2015 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report

For the fifth year, Womenable, an organization that works to improve the systems that support women's enterprise creation and growth, has combined forces with American Express OPEN to analyze trends in women's enterprise growth and development. The result is the 2015 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report.

According to Womenable's website, the report finds the following:

• The number of women-owned firms in the U.S. continues to climb, and is now estimated to have surpassed 9.4 million enterprises – 30% of all businesses in the country;
• The revenue generated by these enterprises is now estimated to stand at nearly $1.5 trillion, and has increased by 79% since 1997; and
• Women-owned firms now employ over 7.9 million workers (excluding owners), providing one in seven jobs among privately-owned businesses.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported on the research, noting that while Pennsylvania has consistently claimed the seventh-highest number of female-owned firms among all states and the District of Columbia for the past 18 years, "the state also regularly lags behind much of the U.S. based on the rate at which women-owned firms are expanding revenues and employment."

“We’ve still got a long way to go in helping grow these companies,” said Jayne Huston, E-Magnify Director. 

Read the report's executive summary here. 

Learn more about how E-Magnify helps women-owned businesses through confidential, one-on-one counseling at no cost.