Report Highlights Growth of Women-Owned Businesses Since 1997

The former president of Diversity Food Processing, LLC, Stephen Singleteary has years of experience in the fast food industry as an entrepreneur and franchisee. Throughout his many years in business, Stephen Singleteary has been an advocate for women owning businesses.

The number of women-owned businesses in America is growing, according to the 2017 American Express State of Women-Owned Businesses Report. The number of women-owned businesses has grown an impressive 114 percent since 1997, so that as of January 2017, there were about 11.6 million women-owned businesses in the country. These businesses employed more than 9 million Americans (in addition to their owners) and generated over $1.7 trillion in revenues. 

Looking at these figures as a percentage of the entire market, women-owned businesses accounted for 39 percent of US firms, employed 8 percent of private sector employees, and generated 4.2 percent of business revenues. These facts show that while significant gains have been made in getting more women in business, there is still much that needs to be done to close gaps in revenue generation.

The report also highlighted gains made by minority women-owned businesses. In January 2017, minorities made up 46 percent of all women-owned businesses. African Americans owned 19 percent of women-owned businesses (about 2.2 million firms), representing 605 percent growth since 1997; Latinas owned 17 percent of women-owned businesses (about 1.9 million firms) representing a 491 percent increase since 1997; and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders owned 0.3 percent of all women-owned businesses (about 34,200 firms) representing a 493 percent increase since 1997.