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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s economic system and enterprise setting have constantly been ranked among the many finest within the nation, however a brand new evaluation reveals there could also be room for enchancment relating to women-owned companies within the state.

Ladies-owned companies play a big position within the U.S. economic system, using 10.1 million employees and accumulating $1.8 trillion in receipts, based on U.S. Small Enterprise Affiliation information. But, regardless of numbering 1.1 million in 2019, women-owned companies solely made up about 20% of all employer corporations throughout the nation.

A latest evaluation of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Enterprise Survey by backgroundchecks.org decided places with probably the most female-owned companies by metro and state.

The place does Utah rank — and which metros have been included?

General, Utah ranked No. 45 amongst states, with 16% of women-owned companies. States following Utah included New Hampshire, Iowa, Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Of the 100 largest metropolitan areas with information out there, Salt Lake Metropolis ranked eighty fifth, at 16.5%. Different Utah metros that made the listing embrace Provo-Orem, with 15.9% and Ogden-Clearfield, with 13.7%.

Hawaii has the very best share of women-owned companies at 24.5%, with Virginia 23.9% and Colorado 23.8% falling simply behind.

The latest report is only one of a number of which have highlighted inequities minority teams might face within the state. After Utah was ranked by WalletHub because the worst state for girls’s equality for the fourth consecutive yr, prompting Utah leaders to name for collective motion. The Utah Ladies’s Management Venture analyzed 17 key indicators within the areas of office setting, training and well being and political empowerment and subsequent steps for development.

The nonprofit’s evaluation had related findings as earlier stories but in addition highlighted key variations. The information, when damaged down, could be extra nuanced than it seems, mentioned Susan Madsen, director of the Utah Ladies and Management Venture at Utah State College.

A better take a look at Utah’s information

Within the evaluation, backgroundchecks.org recorded 11,054 women-owned companies within the state whereas SBA Utah District Workplace information signifies that over 101,000 companies are owned by girls.

Why the contradiction?

The distinction in numbers represents how information is collected and counted can considerably change an end result. The 11,054 women-owned companies indicated by the evaluation solely symbolize a fraction of companies through the use of information that represented employer corporations, excluding corporations with out workers.

The exclusion disqualifies 90% of women-owned companies throughout the nation who don’t have any workers, based on U.S. Small Enterprise Affiliation information. Of Utah women-owned companies, 90,500 are with out workers.

And whereas widening the scope may elevate Utah’s rank, the info nonetheless might not totally embody the total image.

“There’s a couple of completely different measures of ladies’s entrepreneurship they usually contradict one another just a little bit,” mentioned Madsen. “It is actually difficult to seek out actually good information in order that’s one of many issues that we’re engaged on to vary.”

Whereas enterprise homeowners in Utah can point out feminine possession whereas registering, that field isn’t checked. Enterprise homeowners’ race or gender aren’t straight recorded by the state within the course of, which may make it laborious to entry full information.

“We won’t get the message to all these girls who’re beginning their companies as a result of we’re not gathering gender (data), and subsequently, there’s numerous companies in Utah that begin and fail,” mentioned Madsen. “We won’t discover the folks to assist them.”

Boundaries to feminine entrepreneurship

Truthful entry to capital

Ladies obtain solely 16% of typical small enterprise loans and 17% of SBA loans, regardless of 30% of corporations being women-owned. Research additionally point out that ladies could also be extra hesitant to take out loans or incur debt than male counterparts, based on Madsen.

Inadequate federal contracting jobs

The U.S. federal authorities, the most important purchaser on this planet, awards fewer than 5% of federal contracts to women-owned corporations, based on a earlier Utah Ladies’s Management Venture report.

Entry to specialised enterprise counseling and coaching

Regardless of the host of sources out there by the Utah Ladies’s Enterprise Middle, many Utah women-business homeowners are unaware the middle exists. Lack of illustration in industries throughout the state can even contribute to lack of mentorship for girls seeking to enter the workforce in these areas, mentioned Madsen.

Advancing larger training for girls in male-dominated industries may enhance entry, she added.

“We nonetheless have numerous companies that begin and do not transfer ahead and fail however there’s actually a system by way of firms that that are typically extra profitable and that’s they’ve extra training round it,” mentioned Madsen.

COVID-19

Not solely have been girls within the workforce tougher hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, however 64% of women-owned companies noticed a lower in income and roughly 25% — 5% greater than male-owned — closed solely, based on a examine performed by Inc.com.

“Ladies are inclined to gravitate towards sure kinds of companies and people are the kind of companies that have been hit the toughest,” mentioned Ann Marie Wallace, Utah Ladies’s Enterprise Middle.

The highest employment industries embrace well being care, lodging and meals companies, and administrative and assist. These three sectors account for 47% of whole business employment by women-owned companies, based on the U.S. Small Enterprise Bureau.

Different boundaries recognized by the U.S. Small Enterprise Bureau embrace:

• Ladies are extra seemingly than males to run home-based companies.
• Ladies with youngsters have been extra more likely to have a home-based enterprise.
• Males with youngsters have been much less more likely to function their companies from dwelling.
• Ladies with youngsters at dwelling have been much less more likely to function in high-growth industries, whereas the alternative was true for males.
• Ladies with school levels have been extra more likely to be in high-growth industries like development and accounting/reserving companies; whereas males in high-growth industries tended to have proportionately fewer school levels.

What could be finished?

Options embrace elevated training for girls enterprise homeowners, rising consciousness and entry to sources such because the Ladies’s Enterprise Middle, creating incentives for contact work with women-owned companies, mentorship, advocacy and networking alternatives.

“If a lady needs to start out a enterprise, she shouldn’t have boundaries in entrance of her simply because she’s a lady. There are nonetheless boundaries there and a few of them are unconscious bias and different issues are flat-out flawed and other people could make modifications to it,” mentioned Wallace.

To find out about sources out there for women-owned companies, go to SBA.gov’s Ladies Enterprise Facilities webpage.

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