VIDEO: Women Business Owners Creating Jobs, Driving the U.S. Economy

Each October, we celebrate one of the fastest-growing segments of America’s economy: woman-owned businesses.  As a woman who has started a business and owned several businesses over the years, this is especially important to me.

Today, there are about 8 million woman-owned businesses in the U.S.  From 1997 to 2007, the number ofthese firmsgrew about twice as fast as that of men.  Find more facts about woman-owned firms here.

We’re building on the momentum of these job creators in a number of ways.

For example, this year, we rolled out the new women’s contracting program.  It will help more women-owned businesses compete for federal contractsin over 300 industries where they’ve been underrepresented.

In addition, as we approach Veterans Day, I’m proud to say that over 400 women have graduated from the first year of our Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship program (V-WISE).  If you’re one of our 2 million women veterans and you’re interested in this unique training program, go here to see if it’s coming to a city near you.

Finally, I wanted to share a clip of an interview that our Assistant Administrator Ana Harvey (of SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership)recentlydid on a show called “The Balancing Act” which aired on Lifetime.  Check it out here:

http://www.thebalancingact.com/story/?id=3192

If you’re a woman thinking about starting a small business – or if you already own one and have questions about how to keep growing – please contact your local SBA office.  Our top priority is to make sure you have the tools you need to grow and create jobs.

[Video Transcript]

About the Author

Karen Gordon Mills is the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBA helps both Main Street and high-growth small businesses get access to capital, counseling, federal contracts, disaster assistance and more.