Harris: Women-owned business is the business of us all
Michelle Harris is the director of the Delaware district of the Small Business Administration.
Thirty-six years ago, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Women’s Business Ownership Act to help level the playing field for women in the world of entrepreneurship. The act empowered women to start and grow successful businesses.
On their own.
In 1988, when the measure was signed into law, the obstacles to female-owned business success were many. To even apply for a business loan as recently as 1988, women needed a male relative to co-sign. But the enactment of the Women’s Business Ownership Act marked a sea change for female entrepreneurs. The act created meaningful federal government support for women business owners, creating a momentum for the women-owned business sector that the Small Business Administration is proud to carry forward.
Today, women-owned companies make up nearly 40% of U.S. businesses. Women-owned firms now employ more than 10 million workers and add more than $2 trillion to America’s gross domestic product each year. Notably, too, such businesses are growing at more than three times the rate of their male counterparts’.
And, in the spirit of the Women’s Business Ownership Act, the Small Business Administration’s work to empower female entrepreneurs continues. Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration and the voice in President Joe Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 33 million small businesses and startups, announced the agency’s updated 2023 Equity Action Plan, outlining actionable steps the agency will take to advance the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to investing in equity, including expanding access to capital and revenue growth opportunities; tailoring business counseling, training and other services; and increasing access to disaster assistance for underserved communities.
As fiscal year 2023 came to a close, the Small Business Administration announced that agency-backed loans to women-owned small businesses were up nearly 70%, totaling $5.1 billion. In Delaware in fiscal year 2023, 34.9% of the $80.9 million in these loans were issued to woman-owned small businesses. For more on this financing, visit sba.gov/funding-programs/loans.
And, thanks to the Women’s Business Act’s provision of vital seed money, the administration funds Women’s Business Centers to provide small-business mentoring, counseling and technical assistance. Here in Delaware, the center at True Access Capital provides those vital services. To connect with a Women’s Business Center — and/or the support organization SCORE and Small Business Development Centers — visit sba.gov/local-assistance/resource-partners.
On a direct basis, the Small Business Administration supports women-owned small businesses nationwide with a variety of training and technical resources, as well as federal government contracting certifications that can give them a competitive edge when competing for certain federal government contracts. To learn more, visit sba.gov/business-guide/grow-your-business/women-owned-businesses#id-other-resources-for-women-owned-businesses.
And, the Delaware district is proud to mark Women’s History Month with a no-cost webinar series celebrating and empowering successful female entrepreneurship. To register, visit sba.gov/de.
With women-owned businesses employing more than 10 million workers and adding more than $2 trillion to America’s gross domestic product each year, it is clear that — this Women’s History Month and year-round — supporting the success of America’s women-owned businesses is all of our business. And, at the Small Business Administration, the work is firmly underway.
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