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Current Activities in Women's Enterprise Development



News in women's entrepreneurship from around the world

Here is what is happening in the world of women's entrepreneurship around the world. Most of the news items below contain links to web sites and/or documents we hope will not only interest you, but further enable your efforts to support women's entrepreneurship.


  • New ED for NWBC: Some long-awaited action in women's enterprise policy in the US: the White House has appointed Dana Lewis as the new Executive Director at the National Women's Business Council. Prior to her appointment, Lewis served in the White House in the Office of the First Lady. To learn more, click on this link to read the news release announcing her apppointment.

    Dare we hope that the appointment of a new Chair of the NWBC is not far behind, as well as the filling of the Council's 11 (of 14) empty seats? The NWBC, established by the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988, plays a critical role as the voice of women business owner interests and viewpoints in the Federal government. Its inaction in recent years has left a void that womenablers everywhere are anxious to have filled.

    Good luck and best wishes to Ms. Lewis! (August 2010)

  • Women on boards increases profitability, investor trepidation: You'd think that the word is out by now: increased diversity not only has social benefits, but economic payoffs as well. This is true not only generally, but with respect to life in large corporations. However, despite evidence that companies with more women on their boards perform better with respect to return on equity, return on sales and return on investment, stock prices fall in the year after women are appointed to corporate boards. Why? Not because of business performance, but because of investor bias.

    So says a new research study from Harvard researchers Frank Dobbin and Jiwook Jung, and colleague Alexandra Kalev of the University of Arizona. Their research is summarized in the July/August issue of Harvard Business Review.

    What to do? Shout a little louder, perhaps. Why, then, won't noted corporate research organization Catalyst comment on these findings? Curious ... (August 2010)

  • New SBA Advocacy analysis shows women-owned employer firms not faring as well as their male-owned counterparts: What's been happening with small businesses over the past few years? We all know - from news reports and economic statistics - that the economy has not grown much at all in most economies around the world, and we are still looking for the light at the end of the recessionary tunnel. But during this time we haven't had definitive news about how women-owned firms have fared compared to their male counterparts. A new report from the SBA's Office of Advocacy sheds some new light.

    Taking a look at "employer establishments" that were in business in 2002 and assessing where they stood four years later ( "employer establishments" are the locations of businesses that employ people - about 20% of all firms but 100% of employers - most of whom have just one establishment or place of business), SBA economist Ying Lowrey parses the Census data out by gender of owner, and finds that - for all the talk of a "mancession" - women-owned employer firms fared worse than their male counterparts between 2002 and 2006. To wit:

    • The average 4-year survival rate for all employer firms in business in 2002 was 70% - including 66% for women-owned firms, 69% for jointly-owned firms, and 72% for men-owned firms;

    • While the contraction rate of women-owned firms during 2002-06 was lower for women-owned firms than for their male counterparts (22% versus 24%, respectively), so was the comparative expansion rate (26% versus 29%); and

    • The total net employment change among women-owned firms during this period was -11.5%, compared to a lesser 8.7% decline among men-owned firms.

    So, while this analysis is a snapshot of changes occurring only for a 4-year period of time and among a small (but very important) slice of the business population, it shows that women-owned employer firms have been faring less well than common wisdom has led us to believe.

    To learn more about the study, click on these links to download and read the study's research summary, or the full 48-page report.

    Womenable is pleased to see that the data for this analysis came from special tabulations produced by the Census Bureau for the National Women's Business Council - an interagency agreement set up by Womenable President and CEO Julie Weeks when she was the executive director of the NWBC. (August 2010)

  • CIPE report looks at WBO association development in Central & Eastern Europe: CIPE, the international economic development arm of the US Chamber of Commerce, has long been interested in supporting the development of women's business associations - and with good reason: they are one of the key building blocks of a women's enterprise development ecosystem. (Note: Read a brief summary of lessons learned in women's enterprise development here, penned by Womenable President and CEO Julie Weeks when she was ED of NWBC.)

    A new report from CIPE focuses on the growing strength of women's business associations. What's been behind it? A focus on awareness-raising, awards recognition, and advocacy.

    To lean more about CIPE's efforts to support women's enterprise development, and to learn more about this recent research effort, click on the links above. (August 2010)

  • A new women's equality index from the Economist Intelligence Unit: A new gender equality index enters the fray, this time from The Economist magazine's Economist Intelligence Unit. The Women's Economic Opportunity Index is comprised of 26 indicators grouped into five main areas - labor policy and practice, access to finance, education and training, women's legal and social status, and general business environment - and purports to "evaluate every aspect of the economic and social value chain for women, from fertility to retirement."

    However - as with other gender equality indices (including the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index and the UN's Gender Development Index) - entrepreneurial activity is not part of the equation.

    What countries come out on top in the EIU-WEO Index?

    • Sweden
    • Belgium
    • Norway
    • Finland
    • Germany

    However, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor surveys, these countries have a relatively low share of adult women engaging in entrepreneurial behavior:

    • Sweden, 5% of adult women own a business
    • Belgium, 3%
    • Norway, 8%
    • Finland, 10%
    • Germany, 5%

    Certainly economic opportunity includes more than self-employment, but until these international indices include some aspect of entrepreneurial behavior, they will not capture the full extent of women's economic opportunity. Easier said than done, however. The main reason such data are not included is that this invaluable information is not yet available to the same extent as are health, education, labor, and political data. More's the pity. (August 2010)

  • Entrepreneurship community loses shining light: Dr. Cindy Iannarelli, founder of Bernelli University, active entrepreneurship educator, and enthusiastic teacher of youth enterprise, was killed last week in India while vacationing with her son. For details of the story, follow these links:
    Womenable has crossed paths with Cindy numerous times over the years, dating from 1993 when she was the first executive director of the National Education Center for Women in Business at Seton Hill College in Pennsylvania. We will miss her energy, enthusiasm, and positive spirit. (August 2010)

  • AGOA ten years on: Ten years ago the US Congress passed the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), designed to provide economic development assistance to lesser developed economies in sub-Saharan Africa and open up trade opportunities.

    While the act has been criticized by some as not in keeping with WTO provisions, it has benefited trade between the US and Africa, and has helped with export and product quality standards, and SME development.

    An AGOA forum has been held annually, rotating between an African and a US location. This year's forum is being held August 2-3 in Washington DC, and is expected to attract trade leaders and experts from 38 African nations.

    The Brookings Institution has published a report reviewing the state of AGOA in advance of this meeting, which is available at this site. However, a review of the report shows that women rate only one sentence in the 25-page document: "In addition, AGOA has also helped tackle inequality in African countries by creating more employment opportunities, especially for women."

    Hmm, chances are that AGOA has done more than that for women's economic empowerment. But, as we well know, what does not get measured does not get managed - nor discussed at fora. C'mon folks! Here's hoping that women's economic empowerment will rate more than one sentence at this upcoming discussion.

    There's a good change that it will, though, thanks to the African Women's Entrepreneurship Program, which is bringing women business leaders from Africa to Washington, to attend the AGOA Forum and to meet with government and business leaders in Washington, DC and in Kansas City. Three cheers to the State Department and USAID for making this happen. (July 2010)

  • New Census figures for women-owned firms released: What's the score? How are we sizing up? Those are the questions we've been pondering lately, as we've been anxiously awaiting the results of the 2007 quinquennial business census for women-owned firms. The latest facts were released on July 13 by the US Census Bureau, and this is what they show:

    • As of 2007, there were 7.8 million majority-owned, privately held women-owned firms in the US, a 20.1% increase over the previous census (in 2002);

    • These firms generated $1.2 trillion in revenues, a 27.5% increase from 2002 levels; and

    • Women-owned firms employed 7.6 million workers, up 7% from 2002.

    So, overall, the trends we've witnessed over the past decade or more remain the same: increasing numbers, and increased economic clout. These numbers also indicate a slowing in employment growth - among women-owned firms and overall, as the economy slowed down in advance of our most recent recession.

    OK, it's great to have these new numbers, but how about a little context? (CLICK HERE to read on.) (July 2010)

  • Roadmap charts course for women's enterprise movement in the US: Just a few days ago, a multi-year labor of love was born - when The Roadmap to 2020: Fueling the Growth of the Women's Enterprise Development was published. While the venue was the annual conference of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the participation of many women's business organizations helped make this event happen: from the early support of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and the contributions from women's business association leaders throughout the report, to financial contributions from individual women business owners as well as associations. Corporate support from IBM also helped propel the project from the idea/discussion stage to writing and publication. And, of course, the stalwart stewardship of Quantum Leaps' CEO Virginia Littlejohn, who conceived the project and kept it moving toward fruition, was integral to its completion.
    Click here to read more... (July 2010)

  • New census figures for women-owned firms to be released: What's the score? How are we sizing up? Those are the questions we've been pondering lately, as we've been anxiously awaiting the results of the 2007 quinquennial business census for women-owned firms. Well, the wait is almost over! Mark your calendars for July 13; that's the date that the new Census counts for women-owned firms (both 51% majority-owned and 50%+ majority/equally-owned) will be announced by the Census Bureau.

    The announcement will consist of a press release, an audio news release/interview, and summary tables - only at a national and state level, but we'll take what we can get! The full report with all of the detail by detailed industry and geography will not be published until December, but in the meantime this new information is just what the data doctor ordered!

    All relevant information will be posted on July 13 at the Census' 2007 economic census web site. And, if you'd like to be kept informed of other impending Survey of Business Owners releases (such as when the complete Census reports for women-owned and minority-owned firms are issued), CLICK HERE to go to the Census Bureau's "Notify Me" page. Be sure to check the "Survey of Business Owners data" box. (July 2010)

  • Navigating the Federal procurement maze: Womenable has been working with American Express OPEN on their efforts to better understand the challenges and successes that women and men business owners are having as they navigate their way through the maze which is the US Federal procurement marketplace.

    The results of a ground-breaking survey among current and wannabe Federal small business contractors are out in two well-cited reports. Here are just a few insights that have been uncovered thus far:

    • On average, it takes business owners 1.7 years of trying to land their first Federal contract - and there's no significant difference by gender or race;

    • Active small business contractors invest an average of $83,000 annually in staff time and resources to pursue Federal contracting opportunities;

    • The top tips from active small business contractors? 1) start small and work your way up, and 2) if at first you don't succeed, try, try - and try - again; persistence pays off;

    • Once they become active Federal contractors, women and minority small business owners are just as successful as the average small business owner - both in terms of business size and level of contracting success;

    • Women and minority business owners, however, are much more likely than average to be waiting at the starting gate - 48% of non-contractors are minorities and 39% are women, compared to a share of 25% and 28%, respectively, among active contractors;

    • Women are more likely than average to be using the GSA schedule as an avenue for Federal contracts, while minority business owners place high value on developing relationships with procurement officials and attending as many meetings and match-making events as possible.

    To learn more, click on these links to download and read the first two reports in the Victory in Procurement for Small Business survey series:

    "Strategies for Success from Federal Small Business Contractors", which summarizes the wisdom and tips that active small business contractors have for those just getting started.

    "Women and Minority Federal Small Business Contractors: Greater Challenges, Deeper Motivations, Different Strategies, and Equal Success", which investigates how women and minority small business owners are faring in the Federal procurement marketplace.

    The third and final report, focused on the value of teaming and subcontracting as procurement strategies, will be available in August.

    Visit govtcontracts.open.com for more information about the VIP program. Also OPEN has been working with Women Impacting Public Policy to launch their "Give Me 5%" program - which provides tips and tools for women interested in selling their goods or services to Federal customers. (July 2010)

  • Gender equality exists in thought more so than in deed: A fascinating new survey, conducted among adults in 22 countries around the world, sheds some light on attitudes toward gender equality. Almost everywhere, solid majorities feel that women and men should have equal rights, that women should be able to work outside the home, and they eschew the notion that higher education is more important for boys than for girls.

    However, when push comes to shove, support for gender equality lessens when asked if, when jobs are scare, if first dibs should go to men over women. Majorities in 9 countries say that employing men should take priority over employing women. In addition, when asked if life is better in their country for men or for women, the nod goes to men in 10 of the 22 countries, and to women in only 2 countries.

    To learn more about the study, and to download the full report, click here. (July 2010)





NEWS FROM EARLY-MID 2010
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Last Updated: August 30, 2010