Report: Texas No. 2 in growth of women-owned businesses

Initial reports from the soon-to-be-published 2014 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report estimates that there are 9.1 million majority-owned and privately-held women-owned firms, employing 7.9 million employees in addition to the owner, and generating over $1.4 trillion in revenue. Texas is a large part of that growth. Nationally, the number of women-owned firms has increased by 68 percent since 1997m according to the survey soon to be published by American Express OPEN. The states with the fastest growth in the number of women-owned firms over the past 17 years are: Georgia (up 118 percent), Texas (98 percent), North Carolina (91 percent), Nevada (91 percent) and Mississippi (81 percent).

In terms of growth in combined economic clout, however – meaning averaging together the rankings in growth in the number, revenues and employment of women-owned firms – the states in which all of these measures combined place women-owned firms in a much better than average position over the 1997 to 2014 period are: North Dakota, the District of Columbia, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia. Between 1997 and 2014, when the number of businesses in the United States increased by 47 percent, the number of women-owned firms increased by 68 percent – a rate 1-1/2 times the national average. The growth in the number (up 68 percent), employment (up 11 percent) and revenues (up 72 percent) of women-owned firms over the past 17 years exceeds the growth rates of all but the largest, publicly-traded firms – topping growth rates among all other privately-held businesses over this period. Firms owned by women of color has also shown an increase. In 1997, there were just under 1 million (929,445) firms owned by women of color, accounting for one in six (17 percent) women-owned firms. That number has skyrocketed to an estimated 2.9 million as of 2014, now comprising one in three (32 percent) women-owned firms. Firms owned by African American women number an estimated 1.2 million as of 2014. These 1.2 million firms employ 287,100 workers in addition to the owner and generate an estimated $49.5 billion in revenue. Firms owned by Latinas number an estimated 1 million as of 2014. These firms employ 433,600 workers in addition to the owner and generate an estimated $71.1 billion in revenue. Firms owned by Asian American women number an estimated 675,900 as of 2014. These firms employ 699,200 workers in addition to the owner and generate an estimated $115 billion in revenue.

While firms owned by women of color are smaller than non-minority women-owned businesses both in terms of average employment and revenues, their growth in number and economic clout is generally far outpacing that of all women-owned firms. Indeed, the growth in the number of African American (up 296 percent from 1997 to 2014), Asian American (a 179 percent increase), Latina (a 206 percent increase), Native American/ Alaska Native (124 percent increase), and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (up 247 percent) women-owned firms all top the growth in the number of non-minority women-owned firms (a 37 percent increase) over the past 17 years.