Women-Owned Businesses Display Phenomenal Growth

The number of women-owned businesses in the U.S. increased 103% over the last 12 years. Employment generated from these firms also grew at an impressive rate of 320%, and sales soared 436% according to a recent report from the National Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO). The report, 1999 Facts on Women-Owned Businesses: Trends in the U.S. and the 50 States, revealed that from 1992 to 1999, the greatest growth in the number of women-owned firms blossomed in areas such as construction, agriculture, and manufacturing. In fact, the 1999 estimated sales from women-owned manufacturing firms is expected to soar past the trillion-dollar mark -- $1,011,287,500,000 to be exact (a 176.9% increase from 1992). The NFWBO also estimates nearly 300,000 women-owned manufacturing firms will employ 5.2 million workers (increases of 53.7% and 124.1% respectively from 1992 figures.) The NFWBO used modeling of 1987 to 1996 data to arrive at the 1999 numbers. For more information, or to order the report, call the NFWBO at 301/495-4975.