Women-owned firms increase in state

Thirty-five years ago when Linda Rae Winter opened a hair salon, farm wives were expected to stay at home.

“As a farm wife, I was told you should not work in town, you have to stay home and do the farm work,” she recalled.

With support from a “progressive husband” Winter got around that by opening her business at home. That allowed her to help out on the farm, raise children, attend activities, run a business and escape at least some of the criticism that at the time was leveled at female entrepreneurs.

As a longtime businesswoman, Winter is part of a trend in Colorado. The state is home to growing numbers of women-owned businesses. Between 1997 and 2004, the number of women-owned firms in Colorado gew by 33 percent, according to the Center for Women’s Business Research.

Winter has since moved her Greeley business, Accessories with a Flair, off the farm and expanded it to include a ladies’ boutique and makeup studio. The self-described “chronic volunteer” also serves on the Colorado Women’s Economic Development Council.

Sanctions against working wives have fallen away over the years, Winter said, as have attitudes about which industries women could participate in.

“Women are in a lot more male-oriented fields like construction companies, car dealerships. They are in anything: wildlife, rafting companies, artists. A lot are in real estate,” she noted.

Just as in Colorado, nationwide, the number of women-owned businesses grew by 20 percent between 1997 and 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Women-owned businesses are substantial contributors to the economy. In its “2002 Survey of Business Owners: Women-Owned Firms,” the Census Bureau reports that the nearly 6.5 billion women-owned businesses generated more than $950 billion in revenue. That figure is up 15 percent from 1997.

In 2002, according to the report, 117,069 women-owned firms had receipts of $1 million or more. There were 7,240 women-owned firms with 100 employees or more, generating $275 billion in gross receipts, the report said.

Industries containing the most women-owned businesses in 2002 were health care and social assistance with 1,035,834 women-owned firms; other services, with 1,015,724 women-owned firms and retail trade with 944,682 women-owned firms.

In Colorado, in 2004, 32.5 percent of privately-held businesses or 152,894 firms were women-owned, according to CWBR’s report, Women-Owned Businesses in Colorado, 2004.

These majority women-owned businesses generated more than $23 billion in sales and employed 186,730 people. The Center for Women’s Business Research estimated that employment by women-owned firms grew by 40 percent between 1997 and 2004 and sales increased by 69.5 percent.

Colorado ranks 15th in the nation for the number of privately-held, majority women-owned firms.

Types of businesses changing

As numbers of women-owned businesses have grown in Colorado, so have the types of firms women start and run, said Mary Litwiler, president of the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

“The thing that I’m always amazed at is the creativity women show when they open their own businesses,” Litwiler said. “We have over 66 different industries represented in our chamber.”

Frequently, Litwiler said, women-owned businesses sprout in response to a need that’s not being met or a problem that requires a solution. Women “start a business or come up with a product and the business grows from there.”

There are plenty of Colorado-based examples.

Litwiler points to Susan Brown of Golden, who has built a business – The Boppy Co. – around an infant support and nursing pillow she designed. Two Denver-area women, Sandy Gargac and Leanne Deister, created Supper Solutions. The business, which is now a franchise, offers pre-prepared meals for busy families.

Like any entrepreneur or business owner, women in business face challenges. Finding business funding remains an issue for many women, Winter said. “There are still banks not willing to loan money to women without a man’s signature. That hasn’t changed much.”

The cost of insurance also provides ample challenges, she said.

The glass ceiling remains in place, Winter added, although it is less talked-about today. The Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce reports that women still lag behind men in terms of earnings, numbers of corporate officer positions they hold and graduate business enrollments.

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