earned a bachelor s degree in French and political science at the College of William and Mary in 1978, then worked in politics for several years.