IN Small Business
by Alison Burns
“Let’s Hear It For the Girls”
WHETHER FOUNDERS, owners, or executives, we women have made some serious strides in education and the workforce in less than a century. We should be proud as we reflect on how far we have come and where we are going as we continue to push toward growth for future generations of little girls who will, certainly, run the world. Our education is expanding. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a mere 11% of women held a bachelor’s degree or higher in 1970 and 34% of women did not even graduate from high school or obtain their GED. Less than 50 years later, in 2016, 42% of all women held a bachelor’s degree and only 6% did not receive a high school diploma or equivalent. And our drive is growing too. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that women are working more and more! In 1950, just one out of three women of working age were in the workforce, which equates to only around 34% of the population. As of 1998, this statistic jumped to nearly three out of five women, or 60% of the population. Women are doing all of this while raising families. In 2016, over 61% of married-couple families with children were dualincome households. Shout out to all those working mamas who, based on 2011 data, were breadwinners in four out of ten US households. (In 1960, it was only one out of ten). And, not only are we in the workforce, but we are founding and owning our businesses as well. According to the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council in 2018, there were 12.3 million women-owned businesses in America compared to only 402,000 in 1972. Just since 2007, women-owned businesses have increased by a whopping 58% while overall businesses grew by just 12%. Employment by women-owned businesses rose 21% while all other businesses declined by 0.8%. We start businesses, and people want to work for us! GEAUX TEAM. {Insert slow clap here} Do you hear me? We are beating national averages! Hug yourself. HARDER! This is statistical proof that women are fantastic multitaskers! Because of this, we also tend to face a unique set of needs and challenges as we strive to juggle family, career, and a social life. There is a plethora of organizations created specifically to serve and support those needs, and we have a wide variety of them right here in the New Orleans Metro area. Check out our local chapters of these nationwide groups: National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Women’s Business Enterprise Council (WBENC), American Business Women’s Association (ABWA), and Executive Women International (EWI). In addition, many local Chambers of Commerce have women-specific networking groups, such as the New Orleans Chamber’s Women’s Business Alliance. And check out Fidelity Bank’s P.O.W.E.R. organization for women entrepreneurs. Come on, let’s hear it for the girls! If you are a businesswoman interested in working with female vendors, Precision Payment Systems provides a variety of options for merchant services while being woman-owned and predominantly woman-operated. 62
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