A survey conducted by the Research Institute for Small & Emerging Businesses, Inc. (RISEBusiness), recently concluded that:

• Women-owned firms that use innovation strategies have higher sales and employment growth.
• The more years of work experience that a woman business owner has within her company, the less likely her company is to grow.
• Women business owners with better quantitative skills are less likely to have firms that grow in terms of number of employees.
• Women business owners with strong human-resource management skills and customer-service strategies have higher increases in their personal income. Men business owners, however, are more likely to have greater personal income, even though their experience and role within their firms are relatively similar.
• Women and men business owners do not differ in terms of sales, employee growth, or profitability.
  Significant differences between men- and women-owned businesses are found in terms of personal income and employee benefits.
• Men take significantly higher personal salaries, and pay significantly higher employee benefits than their female counterparts.
• Significant differences between men- and women-owned businesses are found in terms of personal competencies, business strategies, and education levels.
• Women rate themselves higher on human-resource management and communication skills, while men rate themselves higher on quantitative skills.
• Women-owned businesses more often follow high-quality and innovation strategies than men-owned businesses.
• In terms of education, women business owners are typically better educated than their male counterparts.

The top 10 states for growth in the number of privately-held, 50% or more women-owned firms, as of 2004, are:
1. Nevada (48.2% growth)
2. Utah (34.7%)
3. Georgia (32.1%)
4. Arizona (30.5%)
5. North Carolina (29.3%)
6. Florida (28.7%)
7. Idaho (28.2%)
8. South Carolina (28.0%)
9. Tennessee (27.9%)
10. Colorado (26.8%).
Source: Women-Owned Businesses in 2004: Trends in the U. S. and 50 States, by the Center for Women's Business Research. Underwritten by Wells Fargo & Company, April 2004.

Women-owned businesses have been a major element in the evolution of the US economy in recent decades, as these businesses become increasingly recognized as part of the business mainstream. According to the Center for Women's Business Research (http://www.cfwbr.org), as of 2004, nearly half of all privately held businesses in the US are owned 50% or more by women - for a total of 10.6 million enterprises. The Center has tracked the many economic impacts that women-owned businesses create, and, as reflected in the graph below, women-owned businesses create salaries of almost $500 Billion. This translates into huge economic impact on the state and local economies.

In South Carolina, there are an estimated 128,447 privately-held, 50% or more women-owned firms as of 2004. This accounts for 41.6% of all privately held firms in SC. South Carolina is ranked 7th in the US in growth in the number of privately-held 50% or more women-owned businesses, and 8th in the US for average overall growth of 50% or more women-owned firms.