The number of women-owned businesses has increased by 50 percent since 1997, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau statistics by American Express OPEN.
New York state is ranked third overall in the nation for women-owned businesses, experiencing a 57.9 percent growth in the number of women-owned businesses since 1997.
The number of male-owned businesses grew by 25 percent over the same time period.
“I think a lot of discussion during the recessionary period of this being a ”˜mancession”™ in terms of employment is because we”™ve seen male-dominated sectors like manufacturing being hit more,” said Julie Weeks, author of the American Express OPEN “State of Women-Owned Businesses” report. “It seems to have not only affected males, but male-owned businesses. I think in earlier periods of growth, we hadn”™t seen that divergence.”
Women are becoming business owners at a faster pace, but generally, Weeks said, women-owned businesses typically remain smaller in size than male-owned businesses.
The news comes amid promising employment metrics.
Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties saw a drop in unemployment at 6.6 percent in the latest state Department of Labor report.
Last March, the unemployment rate was at 7.5 percent.
In New York City, 8.4 percent were unemployed, a significant drop from the 10 percent recorded last March.
According to census figures, from 2005 to 2009, the leading industries in Westchester for the employed population age 16 and older were educational services, health care and social assistance.
This correlates directly to American Express OPEN”™s findings that nationally, the industries with the highest concentration of women-owned businesses were health care and social assistance.
“Ten years ago, they didn”™t separate out as many nuances in the service sector, which is why we could only go back to 2002 to look at industry trends,” Weeks said. “They changed the whole classification system ”¦ but if you look at 15 years ago to now, women are much more diverse in the businesses they own.”
The industries with the lowest concentration of women-owned businesses were construction, finance and insurance.
However, the report indicated the construction industry has been a fast-growing sector for women in terms of economic clout, both in employment and revenue.
Weeks said the green, energy-efficient sector has not been classified as a separate industry category but that “certainly more businesses are being cognizant of energy-efficient practices.”
Of the major differences between women-owned businesses in New York and Connecticut, Weeks noted that New York experienced growth in the number of women-owned firms, but they were below average in economic clout.
This was the exact opposite of women-owned businesses in Connecticut, which did not experience as high a growth in the number of new firms, but had more “existing businesses that grew into their stride.”
Weeks said that besides general economic policy, there are several factors that can make doing business in one state more attractive to a woman than in another state.
One is having an active and visible population of female business owners.
Another is the support of a local economic development group that may include a women”™s business development center.
Lastly, Weeks said some states may have gender-aware policies for procurement that offer advantages to women-owned and minority-owned businesses.
“A lot of state economic development agencies may have somebody in charge of outreach to the women”™s business sector.”
The estimated number of women-owned businesses in New York in 2011 was 622,300 compared with 394,014 in 1997.
“It”™s always been in the top 5 nationally of women-owned businesses,” Weeks said. “I believe New York was No. 2 until about the 2007 census, when the population began shifting geographically.”
